Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-08-02
Year Since Germany Declared War Against Russia and All eat Powers
Europe We're Drawn into the Struggled Review Of the Terrible Strife
in Which Millions Of Men Have Been Killed. Wounded Made Cap

ondary place. It was with artillery that
the Austro-German forces blasted their
way across Galicia a few weeks ago,
making what was said to be the greatest
concentration of heavy and light field
pieces ever seen. With artillery the
British won at Neuve Chapelle, the Ger
mans at scissors. Every considerable
of infantry is preceded by a
heavy artillery bombardment, and fire.
quently the infantry has little more to
do than occupy the positions of the enc
my mode untenable by artillery hre.
The deadliness of machine guns neces-
stated recourse to trenches, for no troops
in exposed positions could live within
the range Of the rapid tirers. Conse-
quently trench warfare has developed
to an extent never before seen. Whole
armies moved into underground quar-
ters, with elaborate labyrinths of pas.
sages and subterranean living and slekp-
ing quarters.
The result of machine warfare was the
use of ammunition on a scale for which
the world was unprepared. England
recognized it as her greatest problem,
and made David LloydGeorge Minister
of Munitions, with power to mobilize the
nations workers for the production of
war munitions on colossal scale.
France took similar measures. Italy,
which had lG months to prepare for war,
found it necessary after two months of
f1ph TING RI NV
preme committee to increase the .produc-
ton of munitions. The battle of Neuve
Chapelle alone is said to have cast the
British the expenditure of more powder
than the entire Boer war. 4.
One result of the development of this
form of warfare is the eclipse of caval-
ry as one of the principal arms of the
service. Cavalry is still used to a small
extent on the eastern front, but it's en-
ployment in France virtually has been
abandoned. The cavalrymen have been
dismounted and placed in the trenches.
Almost as conspicuous is the de-
velopment of submarine warfare. The
remarkable exploits of submarines
have proved their efficiency SO thor
oughly that already the supremacy Of
battleships has been challenged. Ger
many, compelled to rely chiefly on
these craft for her marine activities,
has gained the greatest success with
them. Their first large achievement
was the torpedoing and sinking by
one submarine within an hour of the
British cruisers Cressy, Aboukir and
Hogue in the North Sea in Septem-
Der. Since that time hundreds of
vessels, warships and merchantmen,
have been sent to the bottom, in the
North Sea- the Baltic, the English
Channel, the Adria tic, and at the OAR
danelles. From all causes more than
500 vessels have been destroyed Eng.
by reason of her preponderance OF
shipping and also on account of the
German governments attempt to
blockade that country following the
declaration of a war zone around the
British Isles last February.
In size, speed and cruising radius
the new type of submarines far ex-
ceeds the earlier small vessels, de-
signed primarily for coast defense.
long as a good sized cruiser. Captain
Otto Hersing took the U-51 about
1000 miles from Wilhelmshaven past
Gibraltar, through the Mediterranean
and to the Dardanelles, where it tor
pedoed the British battleships Tri-'
umph and Majestic. and proceeded to
Constantinople. The voyage from
Wilhelmshaven to the Dardanelles re-
quired one month
The aeropiane almost an unknown
quantity at the beginning of the war
SO far as its military value was con-
cerned, has proved the practicability
so thoroughly that it must be rated
with the submarine and the heavy
gun as one of the great features Of the
war. In fact, it has exercised domi-
mating influence over land operations,
and to its use perhaps more than any
other single factor may be ascribed
the deadlock month after month in
the principal fields % battle. 1t has
rendered priceless service in recon-
noitering, taking the place of cavalry.
1t has caused a revision of the tactics
and strategy of war. Aerial observ-
ers, flying over the opposing lines, are
able to discover movements Of any
large bodies Of troops, rendering that
form of strategy based on surprise
attacks or quick movements in force
impossible. Aeroplanes also have
been of great value in locating enemy
positions. enabling the artillery to get
the range and fire accurately on the
unseen foe.
Dirigible balloons also are en-
ployed, but to much less exent al
though Germany still is constructing
Zeppelins and has used them ef-
fectively for long distance raids they
are generally regarded as less valu-
able than the aerplanes.
Automobiles are used to an enor-
nous extent, all private machines be-
ing requisitioned in some Of the coun-
tries at war. In some instances great
numbers Of automobiles have been
utilized for rapid transportation Of
troops. Their man service, however.
is in the handling Of food supplies
and ammunition. Armored automo-
biles, armed with machine guns or
light field pieces also have been util-
ICED.
Many new weapons of war have
been tested with varying degrees Of
success. Poisonous gases. projected
from tanks in the trenches, are re-
ported to have enabled their users to
capture opposing positions in several
minor enra remopts Steel ia rfc or6