Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1917-08-23
IS 1O BLAST !
DER GERMAN TRENCHES !
Maximum Range Seven Miles.
High Explosives Main Ammu-
nition-- -Shrapnel and Gas
Will Also Be Employed


were the shells that should have been
used upon the trenches. That plan was
fixed thereafter in the British army as
1t had been from the beginning In the
German and French armies. 1t was a
bad mistake and n that will not be
repeated by American artillery. That
is h reason why our proportion Of
shell output will be at least five high
explosives to n shrapnel. There will
be literally millions of these high ex-
plos1ves in our output. Ammunition
dumps back of the American lines will
be small mountains, and in these noun
ta1ns will be lasting power sufficient, If
well directed, to wipe out every foot of
trench elong the great Hindenburg
line.
The gas shell is something that has
not been revealed in all it's details and
will not be until after the war. 1t is
to be one Of the big surprises of war
for "Triend Fritz" Both the quantity
Of production and the constituents of
the gas are to remain a secret.
I asked Colonel Edward p. O'Hern,
who is in charge Of ordnance produc-
ton, what will be the principal use Of
the gas shell. By way Of answer he
told me what the Germans have been
doing with it for more than a year and
what the British and French are do
ing with it now. 1t is like a certain
patent medicine. 1t works while you
| sleep. The technique is to shell the
trench with the gas shell at a time
when most of the men are sleeping the
sleep of the dog fired" Of the trench
weary. The bursting projectile then
releases its deadly content, and death
comes in q sudden choking smother
that Is more %frightful, more painful
than any drownin could be.
All three of these shells will be used
in the Yankee three" The ordinary
range is to be five miles, but by eleva-
ton the effective range can be raised
to seven miles.
Safety First In France.
The theoretical limit of the Yankee
three is 10000 rounds. Then the
gun must be rerifed because of the
erosion that has taken place in the gun
chamber. AS a matter Of fact and as q
safety protection the gun to be used on
the French front will be rerifed after
10000 rounds have been fired. Prema-
ture explosions Of shells in the gun and
other causes Of damage make neces-
co,v Tho IN 000 wound lir,it &c Tho 1;,o
Of safety.
Like the French, German and British
field guns, the Yankee three will take
up the recoil without disturbing the
sighting Of the gun. 1t will fire twenty
shots each minute. The allowance is
one second for the discharge, two sec
on0s fer the recoil, escape of gases
and the reload, a total Of three seconds
for the entire operation.
Those who work the gun will never
see what they try to hit. A battery
] commander who will be perhaps two
or three miles away and in a position
to observe the hits will direct over the
telephone the working Of the gun. Be-
fore him he will have a plotting board
upon which will be a circle divided
into 5000 degrees. Each gun will have
on a quadrant of the same plot. A
range finder, usually one OF the bat
terry, will help in the worki"g Of the
gun. The battery commando. know
ing the location of the gun, VII direct
both the distance to which the shell
will be hurled and the direction of the
shot. For instance. he will call over the
telephone 1927 degrees, $500 yards"
The gun crew will place the gun over
the opt mark and will elevate it to the
point which will enable it to shoot the
required distance. The man in the sad
die Of the gun will Immediately find a
permanent mark, a tree in the rear or
at the side or any other permanent OBJ
iect will suffice. He will get that OBJ
.iect in the center of his telescope mir
ror and will use that to aim by.
Then the battery commander will
commence to bracket-that is, he will
direct the first shell to be fired over the
target and the second shell short of it.
He will gradually decrease this dis
lance until the shells are falling direct
ly into the trench. That gun then be-
ing upon the target will serve as a
marker for other guns along the line.