Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-09-26

dreis of thousands before the Hun
II beaten.
Provide Something Better.
Our ordnance department has ben
working since We entered the n -
send American soldiers to France WitA
. complete kit Of tools representative
OF American inventive ability. First
sizing up the job Of cracking the Hun
out Of trench, shell box, and subter-
ranean tunnel. and ascertaining what
the allies have found useful In the way J
Of NV. hammer and Ratchet. the ord.
nance department has worked to pro
vide something q little better In every
case. from poison gas and gas masks to
machine guns and hiyhexplosive shrap- |
mel.
The light Browning. also known as
the automatic rifle." requires no cool
ing apparatus, because in its tactical
use In battle a. q tool It will be called
upon only for what are known as
bursts of firing" 1t Is a remarkable
new tool, better than anything Of its
particular type yet developed. and diff
ferent from every other weapon In the
world. Its nearest prototype is the
French Chauchnt automatic rife. which
has proved extremely effective.
At the present stage Of tactics the
Browning automatic rife will be a su-
perior tool for perhaps three definite
jobs In trench warfare. First, being
as portable as the ordinary army rifle,
1t can be quickly brought into action
along every part Of a trench BY de-
tenders to stop the advance Of an
enemy. With the heavier types Of ma
chine gun fired from q tripod and re-
quiring considerable time for getting
into position. II not permanent EN-.
placement, such resistance Of invaders
in a pinch might prove difficult. With
the new Browning firing 20 shots auto.
matically in less than three seconds, or
20 shots semiautomatically as fast as
one desires to pull the trigger, loading
with a fresh magazine each 20 shots
II q couple Of seconds, an entire trench
front can be protected with outbursts
Of m%achine-gun fire. which will not
have to be continued long to do the
work-not long enough for heating Of
the gun to become a problem.
Sweeps the Trenches.
The third job for this characteristic
Yankee notion when our fellows
have reached the enemy trenches. At
that moment, eve though but a few
arrive, the Browning automatic rifle
is expected to replace the bayonet and
bomb under certain conditions, and
multiply the effectiveness of each sol
der who gets across No Mans Land
for the rapidity and accuracy Of the
Browning fire is such that it will be
only a matter Of seconds to sweep ar
enemy trench in both directions.
There are other tactical uses for tn,
, weapon. As few as a dozen Of thes'
automatic rifles are sufficient to la!
, down a temporary barrage at RICH
, angles to a trench front, and even tw'
of them quickly placed at OPPOSITE
ends Of a trench front can establish
cross fire as effective as a barrage I'm
der some circumstances. For Wit
each gun firing along one leg Of a lei
!. ter v meeting and passing somewher
= out In No Mans Land, the chances o
: an enemy getting through this v viii
!, be very sliln-this will be a defens
;, equivalent to frontless rife fire fror
;. dozens Of individual soldiers, and ca
: be established with the minimum o
F.. exposure.
y These are the tactical points Of tn
new weapon, and one has only to cor
= slider it from this viewpoint to undeI
stand that technical questions such a
\ have been raised by laymen durln
'. recent discussions Of the merits of on
/, machine gun as against another do nt
touch the heart Of the military prol
=. lem-both the design of this gun an
y its use as a tool in battle are palpabl
!" matters to be left to military men.
. Another interesting viewpoint o
=. both the light and heavy types {
=" Browning guns can be gained by brie
!. ~ considering the general developmel
;. Of machine guns as fighting tool
- From the days of sllngs and ston,
:. and arrows fighting man has sougl
- ways Of delivering enough missiles Il
- to the ranks of m advancing foe
,r stop him. With gunpowder and por
~ able guns the number Of missiles /
-, creased, and also their deadliness. tt
matchbox fired clumsily from a II
pod was replaced by smooth.bore mu
zle-loading guns, and then muzzle-loa
.. ing rifles, breech-loading rifles capab
CT firing shots slngly, and finally Il
repeating rife. with a capacity Of fl
.. or six shots In rapid succession. TIL
came shrapnel. delivering a spray
bullets over a considerable range. al
also the first machine guns eQuipp'
~ to fire hundreds Of shots In rapid su
cessicn, but at first so heavy al
clumsy that they could not be NOV
much more quickly than artillery.
he Fired From Shoulder and Hip.
In. These first machine guns r know
as the heavy types and were present
by reduced In weight and developed