The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-03-29
(By Associated Press. }

Paris, March 20 -"The battles OF
the User and Ypres were, in the first
instance, won by the French rail
roads, and thou2 h the German lines
possessed certain initial advantages
over them, they have held their own
Throughout; the war" says an oiilcer
closely concerned in the mobIIza-
ton, concentration and displacement
OF the french troops
The Germans have had the adj
! vantage OF distance, since the line
took the form of a triangle; inside
that triangle their points OF concen-
tration are nearer TO the User or
any other part OF the front than the
allies concentration points on the
other side where it is necessary to
turn the angle instead of going
across the inside OF it.
1t appears that General Joffre fore
saw the German thanking movement
toward Calais during the last days
of the battle of the Marine, and be-
gan sending troops to parry it as
early as Sept s. Between that date
and the beginning of October 500
trains carried II army corps and
three divisions of cavalry north
wards.
A review of the military operations
beginning with the mobilization
shows that the railroads of France
have accomplished everything that
was expected of them, contrary to
the experience of 1870.
| The first consideration in develop
ing the efficiency of the military
railroad is the maximum number of
trains that can be run one after an
other within a given time. Conse-
quently all military trains are
Obliged to run at the same reduced
speed, following each other at very
close intervals under the block sys-
TEN; without risk of accident, the
continuous movement accomplishes
more than would be done by high
speed which would necessarily in
volve increased spaces between
trains.
movement necessitated by the mobil-
ization, the officers of the railway
service of the French army met ev-
cry year under the direction of the
general staff to study the problems
involved, each officer being placed
on the spot where in time of war he
would be called upon to exercise his
functions. The last drill of this kind
was in April, 1914, when the ma
noeuvers undertaken supposed the
grouping of two armies face to face.
Orders for the operations had been
established, taking into account the
vicissitudes of battle and all the
needs of the army, SO far as possible
bringing their men face to face with
problems, incidents and accidents
and consequent necessity for immedi-
ate decisions such as they would
have to make in time of war. That
was how the men charged with the
transportation of troops prepared
themselves for the mobilization and
the intensive movement of military
trains that has continued ever since.
The plan under which the army
was modified in 1914 was the sew
enteenth that had been elaborated
since the war of 1870. From the an
nual census of the resources of the
the general staff had figured out the
number of elementary units it could
create and the theoretic organization
that they might give them. Every
corps charged with mobilization
possessed it's table giving details of
all the elements that it was called
upon to furnish, where to find its
men, from where would come the
horses and material necessary for the
constitution of new units; every man
had his mobilization sheet indicating
the corps that he must join; the staff
! of that corps had his name and ad-
dress on its rolls and expected him