The Washington herald., 1915-08-01
High Explosive
Smelling Only
Way to Pierce
Trench System
THE European war is one year old to-
day M Nannlenns have heen de-

1~hE European war ID oue Sedi oiu w
day. No Napoleons have been de-
veloped, and few great military
geniuses. Cannon Of unheard of caliber,
shells of unthought of range and rapid
fire guns of unbelievable rapidity have
made their appearance. The submarine
has been developed to extraordinary eff
cheney, the aeroplane has proved its eff
fectiveness as a military aid and the huge
dirigible balloon has demonstrated lit
tie save its clumsiness and its vulner-
ability to attack.
But these are comparatively minor de-
velopments in the art and science of war
fare. Science may make guns Is large
as freight cars, submarines that will stay
under water Indefinitely and airships that
will travel without alighting the world
around, but after all wars are fought and
won by men. by the common soldier. And
In this war the common soldier has been
transformed from a marching, fighting,
charging and retreating unit, to trench
dwelling mole
Cavalry charges have decided not a
single battle. unless it be some outpost
action in Poland or Galicia. The day of
the cavalryman. with his dash and daunt-
less daring, seems to have passed. Horses
are now left miles in the rear and the
cavalryman takes his place in the trench.
With the exception of Won Kluck's
initial sweep through Belgium on his way
to Paris, Mackensen's drive through Ga
lica to the borders of Russia and few
sporadic raids of minor importance in
Alsace-Lorrane, there have been no
grand marches, no brilliant maneuvering
such as made Napoleon the master of all
masters of warfare. The fighting. after
the first few weeks, settled down to
trench warfare and thus it has remained.
Even the various German thrusts at LODI.
Warsaw and Lowitz we're but a series of
driving the Russians from one line of
trenches TO another. Everywhere trenches
had to be overcome. And when the pen
dulum swung back. the Germans simply
retired to their own trenches. carefully
prepared in the rear.
Since man began to kill his neighbor.
It has been his custom to try to fight
from some kind Of shelter. In the Mid
die Ages the knights carried their shelter
with them in the form of monstrOus suits
of armor. Even the Roman soldiers wore
a scmiarmor. breast plates, back pieces
and helmets for their heads. The ancient
Greeks depended more on their own
swiftness and skill than on armor. but
they, too. c-~ried shields behind which
they could . their whole bodies.
The prcst war has reduced to a per-
feet science the sheltering of mans body
from the foe The Romans depended for
victory on the shield-closed wedge. Ma
pnleon drew up his men in hollow squares
when on the offensive. won by brilliant
charges. fast marches and surprise at
tackS.
Then. in the sranish-American war.
the soldiers of the United States learned
10 dig with their bayonets shallow holes
in which they found some sort Of pro-
lection From this It was but a step to
digging a more comfortable and commo-
diouS trench
To protect the first trench. second and
tEird-li1e trenches were constructed
amid the beet fields and farms of north
ern France, the three Joined together by
a series of crooked communicating
trenches Then as one side or the other
advanced or retreated. other trenches
we're added. until hell-holes such as the
infamous Labyrinth were constructed.
Trenches. then. for while threatened
N deadlock the course Of warfare. Each
side seemed to be dug in" to stay. save
for the loss or gain Of perhaps single
trench by the reckless bravery of few
men Then came along the high eXplo-
sive shell Shrapnel. horribly effective
on an open field, was worthless against
entrenched men. But the shrapnel was
Now when a general decides to attack
pionc two. three or five-mile front. he
subjects the first line of the "nemy's
trenches to such an inferno of high ex-
DIosive shell that the barb wire entan-
clement is swept aside and the front OF
the trench Is reduced TO nothing more
than long decline of churned-up earth.
Next a rain of shraNnel is played on the
ground between the first and second
trenches that the men in reserve cannot
come to the aid of their comrades in the
demolished frst-line trench. Then the Of
fensiye general orders charge and the
reduced trench is taken. The same de-
monish system is then operated on the
second line of trenches, high explosives
TO blow It to pieces while the shrapnel
fall in a shower of lead over the open
ground preventing the bringing up OF re-
Inducements. Only the location by the
defense of the attackers batteries with
their own guns can stop the advance.
Hundreds of shells are exploded every
minute It takes days of bringing up
munitions to prepare for one Of these
attacks.
Sapping, of which so much was heard
in the early days of trench warfare. has
proyen ineffective through counter mining
and the small radius Of action involved.
Nothing but high explosive shells, ana
more and more of them, has so far
proved effective against barbwire-pro-
tected trenches, with the intricate system
of communicating and reserve lines.