The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-11-09
This 10 War on the Ground on
Wheels instead Of In tho
Air and on
Wings.
SPEED OF THE MOTOR
An Entire Army Can be Moved Over
Night, Many Miles BY
Means Of Auto
mobiles.


! Press STAFF Correspondent
CHATEAU-THIERRY. France, Oct.
81. (By mail to New York -Defying
all professional dopester's dope the
great European muss has .been war
Of the auto instead Of a war of the
aero; war on the ground and on
wheels, instead of in the air and on
wings.
What's the matter with the
jor. I'VE had been led to believe that
the next great war-this war-would
be decided in the air, between aero
planes and dirigibles. We had BIC
tured gigantic aircraft hurting de-
struction down on the poor soldiers
crawling on the ground; collisions be-
tween airships five miles above the
clouds; duels between fleets of aero
planes, each laden with rapid fire guns
and air pilots determined to descend
victorious or dead. What has become
OF this dream?''
You expected too much" the ma
jor replied. THE time has not yet
come for such things. Our areoplanes
have performed great service in To-
eating the enemy's forces: they have
wrecked few Zeppelin sheds and de-
stroyed few Zeppelins and done
other very valuable services for our
army. But after all this has been, so
far, a war of the automobile instead
of war OF the areoplane."
The major would not talk any
further on the subject. 1t is not his
business to give details of army work.
But what he said made me remember
talk had had with an engineer
back In Paris some two years ago, at
the time Of the "Agadir incident"
when the German warship Panther,
1 lay anchored before the port OF
| Agadir in Morocco and all Europe was
aquiver anticipating war just as she
was week before the actual hostil-
tiles began this year.
do you see that autobus he ask
ed me. We we're sitting on q terrace
| watching the two streams of traffic
glide up and down the street. One of
the rapid, easy riding autobusses. fill
ed with girls and men and women
and children was going by.
/ nodded my head.
| IF war should be declared tonight :
he said, when you so to work in the
morning you would have to walk.
All these autobusses would have dis
appeared in the night
| You mean the army would re-
QUESTION them?" asked.
| Yes. All the automobiles in town.
private and otherwise; the costly
limousines, delivery autos; heavy
trucks; runabouts; the entire lot OF
them. The Paris busses are govern
ment subsidized; private automobiles,
commercial autos, trucks and all are
registered at the war Office. The next
war will be an automobile war;
He went on to explain:
Suppose a great battle is raging
along an extended front, hundred or
SO miles long. The attack of the en-
envy on the left wing is weak; it is
exceedingly deadly in the center.
There are more soldiers on the left
than are needed to hold the enemy in
check; there are less than are need
ed at the center. European roads
being well nigh perfect, with hun
dred or so autobusses, each carrying
forty men, force of 10000 fresh
troops could be shifted from left to
center between midnight and sunrise.
the men arriving in good condition
and ready for instant action. BY the
old marching system at least two or
/ three days would be necessary for
the shift, the men arriving at last
tired out by their forced march and
too exhausted for real service.
| The old time armies were seriously
hampered by their wounded. In this
war, special automobile field ambul-
ances evacuate the wounded to the
rear in short order.
In the civil war food trains were
many days bringing up much needed
refreshments to the troops. Now auto
trucks take fresh meat, fresh bread
and other stimulating food stuffs from
Paris to the front in less than an
eight hour day.