The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-09-15

q hhArny life and service have been de- k~c4sbed without special reference to Sxhe changes brought about by the ipresent war. There are important Echauxes, and methods of training and Eof fighting used in previous wars kynust of course, be modified accord- tangly-s
 Thea extent of these changes. how lever, is often exaggerated. AL, the bottonrsthe qualities that make good ssobdaer or an efficient army remain Shs saane today that they were before Ehslwar. The changes that affect the EAndividual soldier have to do chiefly kNith weapons
 E But behind every weapon there IS A lanan If the weapon is to be used koffectively. the man must be well Hratned, disciplined, cool and brave eHe must have spirit, tenacity, ana feelr-reliance. The big problem now, kfust as in all other wars, is to develop hhese quanties-and the other soldier N dfialfttesto flleir highest extent khe Sfrfef tii ffefefice probably comes tsn the fact that self-reliance Is a big lrer factor than in most previous wars Mnd in American armies this quality Mas always been highly valued and suell developed.
 ts lT,his brief lesson can not, of course, serrxer into a discussion of technical kduestions which belong in the field Of hnilAtary science. It will simply point bout "a few of the striking features of kdfroef interest to every man who beaches the front. k. ,Character of Present War
 B 14ds war differs from previous kwars chiefly in the enormous increase ua | v5. .s<1 Sr duo k,artly to the immense manufacturing Rssources of the countries. at war, fRhfch enables them to produce great hnu mberY of guns and great quantities kUf tannmun1tSon. It Is due also to the mevg methods Of directing gun fire ArcHn airplanes. It is evident that kuns can not be accurately aimed at Ian object the exact location of which ns unknown. The airplane, however, hs aa5se to bring back or signal back kxhis Information, so that the artillery tnay now be used with much greater Eeffect. The dze of the guns and the kforce of the explosive shells fired Arom them have also been largely in kHreased.
 E Partly as a result of these improve
 nAsnts in artillery, 1t has been eneces- Esa1y to develop better methods of pro- tection. The protection of troops con- tststAs of digging stronger field en- frerAchments than have been Ileces-- lsaryt in previous wars. Here we have the main reason for the so-called Nstrenach warfare" which during the Aast rhree. years has largely taken the H1ace of former methods Of moving ha4nies about freely until they came into conflict with each other. Digging {tranc1,es and throwing up breast lwoflD for. protection against the ene- tnnFs fire is. of course. not a new hhiFg gsdnAwarfare It is being done in fEur,Cpe, however, on a much bigger bca7e flzEu eyer before. A comp1ica- stked netwpr1Ifof trenches now protects kEhe mon on. both sides. The spade has h,econAe one of the soldiers best wea- hons ofk defense.
 In seelrtng protection against heavy &ufinery fire a very interesting deve1- tCpAnents has taken place. This is the Hase\ ofsTarfpus devices for concealing h1eId gums and troops from the view tyf eAnemy Hfrplanes. Sometimes trees iare Arozght up and planted near the fob1ecA to be hidden Sometimes the &nn dT 0G1er object has an awning ispreadf over 1t which is painted to pdok from above like grass or earth. For the same reason tents may be Spafrted'1n greens and yellows.
 Trhe chfzf improvement in methods Bof tdefsnd1ng entrenched troops is the hnceeased use of machine guns Ma tcf1ine guns must be put out of opera tnon by axtf11ery or by rifle fire direct Hed against the gunners before fnfan- Ery cam atfz1nce- directly against them. Hhere+ has been a1so great advance Ddkrrfng the present war 3n the use of barbed wire in front of the trenches RsAaameazlssof defense. Similar devices Hiate been used in entrenched posi- kfozAes for many years, but never on so RarBA~1 scale Through their use it is how lknown to be possfb1e' to defend Ehe ffnont line positions with smaller
 bodfse of men than were considered neceSisarykduri1ig the earlier years of
 the Sqars thus considerably reducing khe@stzafn- on thesindividua1 soldier. ,Deveaopment of Airplanes
 The chfef new instrument of war HAre developed druing the present war pBt the afrpiane. As previously ex- IDlained, 1t fs used for scouting, direct 6ngs guHfire, and dropping bombs. The HcoUfing machine is usually equipped Bu1th, large camera which takes a beries4 of pictures. When these pie
 rures are developed and compared May hy day they give invaluable in-
 Formation as to the exact location of kroops4 guns. and supplies. The scout Fpg and bombing machines are usu- Ally protected by swift fighting ma
 chfnes. Afrplanee have. also been used
 at ttnessfo descend close to the ground
 and fire from a machine gun upon
 bodies of troops.
 AnotherSxery interesting and prom
 dkfng device is the 'tank"-a heavily
 atmored machine so constructed that
 It kcan advance under its own power
 over almost any obstacles, and thus
 lead an attack on enemy trenches. Ii
 5s atrnored with machine guns. Ar.
 noredi nnotUT cars have also beer
 used effectively under some condi-
 Hons.
 In tfe6ruut< line trenches men are
 often arrneG mot only with rifle and
 bayone< but also with bombs which
 can be- thrown by hand or by ma.
 rf1ne. Some of them are no larger Firau -alit ordinary lemon. Many mer become extraordinarily expert ir
 Throwing these small bombs into ene-
 my trenches. They even become ex
 pert in picking up enemy bombs be.
 Fore they explode and throwing then
 back.
 Another weapon of the trenches in.
 Produced by the Germans, in spite o