The chronicle=news., 1914-09-21
GERMAN SIEGE
GUNS WONDER
OF MILITARY men

view 1pTh, Sept. sl.-DesphtCneS
from the European war. telling of the
great 17.S-inch siege guns of the
Germans. which are capable OF bat
tering down the sturdiest fortifica-
tiOns and yet may be transported
with great swiftness on mOtor-trucks,
are attracting the interest of Ameri-
can military men.
Photographs of Liege and Namur
after the Germans demolished their
forts show the terrible execution of
the German guns, which fire their
explosive shells upward at a sharp
angle and crumble the enemy's for
tifications by vertical plunging
fire.
"Of course he said. none of us
know anything at first hand. All
that we do know we learn from the
newspapers. If the Germans have
such pieces, it is safe to say that they
are not showing them to military OBJ
servers of other nations, and on the
other hand, think II is equally safe
to say that there Is nothing start
linsly new about these big guns
They are probably much the same as
the eleven-inch coast defence NOR
tars the Japanese brought over to
Port Arthur, and without which 1t is
questionable whether they would ev-
er have reduced the Russian fortress.
! We have similar piece In our own
coast defence Notifications.
1T has for years been an open Sc
cret that the Germans were spend
ing considerable sums Of money on
perfecting their heavy artillery, just
as we have known that the French
were devoting their energies to per-
fecting their mobile field artillery
Doubtless the Germans were influ.
enced to some extent, at any rate by
the knowledge that in fighting
France they would have to reckon
upon overcoming the numerous pow
erful fortresses which the French
have scattered over the northern and
northeastern sections of France.
Bearing in mind the fact that tn.
roads in western Europe are excel
lent, 1t is not hard to believe tina,
the Germans have evolved very
heavy siege gun which can be trans
ported by motor. thus making 1t in.
finitely more mobile than If it had
to be hauled by horses.
without any accurate first-hant
knowledge of the gun in question.
| should venture to say that an elev
en-inch piece of the kind .reportet
| Tn, hot hnn nj ruH
Liege and Namur forts would weisl
about fifteen tons. Now, it would b,
perfectly feasible to build specia
carriage for the transportation OF ;
gun of even this weight. and to this
carriage you might hitch a powerful
motor. of say 100 horsepower. il
stands to reason that you would gel
port. The same gun could be readily
hauled by twenty or thirty horses
but It could not be advanced at any
thing like the rate of speed possible
with motor transportation-an
speed seems to be an essential factol
with the Germans. That is why
am ready to believe that the Ger
siege-batteries mounted on heavy
motor trucks.
'As to the value of such guns fol
use against fortifications there car
be no doubt. Most Qualifications ar,
built to resist horizontal fire
These guns deliver huge shells at al
angle of A. degrees falling practical
ly straight down out of the sky. Once
| such guns have found the range of {
fortified place. it must be practical
ly untenable. Their shells woult
probably contain thirty pounds o
some high explosive and bursting ir
the narrow area of forts or gunpits
they would have most destructive eff
fects. 1t will he interesting to Sc,
how the theories of ordnance worked
out in advance by Frenchmen ant
Germans develop in actual practice