El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-10-07

w TASH1-NE4ON, l. - OCT .
. NJ We are 70 have tanks" OF
our own. War department
experts are already contemplating the
construction Of a few experimental
ones as soon as more definite informa-
ton is obtained in regard to their
design.
For quite a while past our military
authorities have been experimenting
with caterpillar tractors Of great size
for dragging huge loads over territory
impossible for wheeled vehicles. Now.
in view Of their recent adaptation. for
fighting purposes on the British front
along the Somme. the experts are fig
uring on the best method OF providing
them with guns and armor-
Caterpillar tractors, il appears, are
TO be employed for transporting great
guns from point to point along our
seacoasts in places where there are no
permanent Notifications On the rorti-
fled island Of Oahu. in the Hawaiian
archipelago. a regiment Of "hOrseless
artillery" CHE first OF its kind in the
world is to employ these conrivances
in lieu o. animals. But they viii not
be armCred-
Z
ton house II in with steel plates thick
enough TO be proof against rifle bull
lets and shrapnel. ana you nave Just
such a walking fort" is the recent
dispatches from the S0mme front pic
ture- If (as repOrtedl each tank" is
large enough to require four tractors
10 carry ii, the affair might well be
called a monster.
Are Crawling Monsters.
One should realize that The crawling
mechanism, by which one Of these
vehicles, is not in the least like an
arrangement OF wheels. It is a pair OF
endless belts. running the entire length
OF the car. and engaging with the
ground by steel feet in such fashion as
strongly to resemble the walking Of
a caterpillar
them, and before long doubtless we
shall read of fights in which the
f1and-dreadnaug OF caterpillar pat
tern are engaged against one another
Meanwhile it is to the British an i'm
Dortant advantage to be first in the
field with this novel instrument OF
Warfare-just as was the case with
poison gas when the Germans utilized
II as a surprise at Hpres- Our army
officers detailed as military observers
with the British forces will promptly
furnish the war department with
descriptive details Of the s-monsterS
construction. and the Ordinance bureau
will set about the business or copying
them. with improvements
The mode Of locomotion employed
by the tanks has a suggestion of
weirdness. They are described as
moving reptile fashion. not on wheels.
but a. If crawling on their bellies As
q matter Of fact, they do move on
wheels, but the wheels, odd though II
may seem. do not touch the ground.
SfrnddIes the Trenches
No imaginable wheels (as ordinarily /
employed) could enable vehicle 70 |
move at will over an area torn up by |
sheIl-fire. Picture TO yourself a belt I
Of territory thrown into almost vol
canic confusion with mine-craters so /
rupted at frequent intervals BY I
trenches. But the tank" straddles the /
trenches; mine -craters are no obstacle I
TO it; II knocks down and passes clean
through substantial buildings in its 4
path: IL will even traverse a wood up
roofing such trees as are not broken
out Of the way by its weights and
momentum.
its appearance and mode OF progress
suggesting q monstrous prehistoric
reptile. So, indeed, might a Cotton .
dipledeOus or some other huge dino
saurian have moved, ages ago, crea-
ture likewise clad IN armor plates,
though unprovided unlike the new
ma chine Of war; with weapons Of
offense. Some observers have likened II \
to gigantic toad Straddling a trench,
II directs through the latter an en-
filading fire, discriminating its oc-
cupants- Squatting upon "dug-out" 4
in the path Of following infantry II
deals with the underground strong
hold as II it were wasp-nest wiping 4
out its defenders
To complete its destructive work,
Il is said TO employ a supplementary /
weapon. "of which no account (say
the dispatches, censored by British (
authority may yet be given" Is il I
possible that a hose extruded from
the tank is thrust into trench or dug
out, emitting a stream OF poison gas
into the enemy's defensive refuge? No ]