The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-01-13

mentS Tor delivering blows" he says
THE essential difference between bat
ties of prehistoric times and those O.
today lie in the manner Of delivering
blows. Smokeless powder has merely
heightened the arm of the fighter. HI
strikes and kills at distance of miles
Because armies are still composed
essentially of many individuals fight
Ing ships may be more fittingly termed
war Machines A battleship is real
machine. The men on board are mere
" so many intelligences that control
the steam engine, the turrets, the great
guns, and searchlights. But land war
fare is still waged, not by few ma
chimes, as on the sea, but by organized
millions of men.
why Is there no land battleship,
something comparable with our own
pennsylvania, something which will
concentrate within one volume the
striking power Of an army?
Engineering Possibility.
There is no good engineering rea-
son why an enormous wheeled struc-
ture heavily armored and capable of
travelling at high speed, should not
wage the battles of the future. Tech
nically it is far easier task to de-
sign and build a superdreadnaught
than a wheeled destroyer to run on
solid ground. The ocean Is a vast
level expanse. There are no hills and
valleys. Waste is in the same dem
sity everywhere. But land varies from
the hardest rock to the softest quag-
n1ire. Here we have the reason, why
we still oppose armies against each
other instead of machines.
"Undeniable as these difficulties are.
It seems to me that they could be over
come by boldly designing a machine
Of such dimensions and of such en-
ergy that 1t could travel over country
road. A hill so feet high would be to
That machine what q six-inch ridge of
clay would be to an automobile; q
swamp would no more hinder its course
han half foot of mud would stop
| touring car. Even over rough inland
,ountry it would rush more swiftly
han any touring car on a poor road.
rhe impact of heavy mass moving
With the velocity of an express train
would be irresistible. Indeed, in its |
peed would lie its destructive pos
Utilities. 1t could NOW down every |
hing before 1t with the "reminiscences
n q Cfn H.
equired to rout an enemy. An army /
rould be as helpless In offering resist
nee as a flock of geese In the path of /
n automobile.
Picture to yourself seIf-propeiled
iachine, comprising three wheels and
heavily-armored body or car. There
re two wheels, $50 to 200 feet in d.
meter, in front and single smaller
Ieering wheel to the rear. The en-
re structure Is short so that the turn
lg radius will be small.
mo doubt you are familiar with the
Hillary masts of our American bat
eships. They are latticed towers not
nike cages. They are thus construct
SO that the whole sections of the
ttice work may be shot away; but
e remaining portions will still sup
)rt the mast.
SO would build the wheels of my
ar machine. Why not armor them
stead? They would weigh too much
thousands of tons. But the hub / |
Duld armor, and heavily. There the
okes would be concentrated so
ickly that they might be shot away
great numbers and the wheel still | |
md.
The two front wheels of this war
achine would have to be spaced
out 200 feet apart. They would
We a tread about 20 feet wide. III
'uld make them of steel In plates
lr inches thick, bolted together in 8
etions. ~
Car Comparatively Small.
Since the machine is to destroy by !
tue OF Its inherent energy, and not l
means OF guns, 1t would have q !,
small cara car which 1
uld not rise above the tops of the 4
mt wheels. which would be heavily 4
nored and which would serve pri- Il
rily as a housing for the engines. d
g crew would be sma mot more j
N perhaps thirty men. 4
] am fully aware that the problem {,
obtaining engines which will give ~
) war machine speed of 100 miles 81
hour is not easily solved. But If ii
usands OF horse power con be tievel- "
d by the engines of pitching and Cd
ing baftleships. 1t is not unreason- n
? to suppose that competent N VI
rnrc an1rlT ho Snr.rI ~. xs.~..-