The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1915-06-10
FRENCH GUN MAKERS.
Creusot Artillery Not Inferior to
That OF the kruppS.

her most sacred, most secret, most
rigidly guarded possession in war
time. | mean the great cannon man
ufacturer at LIE Creusot, controlled
by Schneider & Co.. the only concern
in the world that has rivaled the
krupps in the magnitude OF its pro-
duction, even surprising them, ac-
cording to a majority of artillery en-
perts, in the ingenuity of its work.
| also passed day at the great
government arsenal at Bourges,
where artillery officers receive their
training, and where explosives are
manufactured for the shells, which
are also made in the steel works of
LIE Creusot.
The trip was arranged after long
or and more profound thought on the
part of the ministry of war than that
preceding any permissions granted
for journeys to the firing line. In
fact this is the first time in the his
tory of the works that newspaper
men have been taken there. AS on
my trips to the front, l was accom-
panied by an officer of the general
stan.
Ever since the war of 1870, LIE
Cruesot has been the great secret OF
the French government, not even the
name becoming we'll known to the
world in general, as has Essen, the
home of the krupps. Nevertheless,
in several recent wars several ma
tions that got badly battered learned
that lie Creusot was responsible for
Schneider & Co. have sold cannon
to all applicants except Germany and
Austria-those countries always hav-
ing been on the black list.
England first got taste OF the
Creusot guns at the hands Of the
Beers; but the real test came in the
recent Balkan war. at the battle OF
Lule Burgas, when the Bulgarians
and Serbs caused the debacle of the
German-organized Turks. Then every
press dispatch in the world carried
the significant line: The Creusot
cannon silenced the Krupps." Since
then European artillery experts have
been in the habit of making the re-
mark-which the public still declines
to appropriate French army
has the best field artillery in the
world"
The present war has proved them
right; for, excepting Germany's
heavy siege mortars of A centime-
ters, the Creusot "75s' have had the
best of every artillery argument on
the battleline. In fact the krupp's S
CTS" especially designed to combat
the "75s'' have been pronounced a
failure.
So, on my trip to the LIE Creusot,
/ did not think about the "75s" that
question was settled. What | want
ed to know was whether France had
evolved, since the work accomplish
ed by the German mosters at Liege,
Namur, Maubeuge and Antwerp. l
can now say-for l have seen-that
France has, not one, but two types
of artillery that will beat anything
belonging to Germany.
Before proceeding further. let me
explain that the captain who accom-
panied me on the trip, and who will
personally censor this article, only to-
day obtained from the minister OF
war the exact data of what am per-
mitted to describe. His censorship
will be more rigid than that previous
ly applied to any story ever cabled.
He told me that l would not be al
lowed to say whether the new types
Of guns were howitZers or mortars,
and that the ranges and weights of
projectiles must not be given. So |
shall merely call them cannon, leav-
ing out more specific details.
Frenchmen rarely attempt to make
"the biggest in the world" of any
thing. They prefer perfection to
size. They are perfectly willing to
let the Germans make the biggest
things. So despite the scores of
stories told in Paris about the new
monster French guns, bigger than
the biggest German dreams, l can
say that the biggest of the new can
non are not so large as the German
42-centimeters. My captain has just
told me that perhaps l will be allow
ed to mention the size of the largest
new type; so I change it. 1t is 81
centimeters, or five centimeters
smaller than the German Jack john
SON." That is to say, it's bore is
fourteen and one-half inches. 1t is
called lie Vainqueurf." l have seen
these guns. Il may not mention their
number) have examined each part