Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1919-04-24
VICTORY LOAN DRIVE IS ON
Campaign Officially Opened Here
Saturday Afternoon by Presence
OF One of Uncle Sans Big
Fighting Machines

The campaign for the sale of the
Victory Loan bonds is now officially
opened and the sale of the bonds is
going merely on. The big government
tank which was here last Saturday
afternoon officially opened the
campaign. The sale of the bonds
has commenced and will continue un-
til the 10th day of next May. The
people of Trego county have met the
demands in all of the bond drives and
will, without doubt, purchase their
quota for the Victory Loan drive.
The special train on which the tank
travelled, was scheduled to arrive here
at o'clock but it arrived about one
hour ahead of time and thus many of
our citizens were deprived of the
privilege of seeing the tank travelling
| and the demonstrations of its ability
to travel over rough ground and to
overcome other obstructions. The
tank was one of the two-man variety,
| a pilot and machine gun man, next
| to the smallest type manufactured by
our government. This type can travel
at the rate of fifteen miles per hour
and go practically anywhere the
driver desires them to go, excepting
perhaps, where the water and mud is
entirely too deep.
| The tank exhibited here Saturday
was accompanied by four soldiers in
uniform and three civilians. The sold
ier boys had had experience over
seas and two of them had been in
the tank service. The machine was
unloaded at the depot and brought up
Franklin street and made trip
around the court house square that
| the entire business district might
| have the opportunity to it. It
| then made a trip into the remains of
the old basement just north of the
Trego Mercantile Co., store and also
| into the old cellar south of Poffenber-
gers barber shop. The tank had no
trouble in making the. descent into
and the ascent out of, these cellars
Notwithstanding the fact that it was
necessary to crush down c1unp of
five or six three-inch trees and stood
at angle of fifty degrees at the
rim of the cellar before righting it
self
After the demonstration the tank
stood on exhibition at the southwest
corner of the square where several
Victory loan speeches were made, Mr..
Lansdon and two of the soldier boys
being the principals. Mr.. Lansdon ex-
pla1ned the necessity for the Victory
loan and the nature of the bonds and
the terms on which they will be sold.
Sargent Walker who drove the tank.
struck a hard blow to the opinions of
some of citizens when he told
them that this particular tank had
never been in service over seas or
anywhere else. Previous to his state
ment many critical observers had
picked out derts and scars where the
death angel had been struck by hui
lets, shells and balls. The United
States had no tanks in the war SER
vice but it had many of them ready
for business at the time the ar,nistice
was signed.
The tank was scheduled to be here
for four hours but owing to a change
in arrangements it was scheduled to
make stop at Ellis, it was here only
about two hours and many citizens
who expected to see it later in the
| evening did not have the opportunity
To all appearances the tank is one OF
the most destructful weapons of war
} fare recently invented The smaller
types, such as that exhibited here, are
used principally for the destruction o1
machine gun nests. They are so con.
structed that very few bullets can hit
them squarely and only the very
| largest can have any effect upor
them.