The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1916-09-20
BATTLE ENGINES
ARE FARM TRACTORS
Deadly Machines Used by
the British Were Built
in Peoria, Ill.
CRAWL ON GROUND
LIKE CATERPILLAR
Covered with Armor and Equipped
with Machine Guns They Are Proving
Veritable Juggernauts of Destruction
in the European War.

The British "tanks,' the armored
motor cars used in recent assaults on
German trenches in Northern France
so successfully as to attract worldwide
attention. were built for the most part
in Peoria. H., in the form of caterpil-
lar tractors designed to meet some of
the difficult problems in modern farm
ing. Except for their armor, their ma
chine guns and their crews thousands
are in use today in the United States
in labor 5 less heroic occupation than
war.
II. II. Baker, vice president of the
| Holt Manufacturing company, explained
here that it was machines made b. his
company at Peoria, H., that had hur-
| died German trenches, walked through
forests and crawled over she'll craters
| in the face of intense gunfirc.
''We have sold about 1000 caterpil-
| lar tractors to the British government,
he said. Some of our men at Alder
shot, England, recently were notified
that the British intended to arm some
of the tractors and use them for work
other than the usual towing of big guns.
"These tractors can 90 ahead owe,
almost anything or through almost any
thing. They can straddle trench, go
Through a swamp, roll over logs, or
climb through shell craters like Q car
of iuggernaut. 1t looks uncannv to see
them crawl along the ground Just like
la huge caterpillar.
Mr.. Baker said the tractors sent to
England weigh about $4,000 pounds
each, develop 100 horsepower and arc
built of steel. The tractor crawls on
I, two belts. or steel rails. in short sec.
i, tions, operating over a cogged meehan
ism that actually LAYS them down with
their belt attachment as the tractor
| moves ahead and picks them up again
50 that the car runs on its own self
, made track continuously.
In the ordinary tractor about sever
, feet of belt and rails hug the ground
Mr.. Baker said that the machine woulC
bridge any trench not wider than the
) length Of track it laid on the GROUND
at one time The Chow might hit thu
far side of the trench far below tn,
: top and the "stern' undoubtedl,
would sink a little, but the tenacitv o
the tractor, he declared, would enable i
| to climb ont He suggested that tn
British probably had heightened tn
track, giving the tractors greater powe
: 1t is understood the United State
: war department is experimenting wit
4 armored tractors somewhat like thos
now in use on the British battle line.
A London despatch SAYS credit fo
I the new travelling land forts which hav
4 been used during the past few days o
1 the British front belong to two mel
l Lieut. Col. f. d. Swinton of the INTEL
1 gence department of the general sta
/ and Maj. Stern. Lieut.. Col. Swinto
4 will be remembered as one of the of
l Ger "eve Witnesses who wrote a
1 counts of the early days around Yprc
4 for British newspapers. Mai. Stern
a business man, who has for some tin
4 been in the employ of the governmen
l The Dailr Mail describes the new mo-
! sters as follows;
l FThese low lying, dust colored to
I tOiscs have no resemblance to mot
/ ears. They are in fact steel land shi
Of immense power and wonderful c
1 pacity. In practise they can elm
l walls, push through dense woods, gro
/ trenches and vancouver in and ont
u craters One of the most remarkal
: facts about them is the secrecy wi
"a which the making of their thousands
~ parts was yelled in the midland toy
Of their birth. The army likes the
but it is not placing too much relian
on what IS For the present only an {
ng pertinent.