Show Mechanized War WarI Born in U. U S. S A. A Huge rolling war tanks pushing through houses knocking down fences and filling the air with singing singing sing sing- ing red hot bullets that bullets that is a picture of of the way the Axis overcame some som of its weaker victims until the Allies forced a retreat with the same tech tech- This his is motorized warfare Many have credited the Nazis with being the first to discover mechanized mechanized mechanized war equipment But they were only the first to use this weapon The war tank was born more than 40 years ago at the Northwestern Military and Naval academy Lake Geneva Wis The institute was also the tHc birthplace birthplace birthplace birth birth- place of the armored car and self self- propelled artillery piece Some time near the start of this century Col Royal P. P Davidson superintendent of the academy designed a three- three wheeled contraption which looked something like a tricycle with a wide seat scat In front was a steel Platt platE through which a Colt automatic rifle poked its nose The wheels were turned by a one-cylinder one motor The car was later converted into a four- four wheeler After a practical demonstration demonstration demonstration dem dem- in 1898 the year of the Spanish-American Spanish war Gen Nelson A. A Miles then the army chief of staff recommended that five cavalry regiments be converted into an au automobile automobile riu- riu au- au corps In 1900 Davidson designed a steam-operated steam car to carry a Colt gun Two cars of this design were built that year in the manual training shops of the acad acad- emy They made several trips one oneas oneas oneas as far as Washington D. D C. C Cf and were used in cadet training and maneuvers for several years Two combat cars called Balloon Destroyers manned by academy cadets made the mile 2800 Glidden tour from Cincinnati to Dallas in 1910 and were among the nine out of 38 cars to finish with the original motors Five years later a caravan of eight academy cars made a test trip to Los Angeles without accident or mishap This cavalcade included a wireless car a hospital car kitchen car and also the first armored car ever built in this country J I |