The Bolivar County Democrat., 1923-06-30
Unoie Sans Mechanical Ele.
plants Stage Show for
Staff College Students.

Washington.-Uncle Sans herd of
mechanical elephants recent. showed
Off at the army tank school, Camp
Meade, Md, in a demonstration put
on for the benefit of some seventy of
ficers and instructors from the staff
school at the army war college.
Half dozen of the huge, lumber
Ing Mark VIII" giant tanks devel-
Dyed during the war, but too late
~ share in the fighting, and a whole
flock of the six-ton French type which
did get into action participated in the
show.
The demonstration is one of the
series of educational exhibits for the
staff college students, all of whom are
experienced officers whose military in
struction is being rounded out to in
sure an adequate supply of general
officers and men with general staff
qualifications.
Tear Down Trees.
To introduce the student officers to
the possibilities of modern tank war
fare, Col. S. ID. Rockenbach, COM
mandant, of the tank corps and school,
sent two of his huge 40-ton mark
VIII" monsters skirmishing through
the heavy woods on either side of
narrow roadway. When the signal to
advance was given, the land battle
ships surged forward resistlessly,
tearing great swaths as they passed,
as though twin, narrow gauge cy-
clones had cut parallel paths Of wreck
age through the woodland. Towering
trees went down before them like
reeds, the tanks grinding them re-
morseiessly under the steel-shod run
ners. At times each tank was knock
ing over half a dozen trees at the
same time literally roofing them from
the earth and numbering forward over
PROSTATE trunks q foot or more in
diameter. The sheer power of the
geared liberty engines overcame every
obstacle of ditch or bank or brush or
tree clump, and not an inch to right
or left from the selected course were
the monsters forced to swerve.
Later a miniature tank attack was
delivered over the rough, sandy field
that is the playground of the school
herd. Three MARK WIS" led the
drive, their six-pounder guns roaring
and machine guns snarling as they
crept forward behind a smoke bar
rage hurled from their guns. They
looked like crawling dragons, breath
ing smoke and fame as they shoul-
dered their way over bitches and sand
dunes TO disappear over ridge be-
yOnd In clouds of dust and spouts Of
Aying debris flung up from land mines
that gave realistic battle picture.
y Little Fellows in Wake.
Behind the big fellows came far
flung line Of the little six-tonners,
splitting with machine gun and one
FOUNDER fire. A dozen or more of the
two-man tanks made up this line.
Colonel Rockenbach explained to the
visiting officers that what they had
seen thus far were tanks developed
during the war He recalled that In
the first requisitlon from General
Pershing for tank equipment, the call
had come for the elements which
would make up land feet the fight
ang tanks with auxiliary equipment Of
.cross country, rough-going machines
to bring up the artillery and supplies.
Since the war. he added, some prog
ress toward filling that requisition
had been made.
AT signal the new type, the 15-ton
medium tank" of the future, charged
out into the rough field. 1t fairly
raced over humps and hummocks at
a 12-mile gait, twisting and turning
like a motorboat. Behind it came a
H'seventy-ive" gun riding similar
mechanism and plunging about the
field at high speed regardless of holes
or bitches. 1t Travelled with equal
speed in either direction. Behind
these two came the cross-country