Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1914-11-27
MILITARY OBSERVERS SEE
NOTHING UNUSUAL IN
THE SIEGE GUNS.
ARE NOT ADAPTABLE HERE
Could Not Be Used in U. s on
Account Of the Poor
Roads.

WASHINGTON, Noy. 26-m COM
mon with the military observers Of
every other nation, United states
army officers arc watching with kecu-
est interest the artillery development
! Of tho warning nations of Europe as
| disclosed upon the battlcfields Of Bel
gun and France. Every news dis
! patch that mentions tho great Ger
man guns is read closely and photo
graphs are studied with the greatest
care but 80 FAR nothing conclusive
has been found TO confirm the report
that the Germans are placing their
main reliance upon 42-Centimeter mo-
! bile hOWtzers.
American officers believe that the
! Germans have accomplished the de-
structi0n Of opposing forts with
standard ll-inch howltzers and mod
| ern high explosives, which are yirtu-
ally the same for all nations The
Key TO German successes Of this char
ucter, they say lies In the thorough
ness with which the work is done, and
the accuracy Of their shooting with
l-inCh weapons
Photographs Of the forts before
Liege, Namur, Antwerp and elsewhere
in the war zone show turret iorts
completely wrecked by German fire.
There is nothing TO indicate, however
that the damage was inflicted by l.
inch or even smaller shells, ordnance
experts believe The enormous de-
structive force Of these shells hsa
been well known ever since the fan
Of Port Arthur in the japanese Rus
sian war.
The city was taken by the Japs, not
withstandng modern fortlfications OF
the highest type; naturally stronger
than any that have been assailed dur
ing the present war since the forts
were located on high hills, rendering
turret protection against fire unnec-
esSary. They were reduced by H.
inch coast defense howitzers brought
from the Japanese coast with great
labor and mounted after the eXer-
else of engineering skill Of the high
est order TO get them over the rough
ground and into place where they
commanded the Russian fOrtresses.
Once established behind nearby hills,
absolutely safe from the fire Of the
Russian guns, the howitzers disposed
Of the enemy's boasted defenses with
the same ease that the German guns
battered to pieces the Belgian forts
American officers have studied
with intense interest photographs Of
the Austrian mobile siege mortars. No
scale has accompanied these pictures
but comparison Of the size of the men
as shown in the pictures with the
bore or breach Of the weapon beside
which they stand, indicates the guns
to be not greater than the ll-inch,
and I'm many instances even smaller.
The most novel feature about these
weapons to military eyes is the system
Of transportation employed by which
the gun and its carriage are divided
on two trucks equipped with trimmed
wheels and special devices to dlstriD-
ute the enormous weight over as
much road service as possible. The
whole train is hauled by traction
engine. propelled by steam or gaso
line Undoubtedly this has served TO
increase the mobility Of the giant
Weapons but officers are not satisfied
that the necessity OF carefully prepar
ing the ground upon which the guns
stand when discharged has been done
away with. 1t is still a job for en-
gneers to place these weapons, and
the long delay necessary to permit
the emplacGment Of siege weapons,
while a little reduced, is still a fac
tor in military operations.
The United States is not Contem-
plating the construction of very large
siege guns because tho roads Of the
country are not Slited to carry such
enormous weights. The radius of ac-
ton Of the weapons would be limited
TO the immediate vicinity OF few Of
the larger cities, or to a highway here
or there that has been improved for
long distance In the event Of in
vasion 1t would be impossible to con
fine operations TO territories best
suited for defense, and the guns then
would be virtually useless