| Show M BULLETS FLY TuCK FAST d Busy of the Ammunition Bi y hie Than in Any In the tho lost of the Fight but ore are Defenseless j Their Business to Supply Sh t and ond Shell to the Fir Firing ing Line Regardless of Consequences J a 1 As the armored train has become so prominent IL a feature ot of the Transvaal war It may como come M as a surprise to mAny to know that while Great Britain has perhaps the most complete ot of these moving forts In the world none ot of them Is In use In South Africa on ac account account count ot of the tho narrow gauge railways prevalent there Those In operation are merely converted rolling stock be beIng lug Ing ordinary box cars with about halt half haltan an Inch of common steel the locomotive the tive being protected In the same man manner ner with just enough metal to stop rifle bullets The light roadbeds prevent the effective use or of heavier guns than and Maxims Maims oa as w wI I the recoil would be too loo great for tor the I equilibrium ot of the tracks I The pet or of the British ordnance de department department Is now idle at ho home where It will probably remaIn during the pres present ent son to be admired b by military men tor what it 11 could do Ir if It were lre possible to once turn It loose upon the enem enemy II a good deal on the order of Languid Youth who wa was to get his by standing In front or of the great sleeping dragon and hn alno what it Il would do to him it If it woke up This much lauded train consists of an fast tast locomotive with protect protected ed steel sides some nine feet teet In height two steel plated van nn conveying a Max im gun each ench the men the houses the tho thoA theSS SS A umber limber and the projectile and a truck specially constructed l to carr carry It if many sar a gun thouGh at present only n a 40 breechloader Is used which Is mounted on nn an ordinary field carriage Now comes the peculiar and diabolical devicE that will make this class ot of armored train a terror In modern warfare TIle The platform ot of the track lain reality a turntable pivoted on a center and revolving on IL a circular racer which the who are protected b ba by bya a plating some six feet feel high round three sides can revolve with lUh levers leers The gun is 18 fired through un an aperture the Ule recoil beIng checked ba by o hydraulic brake on Its own carriage and also by rising slides which eau the tho gun to return to the firinG position U Hi an Ingenious arrangement of cross can run out and sup Bull supported ported on blocks a broad base can be for the truck when the g gun gunIs n Is tired at right angles angle to the perma penna permanent nent way while to increase the sta bUlt the truck It if necessary can bet be connected Onn ll with the rails by strong screw clips The train l Is also supplied with n a powerful searchlight in view of ofa a night a attack NOT A FRENCH INVENTION These moving forts are commonly credited to French inventive In reality they were In Invented ven ted as long ago as 1647 1547 b by Mr Ir James Anderson of In that year ear and 3 again aln In 1519 prepared and patented a series of plans and further submitted IL work workIng lug Ing model ot of his defensive rolling roiling tock stock for the Inspection of English engineers and artillery officers The unlash government however could not nol see seo Its way tray clear to adopt the Invention so Mr Ir Anderson went abroad with his idea with a result that these Ironclad trains were used on the field ot of battle for tor the first time I In the war warIn In their sorties from Paris the French FrenchI I Crops were frequently backed up by the theA A y ww lire fire ot of light field pieces carried on trucks that were protected with l liron Iron plates and when the Communists were holding the capital against the an armored train opera operated ed upon the railway In the direction or of tint Chateau Dr Brecon on and is hi said to have hav achieved Its object In silencing the b bat t which the re regular lar troops were werl endeavoring to establish It Is this experience perhaps that ham ha haglen glen rise to the beller that the were were the original ot the Id a ator for tor n a lighting fighting train That Is not so however for although the French can certainly lay la claim calm to having been the first to use them In actual warfare the Invention Is British to the discredit of that ultra country USUALLY For vor the most part armored trains art are constructed affairs consisting n a locomotive and n a few cars caN the n being generally located about the me medie j tile die or of the train but England n a dozen specially built b of thIS class having n bulletproof sheeting of Iron surrounding them The first time armored traIns came Into use ue In the British army was at Alexandria when Fisher and his hastily p put t to together ether half a dozen trucks and protected them 1 with Iron rolls rails Iron plates and sand sandbags I bags bag The engine was placed In the middle ot of the train while a machine gun was mounted on the leads lead leadIng lag Ing protected truck and a forty pound I Ier er on the tho next I Captain Fisher Isher had but te few opportunities ot of bringing his train Into acv ac I but during a sharp skirmish on the canal It threw some well directed shells Into the ver very center centor ot of n I time enemy enem inflicting considerable loss Since that da day British and foreign i engineers ha have e vied with one another train that should r I Ibe to 10 turn out nn an armored be shellproof ns as well as bulletproof and have hae well nigh succeeded All I recognize the principle ot of the engine m being protected b by several trucks as an anI I extra preventive o against shells striking the locomotive either In the front or l minimizes any 1 r rr rear and this precaution r danger from time the explosion of mines that may bo be laid under the permanent way wayby b by time the enem enemy Doth Both France and Gem Ger Germany many possess armored trains that are reported to be marvels ot of engineering 1 skill 1 |
