New-York tribune., 1915-03-27
AUSTRIANS GUNS WORK
WITH WATCHS DELICACY
Gigantic Engines of War Fired by Means OF Wire,
the Gunner Being Fifty Feet Away
Explosion Causes Nausea
Bv JAMES O'DONNELL BENNETT.

deined by smiling German oitcer
VINO appears to have no nerves, IL the
destroying of the positions of tn, en-
cmy and especially the nerves Of the
enemy" L.. the night this shattering
or intrenchments and temperanents
will be followe by infantry attacks.
The Russian shells are falling 1000
metres to the south of us. n statement
that creates an impression of larger
dauntlessness on the part of "us' than
If you said they were falling three
ffths Of mile away.
On each side Of the highway leading
! into Bolimow stands an Austrian 3O12
centimetre gun which is reeking with
grease and witch every half hour emits
helliire and destruction to the amount
of nearly four tons, turn and turn
about. each gun every fifteen or twenty
minutes.
These guns are stupendous engines.
but they work with the dellcacy OF
Swiss watch and travel on their own
motor trucks at the rate of three miles
an hour.
Watching the Guns at Work.
OuI automobile, toiling up the Boil
NOV road from Lowicz, halted l0O feet
from these guns, and we all DIS
mounted to watch the firing. Ihree
mint IS later went back to the motor
to sec whether the sausage and blacK
bread were safely stored away. but
when ! reached the car another matter
demanded attention.
"Who in thuLder did that" ! began.
"WhGt blithering idiot has poked Il
rifle barrel through that glass 2
Then it dawn,d on ne. The concus-
sion of the 3Ol2 -centimetre gun at loo
feet had shvered into fifty pieces the
sheet Of heavy glass feet long, z
feet wide and Il of an inch thick IN
the front of the car. And the draft
created by the sh,ll as it left the gun
took basketfuls of the thatched roof
Of the cottage standing thlrty-hVe leet
distant right up into the sky.
Five minutes before either or the
guns is fred everybody is halted by
sentries posted 100 feet up and down
the highway. But if you are not
mounted you can come nearer TO inc
gun than that.
Then shell is uncrated In a casual
way that never fails TO give me qualmS'
and il is run smoothly forward on llght
trucks to the mouth OF the oul' a
good minute before the big smash the
more innocent bystanders begin 10
scurry away.
The soldier who works the wires that
fire the gun is stationed hity ieet
away from il. Others like seventy-hVe
feet. am quite reconclled to enc nun
dred feet myself. the surge and roar
Of sound being so terrific that 1t has
tendency to make one SICK at the
stomach at first.
At the end of an hour or so all mat
passes. and even \ civilian gets so ne
can follow he fight Of the shell wlth
pretty steady eyes that IS, II the
light is right.
Women's Device Used.
l used to think it was silly of wom-
en- at the theatre 10 put their ilhgeiS
in their ears when there was hrlnG IN
a play. But ! wasn't so airy Wheh
I saw that the German and Austrian
cficers who were directing the ire
were not ashamed to do this.
The Austrian motor gun on the lett
hand side of the Bolimow Road Is a
little shielded by that cottage the
thatched roof of which its dratt IS
CARRYING away. Some farmyard build
ings shield the gun on the right OF the
road. The concrete and mating bases
Of both guns are laid III the sou OF
soggy fields and both are ll'tIe
screened from the enemy's flyers by
evergreen trees which have been STUCK
up around them.
The red-trousered Austrians and the
pray-coated Germans who are serving
The Guns are as black as coal beavers
and covered with the grease they are
constantly smearing over the mechan-
ism. ,:.o
church. third Of a mile away, is the
signal Doint for the directing OF the
fire. 1t is connected by telephone with
pits dug within a few feet OF the guns
and the pits are rooted with curylng
sheets of corrugated iron overlald with
earth and evergreen boughs. @,
From the pits come cheerful "alloS'
as the men in the church tower signal
the pitmen to give them the range
Then the pitmen give 1t to the ar'I4-
lerists.
Austrians Especially Cheerful.
Artillery fire is always exhilarating'
and so everybody is cheerful, especlaI -
~ the Austrians. Watching them az
work with the Germans, thinh tht
officers seem physically finer gralhcu
than their allies. And many :ot inc
privates resemble a picturesque type
Of Italian dark. handsome mer, with
smiling lips and beautiful eyes, al
most gypsylike faces.
None Of them appears to be taxing
life as seriously-or certainly not as
beaviIy-as their German comrades DO
and YOU can get a most complimentary
lauqh out of them with the feeDlest
Of jokes. -.
/ The volume Of fire varies from hour
to hour to-day on both the German
/ and Russian fronts. This morning II
eeemed rather tentative on both SIDES
soon after noon it grew very hateiuI
as if both sides had found each
/ other out
The machine gun fire is very nasty
and it's patter. patter, patter develops
Il cracking sound as the wind s.hlits
/ One soldier says it must be infantry
/ IRE mo" says another, and laughs
at him.
Near the Cars Forest.
/ The Austrian big guns which We
have been watching are carrying near
lv seven miles in their searching ou'
of the Russians rear positions. Nher
we are standing by the guns we ar,
nearly mile back of the rear line OF
German infantry in the trenches. On
the rim of the intrenched plain rises
the green line of the Cars hunting
forest.
In that direction the fighting be-
comes emphatically vicious and late IN
the afternoon the roar and rattle are
incessant and widely distributed
, Without cxaggeration, II may be said
that the whole region for miles around
seems to surge under the concuSsion.
The Austrian guns are supported by
- A....r;n, nf clY cnns nuch nlanf I'D