The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1917-02-17

|. Inc war alone Is interesting as
study of the psychology of peoples
and how that psychology changes in
the fierce heat of the Somme melting
/ pot. Grand strategy has disappeared
altogether tactics have become com
monplace, and no mind can now turn
victory into defeat by an inspired
| decision at the decisive hour. Any
tyro of the 1916 class after he has
! spent a few weeks in the front line
knows how to take the iota of pull
! verified rubbish in his immediate front
just as well as Joffre or Haig or Hin
denburg.
Victory Depends on Guns.
All have learned that victory depends
on heavy guns and unlimited ammu-
milton. Germany appreciated the value
of heavy guns in the field before the
war. She was plentifully supplied
with S-inch, Pinch and 16-inch how
tiers. Other general stats did not
consider it feasible to drag along this
monster ordnance with armies. Thus
we suffered heavily at the start, es-
| pecially the French, who relied ex-
clusively on their superb rs quick fir
ing field gun. For the last two years
there has been a giant race in gun
production. Now the allies have not
| only overtaken, but have got long
way ahead of the central powers.
Our superiority on the Somme was
| the most noticeable, and this, combined
with our air-supremacy, rendered the
position of the Germans, at times,
almost intolerable. They were not so
short of guns, perhaps. as of ammuni-
ton. In August, September and Octo-
| Der, three separate general orders
were found on the dead or prisoners
from different generals commanding
groups of the army pointing out the alb
solute necessity of outstanding the
ammunition supply and to take greater
care of the material itself.
The allies have not thus been handi-
capped. The Germans are busy aug
menting their material and ammuni-
ton so as to compete this spring and
summer on more even terms. There
are acres of heavy guns along the
| Somme front.
Imagine what a task it is getting
these guns to their positions. The
roads leading to the SOmme front cam
not bear the weight of the traffic.
They have disappeared into the mud,
and have to be constantly repaired.
The French have built miles Of light
railways. These monster 11-inch and
Pinch and 16-inch guns can only be
brought up on trains. Some of them
are placed in fixed positions. Others
have rowing mission and are fired
from the rails on anchored trucks by
an ingenious arrangement. The roar
of the artillery is so terrific that it
produces nervous prostration in many.
Get No Respite.
The unfortunate infantry in the
trenches get no respite from it night
and day. l often have heard men say:
Il don't mind the enemy's shells so
much; what cannot stand is the noise
of our own guns"
! On your way to the front you get
blown about from side to side by the
terrific blasts.
Some of the big shells which hurtle
through the air on the Somme front
weigh a ton and half. They can be
thrown 16 miles. Throughout the
night and day, without ever respite
the air is filled with these steel mon
sters varying in weight from Is pounds
to over a ton. What chance has the
poor infantryman got? A very poor
one.
Yet, with millions in the field, when
you are actually on the battlefield you
hardly see soul. Behind the lines
there are crowds at work on various
jobs. They have to keep above
ground and take their chances will
the shells. But this monstrous &C
emulation of heavy guns has turnet
the habits of men into those of rab
/. bits. The fighters are all below tn
surface. The huge devastated from
is merely mass of shell holes look
ing like a photograph of the moor
. craters, smudges, of what were ono
villages and woods and serried wit
white or gray lines which mark tn
trenches. Except when the infantr
t crawl from their trenches to tax
slower the enemy's line the battlefield r.
sembles a ruined waste still smoldel
ing from some giant fire, absolutel
| deserted and lifeless.
: The science of digging-in ha
| reached it's zenith. There are I'll
) derground places 80 feet below tn
f surface, many rooms. several exits, hi
t and cold water, and electric light
: There are tunnels almost as wide 6
= the "Tube" connecting one line
:. trenches with another. Every devit
/, that can give some protection again
f the shells is being utilized.
The Germans have been working iii
ST ants on their defenses this winte
: They declare they are so strong tn;
r we shall never break through. o.
n generals think otherwise, and tt
e French are supremacy confident. Di
| -. L. "A