Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1917-11-30

Accurate Observation and Good
Shooting Puts German Device on
the Shelf - Were Deemed I'm.
pregnable.
The pill box" has come-and gone,
Like the submarine, the giant Gotha
biplane, the liquid fire and gas and
other German inventions which were
to turn the tide Of battle In Germanys
favor, these much-talked-0f concrete
forts have been laid on the shelf
as far as settling the war Is consd-
cred. They are not Intellectual, but
they are not decisive factors, writes
Frank W, Getty in the New York
Tribune.
The pill box" or pillar box, as the
German communique have II, Is n rec
tangular structure, built generally by
plling boxes Of concrete one upon the
other, like chlldren's toy blocks. They
are then allowed to form into solid
mass of concrete about yard thick,
which affords the gunners inside pro-
lection against anything eXcept.a d.
rect hit by something over nine Inches.
In action they bristle with machine
guns, which are thrust out through
numerous cracks and loophnes, the
gunners, safe behind their thick walls
being able to rake advancing infantry
without exposing themselves. Each
"plll box" holds from 40 10 so men,
and becomes a veritHble deathtrap If
British heavy does land shell on
1t or u cloud of poison gas sweeps that
way.
Were Hard Nuts for Infantry.
The B0ches have shown great adap'
liability in placing these pill boxes
where they will be most effective. They
had sOwed them in and out among the
little holOws on the western slopes
of Passchendaele ridge, frequently run
ming up rim of concrete around a
shell crater, leaving the top uncov'
cred. Where they did this, Of course
high trajectory British barrage
quickly made the position untenable
but such pillar boxes as escaped the
hail of steel and lead which preceded
the British advances were difficult
nuts for the infantry to crack.
The German high command insti
tuted the pillar boxes for two reasons
First, the terrific barrage fire which
the British guns of all calibers SEM
over before an attack rendered ever
the deepest and most carefully con
Structed front line trenches utenable
The second and chief reason why
the general staff turned Its attention
seriously to these concrete structures
was that the mud of Flanders Is NJ
place for trench warfare. Whenever
the Germans went down six feet II
their trench systems they found them
selves standing in water. Troops
could not live under such conditions
and something had to be devised abOv,
ground.
1t was this same jelly-llke mud
however, which solved the fate of The
German pillar box, even as 1t was
responsible for its institution. Be
cause, in most places, the mud was 81
soft, and because, in many places, wa
ter was only about two and a half fee
under the surface, foundations fol
these concrete structures could only
be sunk to depth of about two feet
Consequently, when a British high ex
ploSive shell struck anywhere In the
vicinity there was imminent pOsSibil
ity of the "pill box" collapsing like
house of cards and few tons of con
crete coming down on the gunner'
packed inside.
When the pill box" was first dis
covered in the German line of de
Tense east of Ypres had an interview
with military authority, who in
formed me that they would be tremen
douSly difficult to overcome. He was
frankly pessimistic over the prospec
of having to advance through this new
form Of defensive warfare.
Today that same authority told mt
how the pill boxes" had been con
quered.
Accurate Gunnery Wins.
"You will remember that at the time
the pillar boxes first made their ap
pearance," he said, II told you thai
they represented very serious OBJ
stacle to our advance in Flanders
This seemed so at the time because
only direct hit from a big gun coult
put them out of business.
1--WE have overcome the menace OF
the pill box by good military strategy
Our success Is mainly due to our accu
rate observation. and good shooting
We knew that only big shell woult
put one of the beggars out of com
mission, so we deliberately set out Il
make it possible for our big guns tt
find their marks, small as they were.
"Our aviatOrs furnished us with the
most perfect, detailed photographs OF
the whole area which was sown will