Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-09-10

battlcflclds Even the recent phenom-
nal success OF the French and British
tanks. which in respect TO the per-
forrnancc Of the former brought out
special acknow Judgement from General
I'ctain and Premier Clemcnceau OF the
pivotal character of their achieve
mcnts. has not exhausted Allied power
and inventiveness.
II is impossible to say anything
about on how large Il scale the United
States is building tanks and training
the personnel to go with them. Some
of the enthusiasts recommend the en-
largcmcnt OF the tank service to the
dimensions of the signal corps, which,
when 1t still included the army air
service. numbered more than 125.000
men. They also insist on the immcdi
ate building OF not less than 100000
Of the small tanks for two men and
possibly onc-man tanks.
No announcement has ever been
made Of what is actually being done in
respect TO the number of tanks being
built or planned or tho numbers of the
men that are To use them. But. there
is no doubt that the high command is
fully aware Of the immense potential
tiles of the tanks and firmly commit
ted to their use on large scale. II
Is held thr the utilization of tanks in
immense .i.:mbcrs at an early date !:
f.aS SiIla than that
large number OF airplancs. because
their manufacture is not so novel 4
thing to American automobile and
truck manufacturers.
The production of the tanks is a
function of the ordnance department,
in which n special division is charged
with the task. The service corps in
the United States is directed by Col.
I. &. WclbOrn. who is q medal-of honor
man OF the regular army. with Servit"
in the Spanish American war, in III"
Philippines. and in the Boxer eXrcdi
tion. He Is reputed to bc man Of
great force and executive abhity. His
assistant is Captain Phil y. Poston.
Brigadier General :. d. Rockenbarh is
commander of the tank service in
France. II has been Officially admit
ted that there Is but one battalion Of
the American tank service at :he front,
but whether these machines are for
cign made is not known.
Thus far two tank camps have been
established. The camp ut Gettysburg.
Pa. is concentration and preliminary
training camp and Is in charge OF Ma
jor ID. d. Eisenhower. The advanced
training camp IL at Tobyhanna. Pa.
Col. W. II. Clopton is in command
there. He has recently returned from
France with twenty-five assistant Of
ficcrs. who, after thorough practical
experience with tanks In England and
France, will act rs instructors for the
men and officers of the rapidly grow
ing tank corps. No information Is
available az to the numbers of men
and the amount Of equipment now at
these camps.
The present effectiveness of the tank
service has given that branch q wide
appeal among men who want to "Treat
'em rough" as the motto Of the United
States tank corps intimates that the
tank fighters intend to do. The adver
tising campaign to collect picked men
for the tanks has been taken over 10y
reports from the front. Says the Tri-
bunc:
The tank idea has taken the country
by storm. and such is the eagerness of
strong men, natural fighters. and me-
chanics and engineers to enter service
that il has become easy to make it
corps d'rlite. ranking in the excellence
of it's personnel with the marines and
the air service. Every man. whether
for the fighting section or the mechan
ical side. is hand picked. Every Off
Ger is promoted from the ranks of the
enlisted men. No man can secure
commission without first becoming a
buck private.
privutcS who have the natural equip
nRnt of officers are cut through an Of
ficcrs' training school and on gradua-
ton are commissioned as second lieu
tenants. When commissioned they are
assigned TO duty. according to their
special qualifications. which depend
largely on what they did IN civil life
and their fighting or mechanical quail
tiles The fightcrs-the machine gun
men. artillerists. and drivcrs-will bc
drawn. whether officers or privatcs.
chiefly from the ranks of those who
are not mechanically skilled. Mechan-
les and mechanical engineers will nat
urally drift to the maintenance work.
4 well-known business man about
80 years Of age, has just given up
salary of 100000 year to enlist as
private. with the hope Of being an Of
ticer of the iron cavalry that Is to
charge on Berlin. 4 film m-service man.
ager on the Pacific coast has given up
s25, 900 to do likewise. Hundreds Of
prosperous and successful leaders In
civil life are swar1ning to the fighting
colors of the tanks and are striving TO
emulate in their pugnacious aggres-
sivcness the snarling wildcat that has
been chosen as the emblem Of the
tank service. Take them all in ALL
physically. mentally. and culturally.
the tank men are declared to be the
flower OF the army.-Literary Digest.
CROWN PRINCE is TALKING.