Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1919-05-14

.ated Press Behind the armies in
rance which smashed a road to vic
~ through the German defense last
Il, the United States was forging
fore the armistice was signed, wea-
..ons gigantic and powerful, counted
Jon to make ultimate victory GER
lin In the American artillery pro-
ram alone, the full fruition of which
3uld not have been reached before
20, there was in creation an agency
.lieved by the army men here to be
itself able to bring the victory.
An official and detailed account of
lat program is contained in the chap
IS made public today in America
lunitions, the historical report pre-
1red under the direction of Assist
t Secretary Crowell who was direc-
Or of munitions during the war.
The whole story of guns, from the
nm infantry cannon with its inch
ID one-half bore, designed for use
/ the front lines of combat to the
6-inch mortar on a railway mount,
nich was to work havoc on the enemy
ON points miles behind the fighting
ont, the story of the extraordinary
forts of American industry to equip
a army with artillery on a scale
ever before attempted is graphically
mi, ~ Ill N con
pirit of partnership in the war enter
rise between industry and the gov
rnment that made possible such an
4deraking
The chapters devoted to guns are
extensive as to make up a consid-
fable volume in themselves. They
ontain the names and the statistical
acords of achievement of all the arms
nat worked on guns or ammunition
nd this official commentary will
ave a place in the records of those
.. rms in the pears to come.
The French rs Controversy.
Among the many interesting things
a the report is the account now Of
.cially given of the reasons that inn
.3elled the war department to cast aside
kept for training purposes all OF the
inch field artillery with which the
merican army was equipped when
ae United States entered the war.
nd to substitute for these weapons
hree types of guns fitted to take
ammunition of the rs nm type en-
.oyed by the French light pieces.
There has been much controversy
ecause of the alleged failure to
opt at the outset of the war the
rench rs, famous for its perform
noes in the war. as the standard
merican piece of this type. The re-
ort shows that the gun was adopted
Or combat purposes, but that its pro-
luction in quantity in the United
tates proved to be even more of a
roblem than the governments ex-
erts had anticipated. For that rea-
IN the American 3-inch gun, rede-
igned for IS ammunition, and the
.ritish 3.3 inch field gun, similarly
echambered, were both put into pro-
action in order to make use of ey-
ry facility for manufacture. The
merican and British type were in
ended primarily for training work
I'd were so employed. But the wis
ON of putting these guns into pro-
action on a quantity scale Is en-
hasized in the following paragraph:
In the year and one-half of oui
var experience the manufacturing
reduction problems were all practi-
ally and completely solved with one
<ception-that of building French
ydropneumatic recuperators for the
jmm guns. This, perhaps the hard
st manufacturing job in the whole
cangs of war industrial enterprise
nd naturally the last one to come
trough, had not been solved when
re armistice was signed. However, it
only fair to state that the solution
this recuperator problem was i'm
Iinent on November II, 1918"
French Rec0il Device.
The recuperator is the recoil de-
zee which makes these French guns
nat they are. Their construction was
French secret and to build them
2ere is required a degree of precis-
On comparable only, the report states |
that necessary in building as deli
tie an instrument as a sextant. 1t
as with difficulty that any American
anufacturer was persuaded to un-
7rtake it, yet on April 25, 1919, 6 7of +,
.ese recuperators had been completed
Id 50 of these passed by French ex-
erts and accepted by the govern
emit They were the first of these de-
ces built out of France or by any
her than the skilled French work
zen.
Construction of the guns themselves
md their carriages went forward
Witty. Under the agreements the
rench and British were to supply the
rst American armies with all of
seir field artillery and intermediate
arteries with the exception of the
1Werful American rifle and how