The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-10
WAR ECHOES

inch guns which will be used by the German army in attacking the fortl- fcations of Paris are the most powerful guns that have ever been put in the nelc with mobile army. One throws pfo- jectile weighing 75s pounds. and its maxi mum effective range is about 10000 yards,
 or close to six miles. At official field tests 1 they have been fired at the rate of tTo | shots in minute and a half, and rec ord as high as two shots in minute is said to have been reached. When the
 entire force of heavy guns are in action I they will be able to throw against the | Notifications at Paris 10000 pounds of projectiles per minute. It is largely upon l these powerful war engines that the Ger | man army will depend in it's attempt to reduce the heavy Notifications around Paris. While most of the shots will prob ably be directed against the wall of the Notifications. many of the projectiles will be thrown on to the overhead defense and into the Notifications The reduction of Namur in three days, it is thought, was the work of these large howitzers Instead of horses. enormous traction engines are being used to bring them up. Japan issd this type of howitzer in attacking Port Arthur with fearful effect. They were the same size, 11.2-inches, but by no means as powerful as the German guns.
 Ordinance experts are free to acknowl- edge that the German is the most pswer- full mobile artillery that has ever been in service. Larger guns were used in tire civil war by the northern army, but these siege guns were smoth bore and fred very crude projectiles. These guns were not in a strict sense mobile They were on heavy bases, and it was about as great a task to move them as il is to transport house Even the Japanese guns were not on wheels and were semi mobile. The German guns are on wheels and with motor trucks, according to the dispatches, and are able to keep up with the main body of the army. They will be at the defenses of Paris as soon as the city is invested by the German army.
 The task of furnishing ammunition for these heavy guns will be one which w.ll tax the transportation facilities of the German line of communication to it's limit. In all probability the ammunition for these guns will be sent forward from the great German arsenals in trainloads. In 10 hours these guns will use 100000 pounds of projectiles. Three weights of prcjec- tiles are used. The smallest protectile for long range firing is 4S4 pounds. The next size is 67O pounds while the largest is 7o9 pounds. The largest charge of powder used in, firing the small projectiIe for the longest range is 22 pounds. The smallest charge used for the large pro- jectiles is 1872 pounds The muzzle ve- locty ranges from S90 feet per second to 1920 feet per second The large projectile can be used effectively, at range of 1JO0 wards, or over four miles, while the small type at 10000 yards. or over six miles.
 Commercial Appeal: After five weeks of almost continuous fighting meager facts are Altering through the lines, giving an
 idea of the tremendous loss of life.
 It is impossible as yet to obtain any correct count of the dead wounded and missing. The total loss will probably never be known. An approximate esti- mate may be furnished>the press of the country. but no one. not even the minis 
 exact list of the dead.
 Various estimates have been published Nothing is authentic. England seems to keep a closer tab on the number of killed and wounded than the other nations, and the figures issued by Lord Kitchener give a very fair idea of how great the loss of life during the past five weeks must have been.
 From the French war office comes the estimate that the French loss will amount to 100000, while the German loss is esti- mated at 10000.
 How true this is no one can say. Like other war reports and rumors it must be accepted for what it is worth. It stands to reason that the list of German casualties will be greatly in excess of the other armies, because Germany has been the aggressor since the beginning of the war.
 War on such a mighty scale has never been waged before in the worlds history The number of men engaged on either side are enough to stagger imagination. We read of 3,0t0,000 Germans being in the field. and it is impossible to fully realize what the figures mean. When we also know that the armies of England, Bel gium, France and Russia, to say nothing of Austria and Servia, are also engaged in this titanic war, then we must appre- ciate that the loss of life on the various fields of battle has been something tre- mendous
 Only the figures can tell of this tragedy in it's bloody completeness. No word pie ture can bring before the minds eye more than detached glimpse of war con- ducted on such scale. The standards by which we try to measure such deso- lation and such carnage are entirely in- adequate. Fire and smoke of battle blacken cities; human blood makes red the fertile fields Towns of France and firm through ancient wars of the past are now in ruins, but the real story has yet to be told.
 The ears of humanity must be prepared to be shocked when column after column is published of those who gave up their lives for their countrys sake. The story will then be told in its terrible and ra- thetic simplicity
 Cleveland Plain Dealer: Before the GeG- 1ifanssgot through Belgium they left thou- sands of prisoners in Belgian keeping Now all that remains of independent Bel gium is Antwerp and few other cities cities in the extreme west The Belgians have not enough food for/themselvess but fhev tnilst food their nrisonors Reluian