Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1917-04-08
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FRENCH ARMY HEADQUAR-
that have been pressed into war ser
vice. none appears TO have more in
diViduaity ard more consciousness
of its own Importance than the mar
rows gauge railway, the light rail-
way as it is known in military
phraseology. With its fussY little
engines. it is to be found everywhere
behind the front
1t is scarcely an eXaggeration to
say without the gauge rail
way TIE artillery preparation which
is the essential preliminary OF any
attack on a trench position, would
be impossible.
Much has been written concerning
the splendid services rendered by the
motor lorrias at NeTdun and they
certainly did much 10 save the sitIa-
ton. But on that occasion they were
acting in their proper capacity as an
emergency service They enabled the
French troops to resist the first Ger
man onrush, and so gave time to the
military engineers to build the mar
row gauge lines which could alone be
regarded as satisfactory and per-
manent means Of supply.
The narrow gauge railway, with
tracks so centimeters 1.-TWO feeD
apart. is easily and rapidly laid down.
It's rails are riveted two BY two to
metal ties, and can ne put together
with a minimum of delay. With a
thin layer of ballast the rails can be
laid almost anywhere. Thanks to
the narrowness OF the gauge they
can follow the tortuous course, and
hills have no terrors for them. They
can negotiate safely curves OF a
= s,f oil,
grade OF 3 in 100
The military light railway needs
relatively little in the way of en-
banknents and engineering. and the
work of laying down the track cal.
be carried out with great speed. A
gang of 500 men under the direction
of few experts can lay a half mile
day ready for immediate use. The
engines used are capable Of hauling
"a load of 25 tons up a grade Of in
100. The cars consist of simple plat
form mounted on four wheels, built
for load of eight tons.
The french staff has a carefully
prepared map of the German rail-
ways before Terdun at the great Of
fensive. IT proVices eloquent evi-
dence of the extent to which the
Germans avail themselves of the mar
row gauge railway for the purpose
OF attacks. Behind he German
trenches the country is covered with
a network of lines that for their COM
plexity and number can only be COM
pared to the filaments of a SPIDERS
web. Wherever the ground affords
cover for artillery. there the lines
are most complicated and close. At
certain points OF the most advanced
sections of the narrow gauge line d
| series of siding betraYs the position
! of the heavy guns. which fire from
F, trucks on the rails
The great advantage Of the light
| railway is that practically it does NOD
| take W any road space. When
weather permits, the roads are left
entirely free for motor and horse
| drawn vehicles, Which thus become
a supplement of the light railway.
! German shells do not interrupt
traffic on these lines. since even
when by a lEcky CHARGE TIE line is
/ dana ged. it is a matter of no grea.
difficulty or time to restore COM
| munication.
Upon the return of peace, France
expects TO utilize tie whole magnifi-
cent system of light railways built
VI during the past TWO years for
agricultural purposes,