Iditarod pioneer., 1915-01-16
MONSTER KRUPP GUNS
 EXCEED FICTION FANClES

The descriptions of the great krupp guns used by the Germans in the present war are as varied as the number of writers who have ventured upon the subject. The fol lowing. which IS given for what 1t Is worth, IS fair sample of them:
 "The widest fancies of fiction writers are eclipsed by the great krupp monster which leveled the forts at Liege and Namur-lf reports sent out from Berlin are to be be- .ieved
 Technically known as the l6,5-inch krupp mortar, the great gun carries With # the destructive powers of a volcano-a chained volcano, which can be directed at will and can be fired with precision.
 The secret of its power IS known only to the krupps Each workman makes but small parts of it. No part of the German army knows its secret. The inventor him self, instead of being honored and rewarded, ia sad to be marooned, for fear that he might be tempted to sell his secret-and on that secret Germany pirs its hope of vic t0.y.
 One shot to q fort IS the slogan of the makers of this most terrible death dealing instrument ever designed by man. It car r!es with 1t a power as great as that winch shattered San Francisco. It Is as deadly as the iceberg which sank the Titanic It IS as inevitable as fate itself and even the armies on whose side 1t battles turn away with awe and fear before it's awful havoc.
 One shot. say the Berlin reports, reduced the forts at Namur.
 When it was directed against IIege, after seven days of fighting, in two hours that stronghold of Belgium vas waste and turned to such scene of carnage that from 1t rushed men drilled and trained to know the terrors and horrors of war.
 Here is what the Berlin reports say of the gun:
 tance of twelve miles
 So great is the concusslon at the point of firing that it IS necessary to construct a Subterranean chamber 100 yards away for those who fire it by an electrical device.
 The projectile at Namur pierced four walls believed to be impenetrabe, lay silent for several seconds, and then exploded with such force that every wall was leveled and the great steel plates twisted like tin,
 The gun was invented eight years ago, but was brought to its present perfection only this year
 The krupps defied the government when demand was made that army officers be allowed to learn its secret. The gun is fired by their trusted men. The army has for its share only the clearing of the way so that it can be planted within twelve miles of it's target.
 It requires an entire train to transport it and about 800 men from the krupp organ lzation.
 The mortar is set in concrete of 8 radius of 100 feet, and depth of twenty feet. From this runs tunnel to the subterranean chamber provided for the protection of those who fire it.
 Life is impossible within 200 feet of the gun when 1t IS fired. A half mile away one officer lost both sight and hearing when that concentrated volcano was turned loose.
 Each shell costs S2,500.
 The Berlin reports point, as proof of the wonderful power of the gun, to the English newspaper reports on the battle at Liege which said that two French reg- ments, coming to the relief of the garrison, turned and ran in terror at the sight of carnage which met them after the one shot had been fired.
 The great power of the gun explains, says the report, the NeTIlan strategy III the movement on Paris.
 The armies formed great semi circle The purpose was to move forward to points twelve miles from the Paris forts. The Germans have twelve of these great guns, and their purpose was to direct their fire against Paris Had the armies not been turned back, It IS declared that Paris in a half day could have been wiped from ex- istence and left mass of ruins,
 This is the Krupp monster the most ter rible of war machines the most dreadful device ever known, according to the reports given out from Berlin.
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