The Washington herald., 1917-09-20

In previous sections of this
course army life and service have
been described without special ref
erence to the changes brought
about by the present war. There
are important changes. and meth
DDS of training and of fighting
used in previous wars must, Of
course, be modified accordingly.
The extent of these changes.
however, is often exaggerated. At
bottom, the qualities that make
a good soldier or an efficient army
remain the same today that they
were before the war. The changes
that affect the individual soldier
have to do chiefly with weapons.
But behind every weapon there
is a man. II the weapon is to be
used effectively. the man must be
we'll trained, disciplined, cool and
brave. He must have spirit, tenac-
ity. and self-reliance. The big prob
lem now, just as in other wars. is
to develop these qualities-to their
highest extent. The chief differ
ence probably comes in the fact
that self-reliance is a bigger fac
tor than in most previous wars.
Character of War.
This war differs from previous wars
chiefly in the enormous increase in
the use of artillery. This is due part
ly to the immense manufacturing re-
sources of the countries at war, which
enables them to produce great num-
bers Of guns and great quantities OF
T0 L. a., IL.
methods of directing gun fire from
airplanes.
Partly as a desult Of these improve
ments in artillery. it has been neces-
sary TO develop better methods OF pro-
duction. The protection of troops con-
sists of digging stronger field en-
trenchments than have been necessary
in previous wars. Here we have the
main reason for the so-called trench
warfare" which during the last three
years has largely taken the place Of
former methods OF moving armies
about freely until they came into con-
flict with each other. The spade has
become one of the soldiers best weap-
ons of defense.
The chief improvement in methods
of defending entrenched troops is the
increased use OF machine guns. Ma
chine guns must be put out of opera
ton by artillery fire or by rifle IRE
directed against the gunners before
infantry can advance directly against
them. There has been also a great in
crease during the present war in the
use of barbed wire in front of the
trenches as a means Of defense.
Use of AirpIanes-
The chief new instrument of war
fare Is the airplane. AS previously
explained, it is used for scouting, di'
recting gunfire. and dropping bombs
The scouting machine is usually
equipped with a large camera which
takes a series OF pictures. When
these pictures are developed and COM
pared day by day they give invalu-
able information as to the exact loca-
ton Of troops, guns and supplies. The
scouting and bombing machines are
usually protected by swift fighting
machines. Airplanes have also beer
used at times to descend close to the
ground and fire from a machine gun
upon bodies of troops.
Another very interesting and prom
Using device is the "tank''-a heavily
armored machine so constructed that
il ran advance under its own power
over almost any obstacles, and thus
lead an attack on enemy trenches. Il
is armed with machine guns. Armorec
motor cars have also been used et'
fectively under some conditions.
In the front line trenches men arr
often armed not only with rife anc
bayonet but also with bombs which
can be thrown by hand or by ma
chine. Some of them are no large
than an ordinary lemon. Many mef
become extraordinarily expert II
throwing these small bombs int
enemy trenches. They even becom'
expert in picking UP enemy bombs be
fore they explode and throwing then
| back.
Another weapon of the trenches In
| troduced by the Germans, in spite o
| international agreements to the con
trary. is poisonous gas. This was a