The Washington times., 1916-01-22
ASKS S5O,OOO,0OO
FOR BATTERIES Of.
MOBILE ARTILLERY.
Congressman Capstick Urges
Guns Mounted on Special
Railroad Cars.

Congressman John II. Cspstick Of
New Jersey today intr oduced bill pro-
viding for the appropriation of s5o,oct,cto
for a system of mobile artillery upon
railroad cars. The bill was referred to
the House Committee on Military AZ
fairs.
The bill provides for the mounting
of fifty 1G-inch mortars and ten h-inch
rlfes on specially constructed rai,rcad
cars which can be quickly locked to
solid concrete foundations at various
points along the line for instant Use to
secure accuracy and rapidity Of fire
control"
The measure calls for the c"nstruc-
tion of $50 concrete foundations to be
built along the Atlantic coast.
Cost of Project.
The cost Of the special cars. equip
ped with two mortars or a H-inch rife
and two turrcts. at the ends for use
as shelter by the twenty or twenty-five
men assigned to each car. is estimated
at $4,000 each. The concrete founda
uonS Will CCbt petNeeH So'''V anu "i''V"
each.
From these figures 1t Is estimated that
at a cost of $J,e0o, ,ooo, or less than the
price OF q modern lighting ship, tho
United States could equip its coast
defenses with 10 guns which could lie
moved to any place desired and when
attached to the concrete founGa: ions
become more rowerfnl than a fleet of
battIeships or a chain Of permanent
forts.
Goes To Senate, Too.
This new plan for coast defense s tre
suggestion of Lawrence Luellen. inven-
tor Of the raper drinking cup. and Cecil
F. Dawson. also Of New York. Nr.
Luellen Is now at the Willard Hotel,
where he will remain until some de-
cision Is reached on the bill introduced
by Congressman Carstick.
A similar bill will he introduced in
the Senate by Senator Works. according
to Mr.. I,uellen.
Monday morning Mr.. Luellen will
send to each Congressman and Sena'
tor three pamphlets containing wealth
OF information about the proposed coast
defense. Each pamphlet will be accom-.
panied by a drawing illustrating vari-
Gus phases OF the mobile artillery sys-
tenn in operation. Sectional drawings
OF the cars, foundations. and turrets
as we'll as others showing the reeoi
and the method to be employed in Sc
curely and firmly locking the cars to
the concrete foundations appear in the
pamphlets. In the booklets the invent.
ors 60 thoroughly into all phases OF
war what is being done In Europe to-
day and how the cars and foundations
are to be constructed and used
Mr.. Luellen said today that one OF
these guns attached to foundation
would have 800 chances to a battleship's
one in war. Said he:
Approved BY Experts.
The many War Department experts
including Brig. Gems. NJ. NJ. Macomb
Erasmus NJ. Weaver. William Crozier
and Maj. Gen. Leonard A. Wood. whc
with advice. cooperation and criti
cisms. have figured that the chances OF
accurate firing would be eight times as
great from one of our foundations As
they are from moving battleship
They have also worked 1t out that the
and foundations would be only one
fortieth OF that offered by a battleship
From this 1t can be easily seen thai
we have 800 chances to a battleship'E
one"
Has Many Advantages.
Mr.. Lueller also pointed out many ad
vantaGes which NJ said the proposed
mobile artillery would have over per
manent forts. He said the guns coulC
be hauled rapidly over the rails to any
point they were needed; that. unlike
the guns in permanent forts, they couc
be removed so as to preclude capture
and use by an enemy. and that they
could be hidden behind hills so as tc
fhair hainp tnCafah hv a
hacking battleship.
The inventor said that while the pro
posed plan dealt only with the coas
defense use of the cars and founda
ton. that they could be employee
equally effectively in the interior. lIt
believes the transportation of the gun!
on the cars would eliminate many o.
the difficulties encountered in moving
the 42-centimeter and other big gun!
in Europe because OF bad roads ant
the inability of the highways to sup
port the enormous weights.