Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-25
Marvellous System Provided to
Get Accurate Data on
Foes Strength.
PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN
FROM FLOORS OF AER0S
Developed by Experts, Who Print
Them-German Prisoners Pur.
suaded to Aid.
Copyright 1851
BY HERBERT COREY,

Copyright 1851
BY HERBERT COREY,
IN THE ARGONNE, May To-day
we have seen an artillery engagement,
a fight with hand grenades, and have
been hurried out of a dugout under
which some Germans were preparing
to explode a mine. But the thing we
saw which bordered on the fantastic
was something to which we became &C
customed when we entered the fourth
reader grade back home and met that
old fashioned geography with the pic
ture Of the Patagonian native trying to
trip a savage ostrich by entangling his
legs with bolas.
This marvel is map. A printed
map. map of every curve and kink
and artillery covert and ammunition
cache of the German trenches opposite.
We are still gasping over it. To us it
seems the one irdubitable miracle Of
a war that abounds in marvels.
Photos Taken in Air.
This is why it is a miracle. The in
formation on which these maps arc
based was obtained from photographs
taken from the air. They are 80 pre-
else that gun positions are located
within fifteen meters. The subsequent
shellng of that gun position becomes
henceforth a mere matter of slate-and-
pencil arithmetic. The second remark
able thing about them is the fact that
they are printed. This is at once
proof that the French have in eminent
degree that gift of organization Of
which they once denied possession. and
an evidence of the permanent nature
Of modern war. 1t would assuredly not
be worth while to print maps of posi-
lions which might be shifted over
night.
In the bottom of the car of each aero
plane is an opening covered by a swing
ing window of transparent cellulofd
When the observer sees through this
window that he is over the right place
on the enemy's lines he opens it, and
a camera drops into place. The pre-
else nature of this camera Is something
of secret. The Germans have some
thing of the same sort, but the French
in the solution of abstruse problems by
ingenious means.
Negatives Developed.
Our apparatus is much the better"
we were assured.
When the fiier returns to his lines the
negative is developed. He knows the
exact height from which 1t was taken,
it's further manipulation to work out
angles and distances. That negative is
placed in a machine of a more than hu-
man intelligence. An electric light
shines from below through the mega
tives, so that its lines are directed upon
a frame covered with waxed paper.
This frame is tilted at the precise angle
the aeroplane held when the photo
graph was taken. 1t is held at a dis
lance from the negative which is an
exact miniature of the distance the
plane was from the ground.
Now the map-making becomes sim
Pile process. The map-maker studies
the negative under the most powerful
magnifying glasses. A feck upon it
which might be covered by a pinpoint
may be a well-concealed gun. When
the map has been drawn the interpre-
tation of it is kindly undertaken by
the German prisoners. No doubt they
are not willingly consenting parties.
stion to be obliging is the chief reason
why the possession OF prisoners is an
asset.
Not Worrying About Future.
What is this thing here, Fritz"
In comprehending Fritz's state of
mind, remember what Fritz has just
gone through. He has escaped with
his life when scores of his mates have
died bloodily around him. He has been
released from wet trenches and poor
food and constant labor and ever pres
ent fear. His Immediate future is as
sured. He knows that until the end of
the war he will live in comparative
comfort in a prison camp. He has been
well fed and warmed and dried and he
IL smoking good cigar. The German
army is short of tobacco. A cigar
makes powerful appeal to the Teuton
captive.
q do not know" says Fritz.
Fritz is urged to think. circle of
French officers sitting about insist that
he think. Fritz is uneasy in the pres
ence of officers. He has been taught to
stand at such times, but these officers
insist that he sit. Fritz wriggies un-
happily. The officers are more urgent
that he concentrate his mental powers
upon the task of thought. Moral sua-
sion is unquestionably powerful
force In the end Fritz thinks. Some
times his thought takes a patriotic but
crooked course and he tries deception.
1t does not pay Distinctly ii does
not pay. Sometimes Fritz persists in
mortal error for several seances, but
! in the end he thinks accurately He
has discovered that his thoughts are
being checked up.
Map Made Accurate.
So that in the end the map is an
infinitely finer and more accurate one
than any other map in existence. 1t
is accurate almost to the foot l have
stated that a gun position can be To-
Gated within fifteen meters from the
photograph, but when the map-making
process is finished and distances and
angles-and FritZ-have collaborated
! the gun is located almost to the foot,
On one I saw the map-makers could
tell the depth Of the houses in which
various hauptmen live. and the dis
lance from front yard to front gate
and how far the various lines of
trenches are apart and the places
where the bombproofs have been dug,
and the location of the wells, and a
thousand other minute details Of tran
scendent importance. I have no doubt
that each OF the scores of others are
likewise accurate to the length of a
gun barrel Each new prisoner and
each new photograph furnishes a cor
| rectfon, II one Is needed.
The use of the map is only a matter
| Of calculating angles by the artillery.
FTl-