The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-04-06
INDIAN WAR
WEAPON
DEMANDED
Ancients Bow and Ar
row, Long Obsolete
Has Come Back
MODERN RIFLES
ARE LITTLE USE
Trench Fighting Has
Revolutionized Meth
DDS Of War
By WILLIAM @. SHEPHERD.


(stan Correspondent Urifed Press.)
LONDON. March 22.-(By mail TO
New York)-Two hundred Yaqui In
dams once marched into Madero's
camp In Mexico. armed with bows
and arrows and asked to be allowed
TO tight. Madero's army was patchy
enough as II was. but he didn't want
the services Of the Indians.
But we will fasten guncotton on
the ends Of our Arrows explained
the chief.
Nothing doing" said Madero's OF.
ncers. and the Indians marched back
TO the mountains.
The American army experts along
the Rio Grande laughed at the story
Of the bow-and-arrow Indians.
But today the great military lead.
ers of Europe would pay fancy
prices for the services OF these
Yaquis. Good bow-andarrow men
are at . premium: they're hard to
ind and they're greatly needed. The
French have tried bow-and-arrows
all along their trenches. and. though
the men were inexperienced In the
use OF the prehistoric weapon. they
attained some highly successful re.
suits. A Yaqui Indian who could
drop an arrow Just where he
pleased. could win Legion Of Hon.
or badge.
The point Is that trench lighting
knocked the science OF war to bits.
After the armies had burrowed to-
ward each other until they were
nose TO nose, they found that their
marvellous Long range rides were
~-actically useless. The trenches
were so close together that the ar.
t.licry could not hit the enemy's
tnch without risk!ng the destruc.
ton OF It's own. The great twentieth
century weapons failed. How TO get
death into the other fellows trench
became the big problem.
II was gravity, not gunpowder
that was needed. You couldn't
SHOOT an explosive into the other
trench: you must DROP II In. II
was the prehistoric method OF night.
ing: the cave.man style OF throwing
weapons or rolling them down hill
Some OF Napoleon's old mortars
were brought from the museums OF
Paris and put into use. Bows and
Arrows were secured from the arch.
cry clubs OF Paris. The arrows
were tipped with guncotton. Hand
grenades were purchased by the
thousands.
The arrows proved the most dead
~ OF all. The mortar bombs and
the hand grenades were not nearly
a. effective as the French expected.
II remained for an English Tommie
20 ngure out why the guneotton ar.
row was most effective.
"Blankety-blapk. these hand gren.
ades," said the Tommie. They
don't do their job"
whereupon he took q tin can
F., which he had emptied OF strawberry
Jam, filled II full Of guncotton, fas.
tened fuse TO Il. lighted the con-
traption and threw II across to the
German trenches. II exploded with
q terrific effect. After that the Tom.
miles made their own bombs out OF
Jam tins.
And then the explosive experts
discovered they had overlooked q
bet. The Tommies explained It to
them.
sour tin can bombs blow 'em Ia
bits with pieces OF their own
bodies" said the Tommies. you
load up their bombs with pieces OF
steel that are supposed to ny around
In the air, but you're only wasting
weight. Our guncotton eIplodes and
II turns everything around II into a
flying death. Why. we've seen Ger
mans killed by the flying pieces OF
sther Germans bodies"
30 now the latest idea in this pre-
historic form OF warfare Ia to get
as much loose guncotton into the
enemy's trenches as possible. AT
rows do the fob In first-class fashion