New-York tribune., 1912-08-25

I'm view Of all these facts. il Is intcresi g.
ing 10 know that the United States army
has Just eight aeroplanes, while France
has at least 500, Germany about 200. and
more building. England about the same
as Germany and Russia about lCo.
General Bliss. discussing the remarka-
bic achievements OF the air scouts with
The Tribune writer. forcsaw conflicts IN
the clouds but made the rather unusual
deduction that terrestrial tactics would
be revolutionized by the aeroplanes back
ward rather than forward. That is 70
say, the unveilng Of tricks and STRAIT
agems By an overhead scout would com
pel rival generals to discard all attempts
10 outwi, sn enemy. armies would meet
each other as i'm primitive times. on a
basis OF sheer brute strength, and the
bigger force would win.
Colonel Baron dc Bode, the Russian al
,ache at the mannuvres, said that he
was impressed by the growing importance
I'm warfare Of aeroplane and wireless. and
the notifications their use suggests In Old
established methods. The baron was in
terested I'm the kitchen wagon OF the list
New York Regiment, which Is like the
Russian soup wagon. in which food IL
cooked while on the march. He thought
the auto trains had shown their use ana
that a general Improvement was shown III
the mannuvres over the Massachusetts
campaign Of two years ago, which he wit
messed.
Lieutenant Colonel NJ \. Gage. the
the OF
aeroplanes may bring about night march
ing OF troops. Battles In the air are
coming. We do not know yet by pracu-
cal test what snti-aeroplane guns may
accomplish. There will be greater mo-
bility OF troops, said Colonel Gage. Out
motor vehicles demand good roads ana
strong bridges The heavy military mo-
tors would go through small wooden
bridges over brooks and creeks. 1t was
odd that America, where the wright
brothers originated the aeroplanes, should
have so few machines In military use
Colonel Gage thought the reason must ne
that this country has no imminent peru
of war. such as faces European coun-
tries. The English observer made nat
tering remarks on the intelligence ana
nhvsiouc OF our militia. He said that Inc
instructional period was valuable for
troops and regimcntal officers. feature
moi found in Continental .maneuvres,
where the general officers get the chief
benefit.
IIeutenant Colonel A. +. Townsend,
chief ouartermaster OF the New York mil
itia. said that the troops OF this state
used 10 motor trucks, 800 wagons and
oSo horses and mules. It was planned to
have one motor truck TO carry supplies
and equipment for each regiment, but the
9ad Regiment got four trucks, owing TO
a failure TO secure horses. The motor
trucks were miscellaneous commercial We
h,cles hired for the occasion, and many
NJ them were msnifestly not adapted for
military purposes. They varied from two
10 five tons load capacity, OF four to nine
TONS including weight Of vehicle. The best
army truck. which will not smash bridges,
70 Of one and a half-ton capacity. the
same as the four-mule army wagon TINS
machine can travel ten miles an hour or
oftv 10 sixty miles a day. which is double
mule capacity II is feasible TO carry
along a bridge repair kit. consisting OF
carpentcr tools and few heavy pianks'
whereby bridges over brooks ana eui-
ver,s may be speedily strengthened or
.ncnded