The Washington herald., 1919-11-09

There is little II any question
that even in the complete sense
motorized field artillery Is here.
That is. this important event IN au-
tomotive development has come to
pass and is not in any way q mat
ter of futurity. There are. Of
course. those who still advocate the
retention of horse artillery equip
ment haulage under certain condi-
tions, and opinion which deserves
consideration is divided to this ex-
tent.
The merits of the horse will nat
uraIly be advanced as unique for
some time. As was said by Maj.
Gen. c. c. Williams. Chief of Ord
nance, u. s. A, at the last meeting
Of the Society of Automotive Engi-
neers. the military mind is a rigid
mind.
Perfect. Plans Early.
Aside from any doubt as to COM
plete artillery motorization being
here or feasible. 1t is obvious that
g vast amount Of work Is at hand
in connection with the design and
production Of tanks. tractors, smo-
bile repair shops and the like for
use of the Ordnance Department.
1t is well known that the Ordnance
Department not only took as early
STEPS as were taken in any country
toward field artillery motorization,
but used and developed during the
war a great amount of automotive
equipment of commercial and gov
,ernment design produced in this
country.
The policy of the Ordnance Depart
ment In its development and produc-
ton work is to secure the advice and
assistance of the industry to the
greatest extent possible. individuals
and companies are asked to submit
designs and will in turn be asked to
submit bids for the production, at
first, of sample models Of approved de-
signs. This wise and liberal method.
It is believed. will be of great and
increasing effectiveness.
The Ordnance Department deserves
great credit for inaugurating the pol
icy, which in one OF its most impor-
tant phases contemplates the avail
ability and USE of the best automotive
engineering talent In the country for
the common good. The reliability Of
the mechanical equipment must be
equal to that of the horse. Given this
reliability there Is no doubt that the
mechanical equipment would be more
effective than the horse; not forget
ting that on account of the frailty
of the horse and the various difficult
ties of maint aiming him in acute war
operations the mechanical equipment
is now in many respects more relia-
BILE than the horse.
Has Full Cooperation.
The Ordnance Department will
have the full cooperation of the
Society of Automotive Engineers.
many of whose members worked
with the department in a helpful
way during the war. The commit
tee OF the society Is now at work
with the Ordnance Department and
will hold meetings regularly for the
purpose of formulating advisory
recommendations and considering
engineering questions submitted to
it by the Ordnance Department. At
recent sessions of the committee c
here were present: Maj. Gen. c. C..
Williams. chief of ordnance; Brig.
Gen. S. d. Rockenback. chief OF the
Tank Corps; Col. C. LII. Ruggles.
chief of the technical staff of the
Ordnance Department; Col. L. b.
Moody. Col James 3. billiard, and
the following members of the s. A.
E. committees: Herbert W. Alden.
chairman: w. G. Wall. Dent Barrett.
C. w. Dunham and Coker F. Clark
son. President Charles NJ. Manly and
past-President c. F. Kettering., of
the society are members of the COM
mittee.
Open Designing omees.
The Ordnance Department has es-
tablished designing Offices at Syra-
cuse. Cleveland. Detroit and Peoria.
to bring about closer relations be-
tween the automotive engineers and
the War Department. A permanent
exhibit of oDhnance material is to
be maintained at Aberdeen Proving
Ground. where automotive ,engi-
neers may inspect samples of mo-
torized apparatus used by the Ord
nance Department at the present
time.
Specification work is now being
conducted in connection with fur
ther production of tractors, trail
ers. tractor caissons and some spe-
cial apparatus. Various matters in
connection with the design of tanks
are under consideration.