Evening star., 1915-12-26

timeter or 17-inch howitser. which
blasted the steel cupolas and cement
beds into pieces. They were no secret
to the allied staff. as the world sup
posed. Their existence was known.
but the funds were not forthcoming for
building them in England and France.
But this was only one reason: for that
type is not used except against forts.
The Germans knew that they were 60
ing through Belgium, and knew that
they had to destroy Liege and. tNamur.
Therefore, they built guns for the .pur-
pose.
are nailed into place. Every enemy
knows exactly where they are-he has
them nicely plotted on q blue print. In
his attack he approaches with gun
that can be moved. He screens this
gun from the aeroplanes while his own
aeroplanes keep the enemy's from COM
ing too near. With Its own location
unknown while that of the target is
known and stationary. it opens up a
destructive cannonade on that nicely
II the forts around San Francisco are
ever taken II will not be by naval guns.
No navy Will send fleet into harbor
defended by mines and submarines. Our
forts will be taken after our fieet is
beaten at sea or driven into harbor
and held in blockades as the German
feet Is. The troops and heavy mobile
guns are landed to attack from the
rear.
New York Can Be Cut or.
New York can be surrounded and cut
OF. II need be. without one of our coast
guns ever firing a shot-not even IL
they had a range Of forty miles. II the
enemy wanted to destroy fort by
gunfire. he would use the same type of
heavy mobile howitzer as the Germans
used for Liege, Antwerp and Maui
beuge.
Stationary guns imply that you wait
for the enemy to come and hit you.
/ You are tied in a corner, unable to
move your hands. while he beats you
with his fists.
dun. their great eastern frontier, they
gave up the idea of stationary guns.
They put their infantry, out so far in
advance that the big German 17-inch
howitzers could not be brought to bear.
They kept transferring their fortress
guns from one point to another as it
suited their purpose. Their hands were
not tied. They were free to move.
The Germans failed to take Verdun
because the French kept to the mobile
fensiye must lose. Besides the Bel
CLAN defense Of Namur, amateurish and
inexperienced. that of the French de-
tense OF Verdun represents scientific
modern warfare.
Where you want your guns is where
the enemy strikes on your coast. If
you nail your guns down, he is not
coming where they are to make his
landing. but If your howitzers and guns
can be moved on fast railroad trains
to give him a reception wherever he
decides to force your hospitality
We ought to be apprised Of any land
ing on the United States coast east or
west by our aerial and naval scouting
services. Word would be telegraphed
to our artillery headquarters and the
artillery trains and motor trucks
would Immediately move out, not to
sit down and take it," but to give it"
to the other fellow. That is practical
by the best armies of the world in this
war.
For this work we need inch, six
inch, eight-inch and ten-inch and field
guns. A sewenteen-inch howitzer puts
too much material into one. basket. 1t
merely makes a larger hole in the
ground in open warfare. and. if it
misses, II does no more harm than
two-inch she'll which misses. All
the guns used along the trench front
under. They are easily moved. There
is no necessity of building a cement
bed to emplace them.
AS there are no forts in Mexico. and
as we do not anticipate going oversee
to take the offensive against forts, we
need no seventeen-inch howitzers.
though some people think we do, just
because the Germans had them. They
are as out OF place in our scheme of
defense as motor cars for mountain
climbing.
Guns Are Best Insurance.
There is nothing like having the start
nf iv1 l1ov =,
While the allies were working to build
supply Of heavy calibers equal to
what the Germans had at first, the Ger
man plants were busy constructing
more and more guns to add to their al
ready large number. OF course. the al
lies will eventually catch up and pass
the Germans, but think OF the time it
takes. With artillery th.s Germans
crashed through in Gaiicia. and again
mer. maintaining their superiority of
anywhere from two to five to one of
gunfire against the Russians. With
sufficient guns you can hold back an
invading force. Guns are the best in
surance policy there is for an unde-
But, then, won't a million freemen in
their shirt sleeves spring to arms in
case Of war? Let US suppose they did.
Let us transfer them to Flanders on a
tcu-IulG front Oh tTeHcNeS. Iney are
not to have any guns. and, of course.
they would have no adequate aerial
service, because that cannot be made in
the time 1t takes the freeman to pick
up his rifle and jump aboard the first
passenger train bound for the front.
Nor would they have any anti-air craft
guns. Against them we will place
$4,000 trained infantry. plain, ordinary.
everyday drilled soldiers. But the
$4,000 are to have adequate artillery
and shells and machine guns placed in
the trenches at distance OF every
fifty yards. For the $4,000 aren't in for
any hurrah-boys hero business. They
are out to win.
Let US suppose the million are going
to attack. For. of course, they would,
being brave and outnumbering the en-
emy twenty to one. AS they marched
up the road in close order. as becomes
a crowd which has not had proper
training, the enemy's aeroplanes would
locate them and wire to the enemy
guns. As nothing makes such excel
guns would begin pumping high ex-
plosive shells into that road. Every
time one hit 1t would clean up all the
men in the road for a distance OF forty
or fifty yards. In the course Of a few
hours there would be no. road left: it
would be a series of craters and dust
heaps mixed with blood and rags Of
shirt sleeves.
But that would not disturb the free
Aren't they brave? The high powered
rife guns would begin on them at
10000 to $4,000 yards. the howitzers at
from 5000 to 5000 and the field guns
at from 5000 to 1000. As they were
thrown in the air by the explosion of