Norwich bulletin., 1915-05-12
Auto a Necessity.

ga nation which had exclusively the
secret of the internal combustion en-
CINE could conquer the world. Under
present circumstances, a nation which
could conquer the gasoline supply
would be the dominant military power.
The automobile has without question
been the most important factor in
modern warfare"
1t was at headquarters of the First
British Army that an eminent Brit
| lsh staff officer made these observa-
tons. He had been delivering a quasi
lecture to a group of correspondents,
explaining the many uses of motor
| transport.
Without motor traffic the present
great war of SEurope would have been
impossible. There would have been
great battles to be sure; great battles
such as Gettysburg and Waterloo; but
an army crushed would remain crush
ed. Today reinforcements can be
thrown here and there almost as a
man would fling a. handful of grain.
Thousands can be moved miles over
night; thousands can be poured into
the trenches in few hours.
One has but to motor over the she'll
pocked fighting area of France and
Belgium to appreciate the Importance
| of the automobile. Painted dull grey,
olive drab, or daubed zebra-like, on
the principle that the splotched colors
prevent observations, they lumber or
whizz. according to their load and
power, over the magnificent roads of
France, most of which are still in
superb condition Notwithstanding the
| traffic of war, bearing food, ammuni-
| ton and supplies, at rate that the
| general of old never dreamed of.
| A correspondent of The Associated
Press, motoring southwest from Ypres,
a few miles behind the lines Of par
rallel trenches, passed hundred of mo-
| tor lorries, making their way to rail-
| head there to collect supplies which
they would carry toward the front the
| next morning. Driven by bus chauf
feurs from the Strand and Piccadilly
| by taxicab drivers from the four cor
| ners of the earth, many from Canada,
some from New York, Chicago and
| Pittsburgh, these great cars, lights
| dimmed, crept along in an unbroken
| stream for miles, reminding one of the
roads of Long Island the night before
! the Vanderbilt Cup Race.
From the trenches of the contend
| ing armies searchlights thrust thin
1 fingers into the black sky; and every
| now and then a magnesium flare, also
sent up from some trench, would H.
Illuminate the heavens like sheet light
ming.
Riding with an officer of the General
Staff, driven by an American chauf-
Ieur, formerly mechanic for Barney
| Oldheld, the correspondents swept
along at fifty miles an hour, thread
ing their way through the line of Ior-
ries, here and there passing infantry
moving to the trenches, or a battery
changing its position. Timidly the
carts of the French peasants Rugged
the far side of the road. The horses
were invariably white-a color not
| wanted by the army-or so decrepid as
to be of no military value.
Hi therei Out of the way YOU!
the American chauffeur would shout
At peasant slow in turning his old
morse from the roadway the chauffeur
would shake his fist and swear. He
| was driving an officer, and he had ne
patience with civilians. They got nc
business being where armies are any-
way" he commented ingenerously, as
| If the poor peasants could have moved
| if they had SO desired