Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-03-30
ARE FORTS DOOMED?

Will the abandonment of forts be one of th,
lessons of the present warl Already there ha.
been much speculation over the changes il
warfare that will result from the present worle
conflict. The submarine has raised the ques
ton of the utility of the dreadnought Tht
.value of cavalry has been open to doubt. Nov
there are those who say the erumbling of thu
defenses of Liege! the comparatively easy cap
ture of Antwerps the impending conquest Of
the Dardanelles, write the doom of the perma
nent fertilization. 49,.
In that question Hawaii is vitality interested
Here is the view=of a correspondent, Paul Scot
Mowrer of the Chicago Daily News, who has
been in the French lines since the outbreak Of
the war and who has seen many of the opera
tons in which French and Belgian fortified
tions have been smashed by the big German
guns. He says: -.>s i:
This question of Notifications touches the United
States closely. It has long coast line to defend
It would do well. Il seems to me, to study the ex-
perience Of Longwy, Maubeuge Iege Namur and
antwerp The last named was considered oy some
September Germsu general said to Jacques .Obels
special correspondent Of The Daily News We will
take Antwerp any time like He made good this
statement Within month the defenscs of Antwerp
were uir-knockvd to pieces in two or three days
by comparatively small force of Germans. They
simply had guns Which could shoot farther than
8 the guns of the forts. a.
Are we to conclude that all permanent fortihca-
tons are useless? Yes, practically just that
know there are many army men who will not agree
with me. but there are some who will The dsad-s
vantages Of fort are, first the great nitiaal ex-
pense, and second, its immobilty. When II is at
tackled by heavier pieces than defend It 1t becomes
instantly a dead loss There is not even time to
dismount and save the guns. 80 za
sThs war has shown pretty clearly that properly
constructed trenches and earthworks, in a properly
chosen position. are harder to storm than the best
reinforced concrete Sf0rt6cations 1t 10 better to
conceal battery than to protect with steel plates
II the French had Silent one-haf the time and money
spent on the forts Of Iongws and Maubeuge the
Germans would probably never have gone into
+ France.
AgAsAiIsin ali. hare been wondering II America
would not be we'll advised to adopt entirely new
style coast defensa-one requiring less money and
more brains than naI II use Ls = 90 away gd wlsa
bigger and stronger the better. for. IL they are
needed At all twill against the splendid
these guns on permanent mountings
THE United States could have similar series of
Tsse s. points e sos BE-
could be rushed by all from all the artillery bases
in the region Instead Of having definitely sit
self threatened by FIRE the sources Of which he
could only guess. And even Il he should succeed In
locating the defending batteries they would have
only to change position before continuing their FIRE.
we'll intrenched body Of troops well supported by
artillery could, 1t seems to me, successfully repel
almost any EFFORT to land men on American SOIL
"The first essential, in my opinion, is guns-the
biggest and finest that can be mountedi and after
that mobility 81 "a
OF course, thisiis an island and isolated and
Che issue here is different Mobile artillery
here is not so easy as it sounds. Nor has it
been proved that tie huge German guns would
be effective mounted on Warships. Much de-
ponds on the inside revelations Of the strength
IF the Dardanelles. If its line of Notifications
was as strong as tie world had been given to
believe it was, then the view of men like
Mowrer is upheld -and there is profound
lesson and warning for the United States.