Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-10-13
GERMANY IS 40
YEARS IN ADVANCE
They Have Shown Remark
able Organization in Pres
ent War Against Allies.

London. Oct. 13.-"We thought. the
Germans. were 40 years behind the
times; they are 40 years. ahead" said
a British soldier after the battle OF
! Mons. And according to an AInert-
can military expert, whose views are
| given here, there is q solid basis OF
truth in Tommy Atkins statement.
they were about. he thinks, when
they refused to %genetaltze too much
from the Philippine. Boer and Russo
Japanese wars.
Campaigning in :populous country
with a perfect road system and q hazy
atmosphere is quite different from
work in q crude open: country dtstin-
horizon. Too little. is yet known, Of
the actual fighting in Europe for &C
curate deductions. neverthe less GER.
tain facts are apparent which will
have their effect upon military prae-
tice in. the. United States. s.:.
Value of Artillery Proved.
The outstanding facts SO far notice.
able are the terrific effect Of siege ar
tillery in the field. the weakness Of
open-order fighting when a asst num-
Der of .men are available. the compar-
alive failure of aeronautics as pic
tured in popular imagination, and
Ino HLWeH69 advantage OF LnOrOu8n
preliminary training.
Germany's great surprise in this
war has been her artillery. The. SUI
pertorfty of her army Organization
was already known to the world, and
this: superiority and her perfect: pre-
paration were reckoned. and proper
ly, her greatest assets. 1t al also
known that she had 11-inch howitzers,
but they were supposed to be siege
| Rlln0.fn ha mad a~OainAt rnnnrafo. fovta
and nothing else. As such they lore
than surpassed: expectations at Ma
muir. But the mobility Of these big
guns had not wen been suspected by
foreign critics, and their use as field
artillery came as q great shock to the
allies.
Concealed Fire Deadly. a.,
In the old days. artillery stood in
exposed positions as the aim >. was
taken directly at the enemy. Conse-
quently it could be captured by In
artillery FIRE is directed from con-
cealed positions at a right angle and
Is exceedingly dificult for the enemy
to find. And this is the most Inn
portant use to which the aeroplane
has been put. AS the wounded Brit
ish describe the fighting at Mons.
when their enemy came SC close to
S$PSN SNSp SA4Sy sNOly LILLY
trouble in keeping the German in
fantry' in. check until the a~eroplanes
signaled the correct range. Then the
men were simply blasted. out OF the
trenches. = The artillery so far cap
tured appears to have. been aban-
doned In retreat. -.
80. French Artillery Good. nc.
When: the Germans have been ,in1
able to get their! great weapons into
action, French field artillery has prov
ed superior because of allowing for
more rapid movement: than the Ger
man rof"the same caliber. In rapid
action the French have had decidedly
the advantage In this respect. AT any
rate, the European, war has caused
experts somewhat to revise their opin.
Ion as to. the value OF artillery, which
had been considerably less effective
In other recent wars Artillery has
now regained its. old: prestige. It set.
tied the battle OF Mons without any
doubt. -.
1t is still too early to learn the part
cavalry is now playing. American
army officers are divided into tive
schools: ON the subject Of cavalry
Its historic part In battle and those
who regard 1T as effective only In
scouting, in acting as mounted infan.
try when.it is necessary to rush men
TO q weak point. there to dismount
and advance on foot. and lastly. In
following" up a rout. Artillery fire
and b~arbed-wire entanglements. have
90 far caused-a great slaughter Of
horses: ,....
Machine Guns Useful.
~ Machine guns figure largely iin: the
reports, but they are still believed tc
be OF real advantage only in sweepine
streets and open roads. since ..thei,
IRE is scattered and they" have a ten.
dency to jam. -
: The real lesson the war $50 "a,
teaches. finds the critic. is the i'm.
mense advantage Of military repar
ion: Germany overlooked nothing
Her forces were seasoned. and pro.
, visioning and. TRANSPORTATION. were
!, perfect. II; France. Belgium ana Rus.
STA had been as poorly prepared al
England. Germany would have won
the war In d month: '&
Must Drill, Raw Troops,
. Rritain's regular army is excellen,
, 50 { as it goes, but it forms onl,
one section Of the line OF the. allies
! Some Of the best Of the ,territorials
: who correspond to the American M.
, tionai guard. have been sent to the
front. while the rest are used to re.
lieve the regulars In Gibraltar, India
! and other foreign stations. Lord
Kitchener himself rays that the new
: volunteer army Will not be ready fol
: use spring. It would be murda,
to aend raw troops against Veteran