The Sentinel=record., 1914-11-29
CREDIT ACCURACY
 Of ll-INCH GUNS
STUDENTS OF WAR GAME BELIEVE THIS IS A
 FORCE OF GERMANS.
Terrific Destructive Force of These Heavy Guns Has Been Known Here Since the Fall of Port Arthur.

WashIngtoI Nov 2S--In common aith the military observers Of every ether nation, United States army of- ficers are watching with keenest in terest the artillery development of the warning nations of Europe as dis closed upon the battlegelds Of Bel gum and France Every news dis. patch that mentions the great Ger nan guns is read closely and photo. graphs are studied with greatest in- terest but so far nothing conclusive has been found to confirm the re. orts that the Germans are placina their main reliance upon 42 centime fer mobile howitzers.
 American officers believe that the Germans nave accomplished the de. of opposing forts with stan- dard ll-inch howbzers and modern high explosives which are virtually tFe same for all nations The key to Germal successes of this character tLey say, lies in the thoroug mess win which the work is done and the accuracy of their shooting with IT,
 inch weapons
 Photographs of the forts before liege Namur, Antwenp and elsewhere in the war zone show turret forts completely wrecked by German fire There Is nothing to indicate however that the damage was inflicted by IT, inch or even smaller shells ordnance experts believe The enormous de aIuC,iye force of these shells has been well known ever since the fall of Port Arthur in the Japanese-Rus- sian war
 The city was taken by the Japan ese, notwithstanding modern fortifi- cations of the highest type; naturally stronger than any that have been as sailed during the present war since the forts were located on high hills rendering turret protection agains. fire unnecessary. They were reduced by l1-inch coast defense howitzert brought from the Japanese coast with great labor and mounted after the ex- ercise of engineering skill Of the highest order to get them over the rough ground and into place where they commanded the Russian fort Fesses. Once established behind nearby hills, absolutely safe from the fire of the Russian guns, the howit2ers disposed of the enemy's 5oasted de'enses with the same ease that the German guns have battered o pieces the Belgian forts
 American officers nave studied with interest photographs Of the Austrian mobile siege mortars. No scale has accompanied these pictures but com parison 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 in many instances even smaller.
 The most novel feature about these weapons to military eyes is the sys- tenn of transportation employed by which the gun and its carriage are divided on two trucks equipped with limmed wheels and special devices to distribute the enormous weight over 4s much road service as possible The whole train is hauled by a traction engine propelled by steam or gasoline Undoubtedly this has served to in5 crease the mobility of the giant weap- ons. but officers are not satisfied that the necessity of carefully pre- pairing the ground upca which tne guns stand when discharged has been done away with lt is still job for engineers to place these weapons and the long delay necessary to permil the emp!acement of siege weapons, p>~ile a little reduced !s still a fac tor in military operations
 The United States is contemplat. ing the construction of very large siege guns because the roads of the country are not suited 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 10 a highway here or there that has been improved for a long distance. In the event of invasion it would be impossible 10 confine operations to territories best suited for defense and the guns would Ina yirtuqIly ueplpce