Tensas gazette., 1916-09-22

are required for an army in the field
ach Truck carried four or five troopers in olive dra
squatted insecurely top Of the load
Inc road was uneven, ii was full of ruts but tn,
auto truck train gded along at the rate of from egh
TO ten miles an hour The vehicles kept a perfec
augment The troopers swOre softly but earnestl,
as the trucks jolted
Even as the army mule watched the sweating swear
ing truck train disappeared into cloud of dust be
yond the border line. Then the mule tilted back hi
detected head and gave to secret sorrow In ont
Iarreachlng vocal effort. AS though mocking hi
grief the horns Of the auto trucks footed back de
risively In the distance
The grief of that army mule the grief of Othel
10 with his occupation gone He sunk behind the Sott
cactus and subsided into painful meditation He hat
just seen his finish
de realized at that moment that the army mule
would never again hold a high place among the fac
tors which win battles He realized that practca
poets would no longer sing of the virtues which the
army mule could display upon great emergencies He
was already obsolete. down and out
Even the mule skinner" with the picturesque vo
cabuary and the hard words, had abandoned him
The mule skinner was driving one of those
auto trucks. and was addressing 1t with strained
politeness when he spoke to 1t at all.
1t was all wrong. By the martyred mule of
Matanzas. Of which the army bards sang during the
Spanish American war days. 1t was all wrongl
There was no use to pull against the auto truck.
He had tried it when they hitcned him to the rear
of one. He decided to drag the thing back the
desert But instead, he was relentlessy dragged
on his launches for mile. and he gave it up.
The Columbus expedition has demonstrated that
In the matter Of army transportation 'the mule is
dead. long live the auto truckv 1t had already
been demonstrated at the battle of the Marne,
when motor vehicles checked the German advance
and saved France
But our war department moves with excessive
deliberation. 1t cung tenaciously to its faith in
the mule until the first auto truck train went
galumphing into Mexico making three times the
distance that mule could make over roads which
NO motor-driven vehicle could be expected to
travel.
The consequence was a rush order for auto
trucks and drivers. The auto trucks standing
up wonderfully WELL They plow through the akali
dust up to the hubs. they jolt over the rocky
places they founder through the sandy wastes that
grind the bearings and they pun through the
mountain passes. They 60 anywhere the mule will
60. and they get there in better time.
While the long trail from Columbus to Nami-
Quipa Is lined with the carcasses of mules and
horses the auto trucks 60 rumblng on in their
work of keeping the field army supplied with food
and ammunition. They perform new miracles
upon every new emergency.
There are several hundred auto trucks at the
army base at Columbus. On a pinch those trucks
could move entire brigade In one day twice
far all the horses and mules In the world could
move It. This Is true. despite the fact that many
OF the truckS are Oduly rdckeu because Oh Ddu
driving
Not only does the successful test Of the auto
truck spell the passing of the mule train. 1t
also means the passing of cavalry. the most pic
turesQue branch of the service. Even cavalry OFF,
GERS In the punitive expedition will admit that
three four auto trucks will get a company Of in
fantry twice far on a forced march as the best
mounted troop Of cavalry could travel.
Cavalry charges are rare In these days Of rapid
fire rifles and machine guns. The horses are used
only to get the men to the front, where they op-
crate as infantry When the gasOine-fed mounts
can get them there much faster than the horses
II begins to look bad for the cavalry horse.
- The United States army Of the near future will
travel extensively on gasoline. There will be few
more heart-breaking infantry hikes, and there will
be few more wild cavalry rides. leaving in their
wake dead and dying horses. Even field artillery
can be carried by the auto trucks
All of this should have been realized before One
of the lasting benefits Of the punitive expedition
will be the undermining of the military transpor-
tation branch. The auto truck has passed the
stern test.
For the present the auto truck trains with the
army In Mexico are not working under any definite
system The organization of the truck train of the
United States army has not been decided upon.
Neither has the type of truck to be used i'm the
organization been decided upon. Captains and
lieutenants are busy taking notes as to net mile
age and gasoline requirements; also. stability
and reliability of the different makes of trucks in
the service.
The drivers are q mixed lot. Some are regular