New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-16

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rorJon. April l5.-That which
-, ,se Allied governments by sur
=, the outset was not merely
,,,,.irg The right kind Of material
:, tse prodigious amount Of mate
=, ,onired. Even the Prusslans'
,.,,;,. their forty-four years OF
.,.,sration. underestimated certain
.,l reouiremen,s. II was obvious,
y, Instance. that they had no ade-
.n,,, idea Of the number Of wounded
rk,lv 70 be on their hands, for their
,,5;eal supplies and accessories were
,soriously incomplete from the be-
.,ring In this matter, owing TO
4. preyision Of Sir Alfred keoGh,
&, Arthur Sloggctt and General
v,,pherson. we were fully prepared.
No had the advantage Of the expert
r,e obtained in the South African
Var ard worked ont the scheme so
admirably at the beginning Of this
var that It is working perfectly
pdsy.
The violence Of modern warfare IS
ueb as 10 incur the destruction of
N kinds of material on a scale ex-
.sding every prtconceived notion.
A one period Of this war the aver
re life Of a horse az the front was
sysn days, although the veterinary
so.p.als we're even better than the
mman hospitals were twenty years
sgo. being as well provided with
skilled surgeons. operating theatres
and automobile ambulanccs as for
nery were the hospitals for soldiers.
British Failed to Use
Enough Machine Guns
One Of our worst miScalculauons
was as to the number Of machine
guns required. One man. armed with
a single Lewis machine gun, could
probably hold up the whole traffic of
a large section Of Fifth Avenue
against a population armed with re-
wlyeS. We ought To have learned
about machine guns within a few
weeks after the outbreak Of the war;
We did not. Germans had them in
immense quantities, and our early
heavy casualties in the German re-
treat from the Marine were owing to
ihe fact that they were able 10 fix
y snail forts behind walls and
cher suitable positions and NOW
town advancing troops in terrible
tunbers.
When the ordinary man Of busi-
'es finds himself outman9uvred, in
axsy corresponding TO this. he is
~ at once TO adopt the tactics of
mopponentS, but armies are not run
ha'way, as you viii see by studying
ns history of your own army be
~esn 1861 and 1865. Conflicting
news and prejudices have TO be got
mo alignment before action can be
Aksh. We were slow TO adopt a suf-
&'snt equipment Of machine guns.
nanhg decided that we needed ma
a'as guns in great numbers. there
aas the question Of type.
IN the matter Of this particular
VI the American army should be
FSnlnent, for the machine gun.
'S'her it is fired from a belt or the
~a ammunition type, is an Ameri-
'" invention. Even when we did
s"sr machine guns in sufficient
y.'hn'ies We did not make proper
4.ssaee for the ravages Of wear
~'"ar OF this kind Of warfare, and
" soon found ourselves deficient
'pae parts.
llssadc Demand
'% Amy Rifles
We rife to one man is insufficient.
Y hheS to each man is better
80 and each Of the three rifles
nave Interchangeable parts. !
:" many months after the war
-. oeioTe We were able TO cope
~, NE gigantic demand for rifles
n,s We matter Of ammunition. all |
: d preconcciycd notions must
s. y ASIDE at the beginning. The
IN . 70 have immense quantities. |
= % have it good.
VIA ssaFd 10 aSroplsncs. without
e.,,s, Is imPss sible 10 fight sue
~. lsOd bsttlel. our air service
xnl = ginning v ,as commensurate
'''< Of or small army. That