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

means or destroying human life seems
7 10 be too horrible to use nowadays,
when science is employing all the
resources Of higher knowledge for this
ruthless purpose
Is Wells Idea.
Asquith gives credit for the idea Of
/ the tanks" TO Winston Churchill Mr.
Churchill is a man in whom the i'm
aginative faculty IS strongly de-
veloped; but in all nkeuhood. il he
were questioned on the subject. he
would confess that his conception had
its origin in a ficiOnal suggestion
made by the ingenious novelist II. q.
Wells, who, in one of his stories. gives
an account of an armored land-ship so
constructed as to crawl over ana
through the most difficult obstacles.
Jules Verne's undersea boat Gully
described in book published nearly
half century ago. is realized today.
without any very essential modifica-
ton. in the submarine. Now we have
. later fictional suggestion reproduced
III concrete and practical form by the
over the land Who will say that the
imaginative writer has not his func-
ton as an originator Of useful ideas
Is An American Invention.
This adaptation of the caterpillar
tractor for war purposes however, IS
a response to fighting necessity The
machine itself is an American inven-
ton. II has been used for a number
of years past in Death Valley. Cal
(where, OF course, there are no roads,
for hauling bOrax. It is employed in
some Of our national forests. to carry
heavy loads over herwise-impass-
able territory Many such tractors,
made in Peoria. QM). were in tie
possession OF the Germans at the out
set Of the war. They were Utilized TO
drag the great guns that besieged
and destroyed the fortresses OF Liege
and Nemur. early is III conflict. Hun
drds Of them were turned to valuable
account by the Australians and Ger
mans during their invasion Of Russia,
in 1915. to pull heavy loads of sup
plies over roads so deep in mud that
no wheels could have accomplished
the purposes
In view Of what has here been said.
it will be fairly well understood what
the walking forts newly arrived on
the British front really are. House the
caterpillar machine in, with thick
guns) TO defend IL on all sides, and
you have a formidable war car The
tractor alone, without armOr, weighs
20 tons. and is driven by an engine of
125 horsepower But If (as reported
the superstructure Of each tank" IS
on four such tractors, rep
resenting a total of so tons mot count
ing armor) and 500 horsepower. the
new fighting appartus is a monster
indeed.
Tit man in armor Of the middle ages
was proof against attack by the wea-
pons of the rank and file Of his ad-
versaries- In like manner the rank
and file Of the Germans are helpless
against the armored caterpillar car,
at least temporarily. But, in the strug-
gle between defense and offense IN
war. the latter always wins in the
long run, and so il may be taken for
granted that an effective means Of
fighting the "land-dreadnaughts
May Accomplish Much.
In the meantime they may accomplish I
much. One reads in the news dispatches \
# their effective use in the capture 4
# fortified villa ges-Walking over 1
larricades like elephants" crushing I
through the walls of houses, and spit !
ing fire while sitting on a heap Of i
-uins. They are described as hunting /
Dut machine guns (the most dreaded 4
ngines of destruction to advancing
nfantry) and smashing them under
heir ribs" They are even spoken OF
IS 'ambling in" on a German battery I
Z field guns and killing those Of the
-unners who had not time to run away.
Colt in Himmelt" said the Germans.
How can we fight such things as
about the armored cater
'illars Machine-guns were turned
oose on them. but the bullets were
My blue parks on the srmor." The
Walking forts are said to be proof
gainst bombs; nothing short of a PIE
ectile from a good-sized cannon will
eroiusly damage one Of these mon
tiers"
Crawl In Uncanny Way.
They crawl along in an ''uncanny"
way. being able apparently to go
head over almost anything. If a
vail be in the path Of one Of them. I
[ leans up against" the obstacle and
he latter cOllapses. Perhaps a we'll
luilt stone wall might be too strong !
0 smash; but in that case the armored
dinesaur" simply climbs over il The
mechanism seems inhuman, almost !
yet it captures prisoners
nd treats them mercifully. Come I
nsidei" says a mysterious voice. A
lole opens unexpectedly; a hand is