The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-06-03
GUNFIRE IS MADE
SURE BY PHOTOS
Transferred to Maps They Bring
French Artillery to High
Efficiency.
PROCESS IS new INVENTION
Every Enemy Object Accurately Re
corded After AIrmen's Scouting Of
Fiights-Maps Brought to
Date Daily.

French Front.-Accuracy and eff
cheney have been made possible for the
French artillery by the invention OF
an instrument that enables French
mapmakers to locate almost exactly
an object within the enemy lines which
has been photographed from an air
plane. In transferring to a map the
photographed object, such as an enemy
battery or munition dump, the margin
Of error is limited to less than FIVE
yards.
This permits the French artillery to
pour it's shells with almost certain aim
onto German gun emplacements,
trench positions, crossroads, canton
ments, railroad lines, aviation camps
and other enemy organizations. 1t Is
unnecessary for the gunner to have
even a distant view of the object he Is
firing at.
Invention Makes Transfer Easy.
To take a photograph of the enemy
lines from q French airplane is an
easy matter, but to transfer the OBJ
jects photographed to their exact To-
cation on a map was for a time ex-
tremely difficult. This was due to the
varying heights and angles from which
the airplane observers made their
photographs. BY the invention of one
of the officers attached to the geo.
graphical section, this difficulty has
been almost eliminated.
Not only the aerial observation serv-
Ice but other methods of spotting Ger
man positions-more especially can
non and machine-gun emplacements-
are utilized as aids to the work of the
military map-maker. The flashes of
guns as they are fired from the Ger
man side form one valuable adjunct
to his work, but the most important of
all Is the calculation of the speed of
the sound of the firing charge of the
German shells. This has been brought
to a basis Of such perfection that the
guns can now be located with almost
absolute accuracy. In fact, In recent
operations 1t has proved that the sys-
TEN of observation by sound has given
successful results In over so per cent
Of Instances.
Maps Brought to Date Daily.
In every army there is a branch Of
the geographical section and each is
furnished with a complete photographic
and ~zinographic printing plant and
skilled workers, photographers and
mathematician. In a very few hours
after the receipt of the days opera
lions from all the various sources,
dozens of copies of the corrected nap
are ready for Issue to all the stats
OF corps, divisions and brigades COM
prised within the army concerned.
Nothing is omitted from the maps
every church, house, chimney, mill,
bridge, road. railroad, group of trees
Is marked. as well as every turn and
twist of an enemy trench or system of
barbed wire entanglements; every
stream, ditch, bridge, ford, every path
used by supply parties, every point Of
resistance. organized shell crater, look
out post Is shown on the maps. Maps
on a very large scale are given when
an attack Is about to be carried out,
so that each officer and man partici-
pating may know exactly what is In
front of him and what he may expect
to encounter during his advance.