New-York tribune., 1918-03-25

by the mind OF man-thc relay gun
An emperor himself had placed
with his own divinely appointed hands
a ribbon over the spot beneath which
his heart should have been.
"The projectilc of this diabolical in
vention was ninety y-tive centimetres in
diameter and was itself a rife mortar
which, in full fight, twenty miles from
the gun and at the top of its trajectory
exploded in mdair. hurling forward its
contained projectile with an additional
velocity of 1000 feet per second. This
process repeated itself the final or
core bomb. weighing over 800 pounds
and filled with lydditc. reaching its
marx l minute and 35 seconds after the
firing Of the gun. This crowning ex-
ample of the human minds destructive
ingenuity had cos. the German govern
ment 100000 marks and had required
three years for its construction.
"By no means the least of its devil
ish, capacities was that of automati-
cally re.oading and firing itself at the
interval of every ten seconds. its
muzzle rising, falling or vecring slight
ly from side to side with each dis
charge. thus causing the shells to fall
at wide distances. The poisonous
nature of the immense volume Of gas
poured out by the mastadon when in
action necessitated the withdrawal Of
its crew to safe distance. But once
1t was set in motion it needed no at
| tendant. Everything was ready for the
holocaust"
The story then goes on to tell how
just as the gun was about to be fred
Won Hickman received orders that an
armistice had been declared, and he
refused to fire the leviathan. A gcn-
eral, maddencd by winc, then enters
into the tale
"'To hell with peacc' he beloved
TO hell with peace, | say. Press the
button Won Heckmann.'
81 can't the inventor muttercd. 4
cant
"'Thc general seemed to have gone
mad. Thrusting Won Hickman out of
the way. he threw himself into a chair
at the end Of the table, and with
snarl pressed the black handle Of the
key.
AT first the night remained still
Then. like the grating of a
coffee MILL they heard the faint whirr
of machinery sharper metallic ring
OF steel against steel. followed by a
gigantic detonation which shook the
ground upon which they stood. E.
With roar like the fall OF sky
scraper. the first shell hurled itself
into the night. The rcverbcration was
still echoing among the hills when the
second detonation occurred. shortly
followed by the third and fourth"
After eight shells had killed few
persons in the suburbs of Paris "Thc
Man Who Rocked the Earth" put the
giant gun out of commiss ion.
Author Explains Idea
When Mr.. Trains attention was
called yesterday to the parallel between
the bombardmcnt of Paris as it actual
ly has occurred and that rccounted in
his Look. which is published by Double
day. Page & Co., he was much inter-
ested.
II have often wondered,' he said,
"why such gun has not been invented
The plan. l think. is feasible. and my
co-author in "Thc Man Who Rocked the
Earth Professor Robert Williams
Wood. now jor in the United States
Army and formerly a scientist on the
staff of the Johns Hopkins University,
of Baltimore, agreed with me-"
Mr.. Train, who also wrote "The
Earthquake credited Professor Wood
with the discovery Of the tear bomb,
now used in Europe