Show Auto l Trucks i and Motorcycles cles r 1 fr yb Mexican campaign shows sows their usefulness usefulness use use- over arm army mule and cavalry r S. S horse ors e Flesh es and blood cant can't compete compete com corn y pete with steel an and gasoline down own on the a desert an and moon mountain trails r. r SORROWFUL and prophetic array army mule stood beside a a. Soto cactus near the American end of the long dusty road from Columbus New Mexico to Old Mexico so writes W. W 4 0 O. O McGeehan In the New Tri TrI- bune Down the trail from the base of the punitive expedition swept a train of 30 auto trucks They were heavily laden with the varlet variety of ot cargoes that are required for tor an army In the field Each truck carried four or five troopers In olive drab squatted Insecurely on top of the load The road was uneven It was full of ruts but the auto truck train glided gilded along at the rate of from eight to ten miles an hour The vehicles kept a perfect alignment The he troopers swore softly but earnestly as the trucks jolted Even as the arm army mule watched the sweating swearIng swearIng swear- swear Ing lag truck tr train In disappeared into a cloud of dust beyond be be- yond the border line Then the mule tilted back his dejected head and gave vent to a secret sorrow in one reaching far vocal effort As though mocking his grief the horns of the auto trucks tooted back derisively derisively de de- de- de In the Ule distance The grief of that army mule was the grief of Othello Othel Othel- lo 10 with his occupation gone He sunk behind the Soto cactus and subsided into painful meditation He had Just seen his finish He realized at that moment that the army mule would never again hold lOld a high place among the factors factors fac fac- tors which win battles He realized that practical poets would no longer sing of the virtues which the army arm mule could display upon great emergencies He was already obsolete down and out I Even en the mule skinner with the picturesque vo- vo and the hard words had abandoned him g mule nule skinner was now driving drivins one one- of those I auto trucks Mud and aud was addressing It with strai strained d F politeness when he spoke to It at all nil It was all nIl wron wrong By the martyred mule of ot Matanzas of which the army array bards sang durin during the Spanish-American Spanish war da days s 's It was all wrong I There here was no use to pull against the he auto truck lIe He had tried It when they hItch hitched d him to the rear of one He decided to drag the thing back over the desert But Instead he was relentlessly dragged on his bis haunches for a mile and he gave ave It up The Columbus expedition has demonstrated that in the matter of arm army transportation the mule is dead long live the auto truck 1 It had already been demonstrated at ut the battle of the Marne l when motor vehicles checked the German advance and saved France But our war department moves with excessive deliberation It clung tenaciously to Its faith Inthe in inthe inthe the mule until the first auto truck train went galumphing into Mexico making three times the distance that a mule could make over o roads which no motor driven vehicle could be expected to travel The consequence was a n rush order for a auto to trucks and drivers The Time auto trucks are arc standing up wonderfully well They plow through h the alkali dust up to the hubs they jolt over the rocky places the they flounder through the sandy sand wastes that grind the bearings s. s and they puff purr through the mountain passes The They go anywhere the mule will ijo go and they get there in better time While the long trail from Columbus to Nami- Nami quipa is lined with the carcasses of mules and horses homes the auto trucks go rumbling on In their work of keeping the field army supplied with food and amI ammunition They perform new miracles upon every ery new nev emergency There are me several hundred auto trucks at the arm array army base at Columbus On a pinch those trucks could move an entire brigade In one day twice as asfar asfur asfur fur far as all nil the horses and mules In the world could move It This Is true despite the fact that many of the trucks are badly racked because of ot bad driving Not only does the time successful test of the tine auto truck spell the passing of the mule mu train It also means the passing of cavalry the most pIcturesque picturesque picturesque pic pIc- branch of the service Even E cavalry oW- oW cers eelS In the punitive expedition will admit that three or four lour auto trucks will get a company af of Infantry In In- fantry twIce as far on a forced march as th the best- best mounted troop of ot cavalry could travel tru Cavalry Cl charges are rare In these days of rapid- rapid fire rifles rUles and machine guns The horses are De used only to get the men to the front where lacy ney op op- crate as Infantry When the gasoline fed d mounts mounts' can cnn get them there so much faster tuster than tl the horses It begins to look bad for the tile cavalry cn hors horst The l United States of the near future will travel extensively on gasoline There will m be bc few tew more heart breaking Infantry hikes hUes and there will willbe willlie lie he few more wild cavalry rides leaving In their woke wale dead and dying horses Even en th IMd fild ld can enn be carried led b by the auto trucks All of this should have hac been realized realize before beote One of the lustIng lasting benefits of the tile e a will be the modernizing of the UH military lY transportation tation branch The unto auto truck h has s fussed the stern test For the present the auto truck Alth Aith the armp army In Mexico are not working under n definite system The organization of th truck train of the United States army has not been th decided d. upon Neither has the type of truck to be used In the organization been decided upon Captains and ond lieutenants are busy taking notes i LS 19 s to net mile mile- mileage age and gasoline requirements also as os to stability and reliability of ot the different makes of trucks In Inthe Inthe inthe the service The Thu drivers are a mixed lot Some are ore regular z D drs' drs mUCK z rr lr 27 ff A er erno no lri y ii f ir 7 4 C u 4 r. r r vy YU ti i GAS J L F r r l tir n 1 Y 2 4 i YAt x r h r f. f s syr yr r Ent NY r o- o Yo r Aw N r t tib A k a X k L R 55 it G army driver he would the guardhouse for fora r a considerable period for r Insubordination More than once the army In Mexico has been forced l wt Illegally but practically to discipline some of the ci civilian d- d Q vilian drivers The m mast st f E- E L of tills this I c T OV Incident H- H v J f-C f K i. i startling L M J army army enlisted men led detailed to drive the type of or truck tentatively adopted The ot others are chauffeurs chauffeurs feurs of all sorts adventurers from all over the country college men In search of experience and ami even even ex taxicab drivers from New York city With lith some of the trucks under probation are men from the factories It Is a more picturesque body than any assemblage assemblage assemblage as as- of mule skinners The types are more varied and the tine views upon things In general are more Interesting Moreover the army chauffeur In the aggregate Is naturally more Intelligent than the mule skinner whose close association with the mule has given him some of the traits of that noble animal To the average army chauffeur the stolid looking lumbering auto truck Is a beautiful and a living thing On the road rond to Namiquipa I listened to a colored sergeant of the Ninth cavalry who had be been n detaIled detailed detailed de de- de- de tailed to drive a ton five-ton truck He was addressing his vehicle Yes Betsy old girl he be was saying All Alm knows that this here ch cheap ap government g gasoline aint the proper propel nourishment for a toned high lady Indy truck like you ou But when we gets to Ahm going going go go- ing to put some some of that nice cool spring water In your our radiator That'll freshen you OU up a whole lot Betsy Does you all want wont a little more oil In your bearIngs bearIngs bearings bear- bear Ings Betsy If you does docs jes' jes say so Taint no trouble at nt all for me Ah jes' jes thought you rou might because your our pretty prett engine was WIlS breathing a little hard on that last hill hilt Ah dont don't want any of them fresh New York chauffeurs to think you was complaining complaining com com- Betsy because me and you ou knows that you ou dont don't complain The colored trooper adjusted some pink and green ribbon whIch was tied to the truck radiator The whistle of the truck master blew The sergeant sergeant sergeant ser ser- geant whirled the crank listened listened- solicitously for foran foran an nn Instant to his Ids motor and swung Betsy Into line with her mates motes One of the difficulties which the captain of an on auto truck encounters Is in maintaining discipline with a mixed company of ot civilians and soldiers Civilian drivers have their own oan notions as to how auto trucks should be driven It Is the theory of the captain that the auto uto train should have lave a tl perfect perfect per per- feet alignment with the trucks a hundred yards apart aport The rhe civilian Illan drivers cannot see the necessity for this Some c of f them Ulem want wont to show that their trucks can cnn travel the fastest Others Insist t that nt their trucks be carefully handled The result Is that the captain fuming inwardly has to be a diplomat when he Is In n command of a n mixed train of trucks One of these trains started out at the rate of l 12 miles an nn hour A short distance out of Columbus It encountered bad roads A new truck slowed down and ond began to pick the time going The captain shot cross country from the rear In his standard runabout to see what was cutting his hIa train In two the trouble he demanded of the civilian cl- cl ci civilian vilian Ulan driver No 1 trouble at all nil replied the driver Rut nut eight miles Is all nil that I urn Dm going to do with this load lond and over this sort of road rond You can go ahead with those Barney If you want to Ill I'll catch up op with you after half halt of ot those trains are wrecked Tine Ine captain was vas a trifle angry He lie reminded tic the driver that all aU trains were ordered kept Intact It was no cross country race It was a n military track train The driver was obdurate and the train had hod to slow down to a reasonable pace The driver was right though very unmilitary The loads which the trucks were carrying were not needed in la a burr hurry But If it he had happened to be sort happened to toa tda a a bunch of New YOrK Fork taxicab drivers who ho were shipped out to handle a train made up of a certain ertaIn uniform make of trucks They got 50 miles into Mexico and then decided that they did not lIk like the country at all nil They n agreed reed that the United States government was foolish to go In at a all l. l Their spokesman went to tl the e captain and Informed Informed Informed In In- formed him that they had decided to go back They did not like the food the water was not Iced and there was no beer in the godforsaken place Whereupon the captain gave orders to the ser sergeant of his guard The noncommissioned officer Informed informed In in- formed the drivers that the first of them who turned back to Columbus would be systematically ally shot up The drivers protested that they were American citizens and wanted wonted their rights The sergeant listened unmoved as he drew up his squad into a convenient place for the shooting The drivers finally concluded that they were too far away to consult their attorneys and the train proceeded to Namiquipa Camping out away from fromn a garrisoned town the truck trains take the same formation that was used by the emigrant trains when they were forced to guard against Indian attacks at night The trucks are distributed in a circle with the captains captain's runabout the tine cook cook truck and the ammunition truck In the center Placed In this formation the tile truck train Is In a a difficult position for a bandit band to rush No doubt many a n band has been watching those valuable trains of food and ammunition longing to pounce upon them refrained A well- well ordered truck train could get Into battle formation In a few minutes and the Sp Springfield rifles would be covering every point of attack very E effectively ly A quarter of a million dollars In gold was shipped In with one train guarded by 50 picked marksmen Bandit bands knowing of this probably probably probably ably longed to rush It but they did not make the attempt At night In Its proper formation with Its outposts alert the well conducted train should be Impossible to surprIse But civilian drivers are hard to convince of the necessity for remaining alert They will lock their ammunition In the tool toolboxes toolboxes toolboxes boxes and while they are painfully solicitous of the mechanism of ot their trucks they have no regard regard regard re re- re- re gard for the mechanism of the tine Springfield rifles rUles which are issued to them The They have no respect for shoulder straps A Atypical Atypical I typical Incident was one near near The truck train trail drew Into the place hot and dusty The news was spread that there was a n real swimming s hole 20 0 feet leet deep In the place Soldier guards and civilian drivers made a dash for tor it As they neared It they heard a delicious splashing plashIng but a u sentry halted them Sorry boys he said suId but theres there's an officer bathing there now and the orders are that nobody Is allowed In till fill he gets through A big ex taxicab driver from N Nw Now w York proceeded proceed proceed- ed to peel of off his army uniform In another min mama minute ute he dived into the pool with a mighty splash lIe He came to the surface and grinned cheerfully at atthe atthe atthe the indignant expression of the l second lieutenant outraged at the fact tact that his privacy had been disturbed dis ds- disturbed apparently by the time enlisted manOh manOh manOh man Oh that's all right I shouted the auto driver I 1 dont don't mind If you OU are a little bit dirty Come on In The water Is fine But one of these days the truck train will be The drivers will all be enlisted men There will be a fixed rate of ot speed and the trucks will nil all be up to determined specifications When the time truck train is 18 perfected the mule train will go Also the pride of the cavalry will be trailed trolled In the tho scented gasoline dust of ot the auto auto- truck train i |