Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights

ks-Hand Grenades-Mortars-"Tanks"-Feudal "Battering Rams"-

inds have developed things undreamed of by science or fiction-things that a few years ago would have been con

n or the protection of men at war. The wonders of chemistry have always lent descriptive inspiration to the pen of

eir diabolical products, ranging all the way from high explosives to poison gases, it would have few of t

y bomb," which sets instant fire to whatever it touches and which spreads flame in a manner so terrific that three or f

ound? Not at all. What they contain is simply the mixture of two of the most harmless

alities for mischief. It is not an explosive but if set on fire it burns with an intensity that is positivel

n such projectiles by a mercury-fulminate cap that sets off a fuse cont

ELLS OF

ners for the mixture before described. They are so contr

a flood of fiercely burning metal is scattered in all directions.

mical compound of iron and oxygen; in other words, oxide of iron. But oxygen has a much greater affinity for aluminum. And so, when t

apidly that an enormously high temperature is developed. It runs up to 3500 or 4000 degrees Fahrenheit-which means, of course, a t

e incendiary bomb offers an excellent illustration. It is in effect merely an adaptation of an idea utilize

STRUMENT

incendiary bomb-a projectile that flew through the air "like a fiery dragon" as they described it, and se

tood to have been a mixture of petroleum, saltpeter and pitch. The chief horror of it, from the Crusaders' point of view,

inal of the Middle Ages. The modern contrivance is thoroughly scienti

rs and poisonous gases which killed or overwhelmed thousands of brave men. These devices used in violation of all rules of civilized warfare sent hundreds to the hospitals. Seventy-fiv

y fumes. Many of those who inhaled the poisons expectorated blood and for days afterward were racked by terrible coughing. In many cases fever developed in a few days ending with pneum

TION OF

r to neutralize the gas fumes. Such devices have been used by fire fighters in large cities the world over where the men battling to save buildings have been compelled to enter smoke-filled rooms and cellars. Other types which have proven more effective are designed after the fashion of the diving apparatus

t the sides of or into buildings to set them in flames. Some of these devices, made of sheet metal, were in their action similar to the "Fourth of July torpedoes" familiar to every

close quarters. Thousands of these have been thrown by the armies in their charges on the trenches. And then, to offset the use of these devices

IN A HUN

moke to conceal the movements of troops, or prevent the enemy from finding the range with their long distance gun

eir war with Russia. The Japanese mortars were mere logs hollowed out and strengthened by wrappings of bamboo rope. The projectiles fired from the

to land in the trenches or camp of the enemy. The Germans developed the idea and the per

h were depicted for us in childhood can scarcely bring to our mind a greater element of the fanciful, the h

themselves across trenches, brushed trees and boulders aside, and kept steadily on their courses. German wire entanglements were as so many pieces of string before their huge frames. Nothing deterred them. They moved

EFIES ALL

rcle at the front which gives the vehicle its wonderful tractive powers. This large curvature acts as a huge wheel with a tremendously long leverage equal to the radius of the circlet or the spokes of the imaginary

ain compartments between the two side caterpillar frames. The first is the observation compartment in which

ver which the caterpillars run. The latter run an idler pulley or sprockets at the extreme front ends and are supported by means of rollers attached to the upper portion of the frame on each side when passing over the top. This m

ar. They are merely for steering, and support none of the weight of the tank except when bridging wide trenches or dips in the surfa

ATERPILLA

he great field guns and mortars-those tremendous weapons which shoot bombs and shells weighing tons and containin

shields of steel behind which the gunners stand, so that they are protected aga

to form a great chain, and when placed on the wheels present broad surfaces to the ground and keep the gun carriages from sinking into the soft earth. With a s

eams, jackscrews and devices to be used in extricating the heavy guns when they got fast i

ore in two years about gunnery and the effect of various types of ordnance under varying conditions than could have been learned in twen

OURCES TO DI

himself in the ground, we can get him out of that hole only by drawing on the combined resources of a nation, by constructing one of

d in the struggle was the underestimation of the artillery power required for the conduct of a successful military campaign under m

ajectory field piece. The Teutons had devoted their best efforts to the development of guns so big that their opponents were tempted, before they learned better,

ans that the development of the 11-inch and bigger field gun, with its special carriage and caterpillar-tread wheels owes

warfare. The heavy Teuton guns performed their mission in the very introductory stages of the war, then failed, a

DERFU

Germans had prepared for them in an overwhelming sweep on Paris. That they did escape this fate is no doubt in a large measure due to the fact that the second effectiveness claimed by the Teutons for their heavy ordnance failed in its full accomplishment. Used in open fighting, the great explosive shells hurled by these guns did not do the damage expected to the wide, open firing lines of the Allies, nor did they produce the moral effect expected. The great shells tore tremendous craters in the ground, fro

up permanent fortifications, and this was nullified immediately by the action of the French in abando

UNDREA

That it did so was due to the monumental blunders on the part of the German staff in allowing itself to be outmaneuvered and beaten back from the gates of Paris by nume

and gave them the breathing time required in which to further their preparations and train new troops, and likewis

nnon of the Teutons, just as they had been in the open. Shooting in flat trajectory across the trench, and exploding just above it, t

n repeated repulses of their drives to cut through to Calais, each side felt justified in replying to the artillery of the other by digging deeper and more permanently, with

ALMOST BEY

munition was to cope with the situation. While the heavy gun was more effective in blasting out the enemy from his d

n out their products by the ton where they had been turned out by

le to develop the famous curtain of barrage fire, also known as

their way slowly but steadily through the strongest net

ose to the line and some well back from it, all concealed as far as possible from enemy aviators. There were also many dummy bat

ork mapped out for it in advance on a map covered with tiny squares. The actual point may be well beyond view of the gunners. The shell is landed in its appointed square solely on mathematical calcula

LS LIKE STRE

a parallel line of fire is concentrated at a given distance back of the enemy's first trench and in front of the second, or in it. This means that the troops in the

osing trenches. Their arrival at the enemy's first trench is timed to the second, and just as they are on the verge of plunging into their own curtain of fire this latter is gradually thr

has preceded them as before, moving up to the line of drum fire which has been playing on the second line of trenches or just in front of it. If any o

re poured with redoubled fury into the second line of the enemy trenches,

ON LOCAL C

ree, four or five trenches in a single attack. At others it is as much as can be accomplished to capture one, which must be consolidated before further advance is made. It depends on

s necessary to suspend operations for a time while the

being moved. And it is during this period that the infantry have to do their hardest fighting, which consists, not in making the advance over no-man's land to the enemy tren

ir scouts to find the rearranged positions of the enemy guns after the adv

, during which an attack by the French in some other section of the line was in progress. Then suddenly the scene of action switched back t

EQUIV

erman line is referred to as the "first," and so, on paper, as far as the uninitiated are concerned, the German publicity office is able to build up a continuous series of enemy attacks which "break down," and somehow never, never "penetrat

n robbers has been approximated by his warring tribes. With the retreat of the German troops from Flanders the Allied forces fou

d were handles, used by the operators in their nefarious work. The ram was used to batter in the doors of houses which had been locked or barricaded against the German soldiers. In their most destructive moods, it is charged that they used these d

HOD OF

shells breaking over head, while missiles rain all about, necessitated the develop

n wounds and in many cases smashed bones. About three per cent of the wounds were in the head and about fifteen per cent in the face or neck. This led to the adoption by the French of a steel helmet called

s. Of the thirteen who wore helmets, not one had a skull fracture. Five had slight wounds on

number of cases of sudden death from wounds in the head had been so decreased that the

the same model. The French helmet has a bursting bomb as insignia on its front and is light blue or khaki c

LGIAN

, with no insignia; the Serbian, khaki-colored, with the Serbian coat of arms; the Russian, khaki-c

make 1,000 helmets. The British also equipped their troops with a steel helmet, which has no ridge running from front t

ch fighting, a steel helmet considerably heavier than any of the allied helmets. It has a

itting closely to the head, distributes the weight over the whole of the skull,

y do protect the wearer from low velocity projectiles, and as these are, because of infectio

ut of 479 abnormal wounds were caused by shra

projectiles did not have velocity enough t

5 to high velocity bullets. Practically every one of these wounds could hav

ITY MOST

re about ten who die from wounds made by the low velocity shrapnel and shell fragments,

efficiency, which cannot be tolerated. However, in trench warfare the mobility of the individual does not count for so much, as eve

set the brains of the world at work, and armor is used to a limited degr

uch shields were strapped to the front of the body. The Germans in the charges have frequently used double shields, advancing in groups of

ld guns rain against it. Experiments are being made continuously along these lines, and Guy Otis Brewster,

fire at him from a distance of 60 yards. A Springfield rifle was used, with regulation ammunition. The stee

TION A

weigh 30 pounds; but the material is so flexible that the soldier wearing such an outfit can kneel, lie down, ri

rt of the Belgian Commission, which investigated the horrors when the Germans first invaded King Albert's country, contains testimony which proves conclusively that such missiles were

ally used. The dum-dum bullet is a soft-nosed missile which, when it strikes a bone, flattens out and splatters, creating a jagged wound which it is almost impossible to treat or h

RICAN

dily understood by anyone who has ever tried the experiment of driving an ordinary needle into a board through a cork. If the cork is placed on the board and the needle pressed down through the cork until it touches the board, a powerful blow from a hammer

ions, others have been created to care for the sick and injured-those who have

ls. They are long, staunchly constructed sleds similar to those used on the farms in America for hau

n be drawn easily. In winter these same sleds have served to haul th

food has been great and constant the tractor plow has been used to solve the problem of working the ground. On the estate of Sir Arthur Lee, the direc

d. In the European armies are thousands of dogs which have been trained to act as messengers or spies, or to seek out on the battlefields the wounded. The Germans use a canine commonly known as "Boxers." These animals are a cross between the German mastiff and the English bulldog, and on the f

s. Sometimes the dogs bring back such an article as a cap, tobacco pouch or handkerchief. The dogs of the Red Cross carry on their collars a

lax of Lewanno, is a typical German sheepdog. Such dogs weigh from 50 to 65 pounds and are very powerful, but the