The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-05-03
By an Ordnance Officer.


 thought that every decisive military engagement must be decided by the bayonet. He said that the most inn portant element in the success of any militant element in the success of any military operation was the strength and support of its artI lsry.
 In looking over his marvellous mfli- tary career, the student finds that the dominating factor in his success was the superiority of his artillery and the excellence of the French artillerist. The Germans in their preparations for this war followed in his footsteps. Their marvellous heavy ordnance is one of the greatest surprises of the present struggle. Today the two dominating factors Sn the struggle for world supremacy are still the bayonet and heavy ar tillery. Without the support of either success is impossible.
 Big guns play a major part in de- ciding battles, now as in the day of Napoleon. For this reason it is in teresting to know something about the different kinds of big guns being made for our army in France.
 Artillery may be divided into two classes-mobile artillery, which in cludes all guns used in the field, and seacoast artillery, which is used in Notifications on fixed mounts.
 It Is the mobile artillery which we are vitally interested in at the pres ent time for offensive work on the French front. This mobile artillery is divided into three distinct types guns, howitzers, and mortars
 Guns.
 The first of these are long-range rifles distinguished by high muzzle velocity and long barrels of from 30 to 50 calibers; that is to say the length of barrel ranges from thirty to fifty times the diameter of the bore, giv- ing range of from 6,0oO to 30,O00 yards with low angle of fire.
 These guns are classified as wheel mounts anti-aircraft (truck mounts) emplacement mounts, and railway mounts. The wheel mounts are sub-divided as pack artillery (moun- tain guns transported on pack mules) ; field guns, drawn by horse teams and attached to rumbles; motorized field guns, drawn by big ammunition trucks; tractor-drawn guns of large cahber; and the so-called horse ar tillery, drawn by horses, with all can noneers mounted, for fast field work in support of cavalry.
 The wheel-mount guns include the famous French 75 (S-inch) and the 4 oh fad such havoc among their German op- ponents and which have been respon- sible for breaking down the greatest military offensives of the Germans in the past three years. The AT are ,t greater range and caliber but of prac- ticaIly the same type as the 75 nm. Next in order, according to size come the 5-inch and the 6-inch sea- coast guns, such as our allies have withdrawn from the Notifications and mounted on improvised vince mounts, for use as mobile artillery. The second class are the anti-air- craft guns, for which purpose 75s and 4.7s are provided, mounted on a car riage which will allow an elevation oi about S5 degrees and a traverse ,. 36O degrees, set up on a motor truck.
 Emplacement mounts are large. caliber guns that are partially mo- bile. They are taken apart and nov ed around in sections in tractors as needed, and set up in concrete em- placements. They are, more strictly speaking, siege guns.
 The railway-mount guns are con
 
 rifles of from to IA inches caliber They have a mount consisting of g specially designed carriage on a rail way car and they are operated, due to their extreme range and accuracy far back from the front lines over tht heads of our own troops.
 This covers the first class of mo, bile artillery-the long-range rifles Next in order come the howitzers.
 Howitzers.
 The howitzer is distinguished iron the rife by low muzzle velocity ranging from 1900 to 1900 feet pe second, and a short barrel, approM mately eighteen times the caliber O the gun, developing a range at higl angle fire of from 10000 to 23,00t yards.
 The commonest sizes of howitzer il use are the 155-mm., the 8-inch, tn 24O-mm., and, of course, the famou 16-inch howitZer which we heard st much about in the early days of tn war, when the Germans, who frs used them, created such dreadf- havoc, destroying with them the for tif1cations of Liege.
 The smaller sizes, such as the 155 nm. and the 8-inch, are used prin cipaIIy for field work, but also for tn bombardment of permanent fortifca tions when necessary.
 Howitzers have the advantage ( being cheaper to make than guns, an use cheaper ammunition Also the Tiff of the gun is longer. Indicative c this the life of a howitzer of the sam cahber as a gun would be about two thirds longer. But they are not ] accurate and have not as long rang as the guns and consequently are nc adapted for all work
 The life of the guns ranges fro1 5000 rounds for the small field typ down to 500 or TOO for the converte seacoast guns.
 These figures denote only the aC tual accuracy life. It is probabl that the guns win be fired up to 5 per cent. above these figures befoI retiring them. By refining the bal rels the life of the gun is practical renewed.
 N Mortars-