The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1918-09-21

nance branch are now going forwar
Tor public exhibition in Americ
, showing this split trailer firing at a
elevation of 73.4O degrees.
Here could be seen also every forl
OF the death-dealing machine gu
which became such a formjdabl
weapon in the present war.
This is an age of mechanical wal
fare" said the officer as he pointe,
out the different types, French, Enc
ilsh, American, as we'll as Germa,
and Austrian. There were no ma
cnlne-guns used in the civil war
only few in the ,Spanish-Americal
and Boer wars: more in the Russo
Japanese and Balkan wars; and nov
they have developed to a foremos
place as an effective and deadI,
means of warefare."
MOST OF the nations are making two
forms of these machineguns. the
neavy type weighing about 30 pounds
mounted on tripod and drawn by a
mule, and the lighter automatic rifle
weighing about Is pounds, fired from
the shoulder like an ordinary rife
ana carried by hand as it is not
much heavier than the standard 10.
pound rifle Both types Of these guns
fire steady streams Of lead as the
belts OF bullets are fed into the res.
erVolrs, the only limit being the
amount Of ammunition which can he
carried. With each automatic rife
are three men one to fire and two 70
keep up the steady feeding of am.
munition.
The new type of American machine
gun makes a favorable appearance in
This array of makes from all the ma
lions. 1t is coming over in large
quantities now, and most of the Am.
erican divisions now arriving come
with their machine-gun sections
equipped with the new American
model. At the training camps the
tests nave given the best results. but
the real test of battle action is still
TO come as most of the divisions ON
the lighting line obtained their ma.
chine-gun equipment before the new
model was ready.
In this same arsenal one could
compare the rifles and bayonets of all
the combatant troops. The Ameri.
can bayonet looked like long, sharp.
edged knife. But the French bayo-
net was more like slender rapier,
Two feet long and without cutting
edge, meant for stabbing. The Rus.
sian bayonet has no sharp point but
s like a screw-driver with a fiat edge,
cutting and stabbing at the same
line.
And besides the guns of all kinds
S the ammunition stored in vast
Quantities in arsenals and ware
louses and in huge parks and ammu-
lition dumps all the way from the
cast up to the fighting front. The
reat stacks of shells are very order.
in arrangement, each stack repre-.
enting a carload, and each graded
y calibre and lot.number. Each lot
shells differs slightly in power, and !,
ne only way to insure uniform ac-
uracy in the fire of battery is to !.
eep 1t supplied with the same lot of i,
bells.
Separate from the shells, are the !.
lses and grenades kept in small
etached lots owing to their highly !,
Iplosive character. In one of these :.
renade dumps there were Is differ :.
1t kinds Of gas, hand and rifle gre.
ides.
There are now some 8,4OO men. 80
rmerly skilled mechanics in large ~
merican factories, who are enlisted n
ldiers carrying on this rugh work =,
keeping up the supply Of guns and A,
nmunition. Realizing the need of D,
ghly skilled men for this work in W
'ance, special recruiting campaign II.
IS carried on in many Of the Amer. &c
an industrial centers last winter.
lie result is shown in the equipment IN
the ordnance branch with a staff mr.
skilled workmen comparing with va
e best factory sections. rat
It is largely a patriotic service in tn
Itch skilled mechanics have given w
large wages to accept the soldiers wi
= Of $50 a month. The foreman of IN,
e of the extensive Detroit automo. Uts