The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1918-10-03
IMPROVING
ARTILLERY IN FRANCE

CENTRAL FRANCE, Sept s.
American ingenuity is fast making it
self felt in the constitution Of the field
GU.,5 IN the vast worknouse of the ord
nance branch o. the American A cmy
here.
One of the American designs which
has won stror. favor with the French
experts is the "split trailer, which
extends back Of the gun from the
wheels down to the ground. From the
c'riieSt days of Eurncry this trailer
has been Il single piece. But the
Americans have split it from the
ground up, so that two great legs
spread out backward from cannon.
The results have been astonishing,
permitting an ordinary field piece to
be elevated to 80 degrees, or almost
straight up. The American design his
now been adopted as the standard
French model, and it is going into all
the new guns made AZ French arsunls.
In the great shop could be seen also
every form of the death-dealing ma
chine gun which becaMc such for
midablc weapon in the present war
Most of the nations are making two
| forms of machine guns the heavy tyne
weighing: about thirty pounds, mount
Cd on tripod ard drawn by u mule,
and the lighter automatic rifle, weigh
ing about IL pounds, fired from the
shoulder like an ordinary rifle, and
carried by hand as it IS not much hea-
vicr than the sLandard tcn-pound
'iflc. Both types OF these guns Ire
steadily streams of lead as the belts of
bullets arc fed mo ihe reservoirs, the
pn'y limit being the amout of ammu-
alton which can be carried With
each automatic rife are three men,
'nc to fire and two TO keep up the
steadily feeding Of ammunition.
The new type of American machine
Ean makes I. favoraoic ;p?e rance in
his array Of makes from all the ma
'"rrs. 1t IS coming over IN large guam
ties VOW, and most of the American
divisions now arriving come with their
machine gun section equipped with
he new American model At the
|
the best results. bat the real test of
battle action is stiil 20 come, as most
Of the divisions on fighting line OBJ
tained their machine gun equipment
! before the new model was ready.
Besides the guns of nil kinds is the
ammunition stored in vast quantities
II arScnals ana warehouses and in
nurc parks and ammunition dumps all
he way from the coast up to the fight
ing front.
there arc 5cr.c $500 men, skilled
mechanics, from large factories, car
rying on this huge Won. Of keeping up
the supply of guns and ammunition.
Realizing the need Of highly skilled
men for this WORK i'm France a spccial
recruiting campaign WAS carried on in
many Of the American Industrial CEN
tres last Winter. The result is shown
in the equipment Of the ordance
branch with staff Of skilled work
men comparing with the best factory
section.
IL Is lafrly patriotic service in
which skilled mechanics have given up
hIEh wages 10 accept tn" soldiers nav
of $50 a month. The foreman of one
OF the extensive. Detroit automobile
factories, who received $500 IA week,
, Is now volunteer among these cnlis-
ted men, receiving $50 month
There are scores Of cases of this kind.
On the way from the scacost to this
great centre of American ordinance
{ supply one sees along the way not on
! ly vast stocrS Of material and guns,
! Of artillery, the human element, the
but that other very vital factor
! man behind the gun. 1t is stirring
sight rs these huge camps of field ar
! tIlicry are spread out for miles. In
one of the zones bac!; of the war zone
brigade Of artillery, with 7,4OO men
to the brigade, where completely their
equipment and about to move forward
men with their field guns-and this
! was but one branch of this tremcn-
| dous weight Of men and metal which
| rs turning the tide and wearing down
the enemy.