The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-03-22
New England Roads
Ry Major A. A- Fries, Corps of En-
 gineers, U. s. A.)

By Major "A. A- Fries, Corps of En-
 gineers, U. s. A.)
 Numerous instances might be cited to show the effect roads or their a'b- sence had on campaigns in the Civil War;. although their importance was infinitely less than now, when the au- tomobile threatens to drive even the world-famous mule into oblivion. It is the automobile with its speed and carrying power and the wonderful fextbility of an army using it, that makes roads so vitally important in war today. A railroad must be pro- vided with side tracks, turn tables and yards which, for huge business such as war, must be very large and take time and great quantities of material in building. Not so with automobiles, where every foot of a highway, unless in a deep cut or fill, is 8, side track where machines may unload and turn around. Furthermore, in dry weather, almost any field can be used for unloading and loading the machines so as not to congest the roads at the place where men and materials are needed
 The answer to the question where roads should be constructed to be of military value is, everywhere that a considerable population, agricultural, manufacturing, trading or mining, exists. In any great war we shall have to marshal all of our resources just as the European nations are do- ing at the present time. Every prod- uct of our, soil or factories will be oo nd de vxyi11 be required to carry them to the places where there needed. Fine roads along our coasts and land boundaries will be of the most imme- diate benefit and should be of the best and widest, since they will have to bear the heaviest and most con- centrated traffic. There are a num- Der of roads proposed or actually un- der construction that come under this head. Such are the Pacific Highway along or near the Pacific coast from Seattle to San Diego, the Yellowstone Trail along the northern boundary from the vicinity of the Great Lakes to the Columbia river, and the Lin- coin Highway across the north cen- tral part of the United States.
 While highways intended primarily for military purposes should be To- 5cated near our boundaries, they must not be so near that they can be easily raided or captured by small bodies of the enemy and thus likely to be of use only to him and not to us All roads farther inland and parallel to the border roads. will be of very great value as feeders to those nearer the in%o J1 men and supplies may be moved long distances without fear of interruption or observation by the enemy, and thus contribute greatly to the element of surprise so essential to victory in nearly all cases. There must be cross roads at reasonably close intervals to enable the traffic on interior lines to leave them and cross to those places near the border where needed.
 So far as the writer knows, there are no figures available of the amount of material a modern war requires, but it is positively staggering in it's total. The quantity of ammunition now used in one battle is often more than formerly was used in an entire war. An instance was the desperate attempt of the French to break through the German lines in the fall of 1915, when they are said to have fired at least three million rounds of artillery ammunition used in rifles and machine guns. It is not possible to estimate accurately the weight of powder and shell used, but we know that they have guns firing shells ranging from three to twelve inches in diameter. The three-inch shell and the powder to fire it weigh about eighteen pounds, to which must be added at least two pounds of access sories required in packing and trans portation, so that each shot from a. three-inch gun requires the transpor- tation to the front of twenty pounds. If all French guns had been three inch only, the three million rounds in one battle would have weighed shell, for instance. requires seven times as much powder, shell and &C., cessories as a threevinch shell, the weight of ammunition actually used was much greater than 3O,OOO tons. During mobilization and the early stages of the war there will be many and rapid movements of large bodies of troops. Here roads and automo- piles ~>ill be deciding factors, for as everybody knows from the progress of the war in Europe, the one who gets the start has an enormous ad- vantage that will cost the other side ] many times the original loss to over come. Later, in the beginning of a campaign, when movements are rap i'd and ther is little opportunity to in- trench, three-inch guns and shrapnel will be very largely used, but just as soon as there is time to intrench, there will be an opportunity for the larger guns to come up fire high ex- p1osive shells to drive the enemy out