The Washington herald., 1917-11-22
WAR TANK LIKE
BIG iron BEETLE,
ASSERTS PAYNE.
Correspondent Of Herald
Takes Trip in British
Engine Of War.
Passed a. Censored.)
By KENNETH PAYNE,
COrrespondent.

rhe Warrington HeraId's London
Correspondent.
A "Tankodrome." France.-After
taking q trip in q tank. end going over
the 80 tank stable and proving
grounds where the ungainly me-
chanical beasts have been performing
for our beneft, I am able to answer a
question which has puzzled SO man.
newspaper readers at home.
The question 10, why are the tanks
always written about in the press dis
patches as though the whole subject
was chiefly humorous, and the tank
themselves nothing but great gawky
Jokes?"
The answer Is that 80 tank doin~
stunts proves to be In fact most ex
eruciatingiy funny.
Feats Beyond Belief.
With numbering, crashing aplomb ii
does things which you simply don't
believe. even while the ludicrous per-
formance Is going on right under your
eyes.
When we arrived at this particular
tankodrome, a number of the crea-
lures were paving the ground in the
center Of a field, apparently eager to
begin the show.
The whole thing was unreal, q
bit OF Jules Verne, a Brobdig-
nagian horse show. Near the field.
sheds and shops housed tanks in
various stages Of construction and
repair. In one corner of the field
a number of the uncouth beasts had
apparently been let out to Craze.
Climbing aboard one which was
ready in the center of the field to
be put through its PAGES, I found
an interior as neat and shipshape
as an ocean liners.
smooth, Rapid Start.
1t was clean and polished, its
walls painted white, ana there was
even a mating carpet on the small
bits Of floor space not preempted
by intricate machinery.
Doesn't stay that way long when
she's in action" said one of the
crew. We are soon simply living
in mud Mud works all through her
insides, in masses"
As smoothly as a ship sliding out
OF port, the tank got under way.
travelling considerably faster than
the passengers had expected pos
sible.
When proceeding with portfolios
and doorways open, the interior is
well ventilated. and the engines
over which two of the crew are con-
tinually tinkering, do not seem to
be raising any very deafening din.
Like ships officers on the bridge,
two Of the tanks masters are perch
ed up forward, peering out ahead
and coaXing various stunts out of
the beast.
Like Peas In A Pod.
The power lurking in its
ponderOus frame was evident when
il first began to indulge in maneu-
vers. While gliding easily over the
straight-away. at every turn it lurch-
ed heavily. exactly like a mammoth
animal alive with great deal more
strength than it knew what to do
with
That the try-out might be COM
picte, artificial obstacles had been
prepared. and the tank took them
like giant iron beetle engaged in
clumsy steeplechase.
1t rammed head-on up the face of
mound of earth and timbers (rat-
tling its passengers about like peas
IN a pod. painting, paving
and scrambling to the tune of furi-
Gus roaring. and finally clambered
after a slip or two right up the side
Of the mound and Topped down on
top like a seal scrambling onto
rock.
After moments rest it dove of
the other side, giving Mother Earth
and its passengers a terrific jar and
smashing everything within reach,
hOng passage here deleted by the
censor)
That's the kind Of animal the tank
crews ride into battle.
HeIIish Way to Die.
1t is no secret that they do not in
variably come back. There are tank
casualties as well as airplane casual
ties. 1 have clambered as one of a
party of correspondents through dead
tanks, battered and ditched amid the
debris Of a battlefield.
What a hellish way to meet your
death, in that iron SHELF" was the
universal comment
1t must be a CHASTITY fate, and yet
there are more candidates for service
in the tanks than can be accommodate
ed!
When the full story Of the cool.
dauntless heroism of the tank men
can be told, it will rival the greatest
feats accomplished by any branch of
the service.
But for the present we still have to
treat their exploits mostly as a joke,