Evening star., 1915-12-26
AMERICA WITHOUT BIG GUNS
!: TO OFFER SLIGHTEST DEFENSE

lanes. clear to bring munitions to her
would have to make in case of war.
She was ready to pay any price to get
those guns-nve times their usual cost
she could could hay have 60, them in six
for them and her veteran infantry suf-
fered for the lack Of them. Times
were hard in the United States; there
was the chance ,,,n ,nt Tor our manufactursrs
Gus bonuses. Yet. surprising fact. not
even American adaptability and enter
prise were able to make the guns as
quickly as you'll knock a dry goods
fore they could produce the guns they
had to build the plans for gun-making.
A year has passed and England has
not enough guns yet. Meanwhile, she
as we'll as new She had remodeled the
old as a makeshift till the new arrived.
Consider the cost Of the delay. Con-
slider what 1t would have meant II she
had had 5000 guns ready! Then the
not have had to wait for months after
they had been drilled before they had
the tools to work with. They were like
railroad crews with no trains to run.
To say that we have munition plants
guns as fast as we, please, is also very
faulty reasoning. Even with. your
plants ready, It takes months to make
guns. And then. it is quite important
knows how to fire them
The French largely placed their re-
lance on one type. the held gun. So
have we. And now, we have 500 OF
them made or making. including those
for our National Guard. But, Of course,
we have not the gunners to man them.
They throw a three-inch shell, contain
ing 800 or more shrapne1 bullets, which
are propelled by burst in the air over
the heads Of infantry. A three-inch
minute for minute or two. and It
can keep up six or eight shots quite
consistently. Thus. a battery Of four
guns means "a shots a minute. or 240
shells. bursting their 800 bullets. which
would be over $4,000. in a space 100
yards square. How would you like to
be drawn up in reserve in that space
with no guns on your side to reply ?
The French had the best field gun be-
cause Of its steadiness against recoil.
which kept continual accuracy of aim.
Though the French did not believe
much in machine guns, they were
fully alive before the war to the need
Of ample guns of larger caliber. But
war was possible. It did not feel it
could afford the money for an up-to-
date gun esta blishment So the French
went into the war lacking either
nSaVy atIlkleTy OF a euHlClenL SUpplY
Of high explosive shells.
French Suffered Handicap.
The high explosive bursts after 1t
enters the earth: it smashes trenches
into dust and destroys buildings. One
hitting in the right place may wipe
out half company Of infantry. On
the battlefield Of Lorraine, where Paris
was saved in the great struggle of Au-
gust-September, 1914, no less than on
the Marine, I was able to understand
the fearful handicap which the French
suffered One could see just how far
the fire Of the Bavarian guns reached
by the pits dug in the field by their
high explosives. There were places
Where these were so numerous along a
line held by the French infantry that
you could almost cross a field by STEP
ping from one to another.
Upon the plateau d'Amance, in Lor-
raine. hill perhaps three-quarters Of
mile in length and an eighth in
breadth, the Bavarian artillery threw
battle of Lorraine. That was in the
early days before we heard of half
million shells being fired in twenty
four hours. 1t proved again that the
Germans foresaw the character Of
nevertheless. stuck" and they saved
Lorraine and helped save Paris
Yet how many French mothers paid
the price of that victory in the loss
Of a son, whose life might have been
saved If France had had adequate
lery. as represented by; the wonderful
efficiently manned seventy-five? No
wonder the French made q holiday in
honor Of that field gun and called 1t
soixante ouinze day." No wonder that
'Frenchmen wear a bronze replica of
the Soixante Quinze in their button
hole. as If 1t were a decoration. It is
a symbol of the power of machinery
in modern war.
If the French are the best gunners
is partly because Of tradition Inherited
from Napoleon's time. The artillery
instinct is in their blood. Their ma
ture Ats them to be gunners. They
love the work of the gunners. But
that is not enough. Year in and year
trained for the day when war should
come. Therefore. the gunners. as well
as the guns, must be ready. Gunnery
has become an exact science. A pri-
man. good mechanic. quick Of eye
and hand. cool. and he must know his
work by long drill.
AS many as 500 guns have been used
on the western front in supporting an
infantry attack on 5000 yards of
were enough. They were not. Again
and again-there cannot be too many
guns in modern warfare. Particularly
were there not enough Of the larger
calibers-four, six and eight inch. both
rifles and howitzers. The rified gun
carries long distance. The shell does
not go high. but in a low Trajectory, as
it is called. which makes 1t less useful
against trenches than the shorter
range howitzer. with higher angle of
flight, which brings 1t down into the
narrow ditch In the earth. The howit-
zers and field guns work together, the
high explosive and the shrapnel. One
drives bullets into the faces of the in
fantry when in the open; the other
tosses the infantry skyward by eXplo-
sions in the earth. One destroys the
barbed wire in front of the trenches;
the other destroys the trenches.
High Explosives Essential.
At the start Of this war the allied
gunners, disbelieving in high explo-
sives, fred 80 per cent OF shrapnel. The
percentage has been almost reversed
in favor Of high explosives. Modern
warfare means digging. Instantly in
fantry comes to rest In face of the
enemy they go to work with their
spades. In half an hour they will have
protection from shrapneL Howitzers
and high explosives have become es-
sential. How many howitzers have we
to defend our hundred million people?
Don't whisper how strong We are to
any of those European powers; 1t
might seem q threat. Our regular army
possesses two batteries Of four seven