El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-01-12

THE CHEUZOr STEEL SPRING
THE affair Of the pneumatic Creuzot
1 steel spring. as II. Ducastel re-
constructed it piece by piece out OF
ais tenacious old brain. turned out TO
be one Of those sordid. drab, dis
couraging dramas that happen wher-
ever man IS man and gold IS gold.
in any and every army. with the
possible exception OF the japanese
The spring, an invention made by
the chief engineer Of the great Creu-
got works. was cannon spring which
broke the recou record by the inf
Intestinal fraction Of a second. That
was all. But # is the gun which
wins the battle and the quickness
OF the recou which makes the gun
The gain Of an iufinitesimal fraction
Of a second in shooting the gun back
into position may mean the life OF
death Of thousands Of men II may
mean battle won, a campaign vic
toriousIy ended. a nation saved.
Thus the chiefs Of the French army
were pleased. Since the debacle OF
Sudan they had steadily improved
their artillery Now with this spring,
they were supreme. An enemy would
think twice before attacking.
They knew that. in the course Of
time, the spring would be stolen IL
would be minutely examined What
Of it, They were secure in their be-
lief that all the most expert assaying
and Analysing in the world would not
be able 10 duplicate that particular
spring. For its NAKED had discovered
a new chemical element. which en-
tered into the composition Of the
steel, and in turn the spring. what 10
was, and its formula was in a secret
safe in the Paris war office. secure
even from earthquakes.
Then, TO make a long story short.
the formula was stolen. Il was sold
for money doubtless across the Rhine.
Yes" said Ducastel "a country's
honor, a country's safety. e country's
happiness and decency and civiliza- I
ton sold for yellow gold. and for /
what gold may purchase Food and F.
drink and women and horses and .
luxury. A country sold for the salts 7
faction Of a traitors five sensest'
hmm diately suspicion was centered /
ln three men: Three officers OF the /
-47th regiment Of infantry who were 7
luartered az the war office with the .
special task Of guarding the safe. one !
II the three must have forced the
iafe open, stolen the formula, and D
iold it to the enemy.
The three men were court martialed
IN secret, for the government did
lo- want the news TO leak out for
.
gree the hand Of the administration
htO war with the country. which by
oul means, had acquired the formula
II that cannon spring on which the
military hopes Of France were CEN
cred. War; would have been the
bout down the boulevards: war. be-
ore the enemy had time 10 use the
ormuia- A Beriini A Berlini
Yes. the trial was secret Not
ven the names OF the three officers
we're known to anybody except the
Judges who presided over the court
martial and the other officers OF the
47th regiment OF infantry. who had
o give their solemn oath never 10
MENTION the names The prisoners
aces were masked. I tell you. my
title Tenant, it was Eruesome, 3.
Medieval; like a scene from the in
uisition or some ancient Teutonic
ching erichtl You see, I was there ,
as detective ma not even was
flowed to know their names or see
heir faces Sweet little job for
elective, wasn't it,
-On the third day Of the trial one
Z the officers. major. committed {
uicide. His innocence was established