Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-11-23
THE NEW WARFARE. I.-Science Wins.
By Frederic j. HaSkin

1r1ASHINGTON, D. c., Nov. 1S.-The scien,
NV tihc wonders of this surpass all
dreams. When the day comes for thes9
wonders to be described they will make cnronlcle
more fascinating than romance. Now, in the MIDST
of war, they cannot be written; they can at mosI
be limited Some must not be mentioned; some
be described vaguely; only few can be known
and those usually the ones which nave alreaoy peeh
cast aside for newer wonders. Such are the iron
laws of military secrecy.
The whole scheme Of modern rests on q
foundation of advanced and applied science IL is
a new foundation, that did not exist in other wars
This war is fundamentally different from other
wars. 1t is not only bigger, and more engrosslng
and more terrible land more expensive. 1t is diner
ent in nature, as science well knows. When that
difference is not kept in mind by military leaders
disaster overtakes them.
One effect of the new scientific warfare has
been to lessen the relative Importance of the fight
ing man, and increase the Importance of his TOOLS
above all Of the new and strange devices that sci
ence uses to gain military advantage. This diner
ence has been we'll expressed by one authority VINO
says that in former wars the tools and machinery
were largely taken for granted and the issue turned
on ability and of the individual right
ing man; while in this war the ability and courage
are taken for granted and the issue turns on the
superiority of machinery and tools
The ideal modern army is not primarily
fervent and courageous body of good men ready to
dare and die for the cause, although sucn men are
necessity. They taken for granted. The
modern army strives to be huge SCIENTIFIC ma
chine working steadily as the great shield tnat
cuts tunnels under the Hudson just patient, just
as precise, Just as 1t attempts to reduce 1ts
problems to mathematics, to assemble its data as
though for laboratory experiment, and to work
them out and apply the solution according to i'm
mutable laws which only lead to one conclusion
Only instead of working against changeess natural
obstacles the army machine works against the
changing, intelligent barrier of the enemy's line,
which has it's own science continually improving,
its own brain continually working to devise new
wonders of destruction and defense.
From the outset this has been between
scientists It would be too much to say that the
war will be won by science alone when every effort
and sacrifice on the part of every citizen Is needed
as matter of fact but scientists have said that the
war will be won in the laboratories, and their
epigram has in 1T measure of truth.
When the supremacy of the air is in question,
for example, and aviators forth to battle for the
advantage, the modern war machine does not look
primarily for strong, brave and daring men. Thar
business of selecting champions belongs to the dead
DAYS of chivalry. Nowadays the brave are
taken granted Every effort is put into the ma
chimes Acres of blue prints drawn and re-
drawn; all the mathematical brains of empire
wing-surface is changed by inch, the steel she'll
of a cylinder is scraped a fraction thinner; a new
propeller blade is invented, metallurg1st perfecrs
a new alloy, and finally one side turns out ma
chine that climb eight thousand feet while the
enemy is climbing six thousand. And that settles
it-until the enemy's scientists discover new
trick.
modern infantry attack, say men of science.