The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1917-12-07

--H H'~~Ht H"'a "N -NH-- -I.-lN SINl-
iss Hsasy Artiis-y Fslns Thsn-
Accurate cslsrgats- ard ea1a
sh9eaas Puts os-nan Device O.
tie sasf - Were Deemed Ir-
Prssuasis.
The r.I. tcx- his cane-and gone.
lake fne attauriue. ifle giant garal
Faae fna .g1id Gre and gus anI
afher German irvennoas HhIeh eS
ta turn Ehe iide ~ battle + Germany
favor These much- lEel-of concrete
forts hafe been lara "a tha shelf
a far IS settling the war Is consld
eFeil They ere not lneIeetuai. but
they are not decisive factors. wrliea
fsguk iE Getty 10 the New YORK
Ttibune.
The Il4 box Or pillar box IS tbs
l'eruau ecs1mlliqle have % O. rec
taagu.ar structure built generally bv
p.lhs boxes ~ concrete one ur0n the
other Ike chlldrels foy blocks. Ihev
are tzen allowed % form into q solid
mass Ok tnlefete about q yrr1 ihicE.
aieh affords the gunner inside pro-
teefl0n arairst anything except az
rect nit ~ something over nine inches
fl action they brls'le with machine
Guns which are thrust out through
numerous cracks and l0ophoies. The
gHHefs. safe behind their thick walls,
being able 10 rake advancing infantry
without exposing themselves. Each
Pin box holds from 40 10 80 men.
and Deeomes a veritable deathfrap IL
a British heavy does land o she'll or
e or cloud Of poison gas sweeps Tint
way.
Were Hard Nuss for Infantry
The Boches have shown great adap-
liability id placing these PIN boxes
where they Will be most effective. They
bad sowed them 10 and out among the
little holi0ws On the western slopes
q Fassebeudaele ridge, frequently rum
nlag 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 Hntenable,
aut such pillar boxes as escaped the
bali Of steel and lead which preceded
the British advances were dliHeult
nuts for the infantry 10 crack
The German high command insu-
tufed the pillar boxes for two reasons.
First. the terrific barrage fire which
the British guns OF an call0ers sent
over before an attack rendered even
the deepest and most carefully con-
structed front line trenches ltenable.
The second and chief reason why
the general staff turned iis attention
seriously to these concrete structures
was that lie mud Of Flanders Is ne
place for trench warfare Whenever
The Germans went down six feet 10
their trench systems they found them
selves standing IS water Troops
could not live under such conditions,
and something had to be devised above
ground.
II was this same jelly-like mud
however, which solved the fate Of the
German pillar box, even as it Nas
responsible for its institution. Be.
cause. in most places, the mud was So
soft, and because. ia many places. wa
ter was only about two and half feet
under the surface, foundations for
these concrete structures could only
he sunk 70 a depth Of about two feet
Consequently, when British high ex-
plosive she'll struck anywhere in the
vicinity there was imminent possible
ity Of the pill box coilapsing like a
house Of cards and q few tons Of con-
crete coming down on the gunuers
packed inside
When the 'pill box was FIRST dis
covered Ia the German line % de-
fense cast Of Ypres bad an Interview
with q military authority who iu- +
formed me thnt they would be tremcn- +
dously difficult 70 overcome. lie was
frankly psssimistic over the prospect /
81 Having % advance through this new /
lofm of defensive warfare.
Today that same authority told me /
how the pin boxes" had been com
luered.
Accurate Gunnery Wins.
You win remember that at the TIME
.he pillar boxes first made their ap-
Dearance." he said. II told you that
they represented a very serious OBJ
stafie % our advance ln FLANDERS
rh seened SO at Tie time hecause
lnly direct hir from big gun could
lui them out Of business.
we have overcome the menace of
he pin box by good military strategy.
AHr success is mainly due TO our aceu-
ate observation. and good shooting.
Ne knew that only q big shell would
lut one ~ the beagars out of COM
mission, So we deliberately set out to
make 1T possible for our big guns to
ind their marks. small as they were.
Our aviators furnished Us with the
most perfect detailed photographs OF
he whole area which was sown with
hese structures. Maps on a large
Gale were constructed. and the science
/ artillery has become so exact these
ays that our gunners were able 10
core many direct hits on these small
bjeets When a direct bic was scored.
nat was She end of the pin'box and
tsf.,.ssnt,a fr-f1n 90 Nf,-a. ..-t... - r.t-t