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Show GREAT ARMORED TiACMSHOWN Latest Production of Ordnance Bureau Demonstrated Before Many High Officials. WASHINGTON, June 3. The latest production of the army ordnance bur oau. a five-ton. armored artillery' tractor trac-tor for hauling fiord guns, was demonstrated demon-strated here today with Secretary Baker. General March, chief of staff, and many foreign officers present Hooked to a 4.7 inch field howitzer, tho machine ran over the rough mud-, dy ground of Rock Creek park, which recently balked the British tank Britannia. Brit-annia. It went through ditches andi holes without a stop, cut down trees and climbed over the fallen trunks, dragging the gun behind It; climbed a 15 -degree hill whore the mud was a foot deep as a result of recent rains, and wound up the performance by rattling rat-tling down a paved avenue at a 12-mile 12-mile gait, without leaving a mark on the paving. The whole load, including the gun and tractor, was approximately 20,-000 20,-000 pounds Machines Shrapnel Proof. Officers who saw the demonstration are. convinced that no shell -torn territory terri-tory will stop the rapid movement of American field gons when they are si nt to support infantry advance?. H Moreover, the machines are shrapnel H proof and can be disabled only by a H direct shell hit. Secretary Baker and H General March rode in the tractor as H it dragged the gun about the broken H ground. Later they puffed up and H down hill beside it. obviously pleased H with the machine's powers. H In the British, French and German H armies only the guns above six-Inch H are motorized. Heretofore, it has not H been found practical to put tractors H on the lighter weapons, because they H must leave the roads. H Many Tractors Planned. It Is proposed now to equip all Am- I erican batteries above three-inch light H guns up to six inch with tractors. H They are in production and the pres- H ent month will see a substantial num- H ber delivered for shipment abroad. H Meanwhile, a smaller type is being H worked out for the 3-inch, or "75's" H with the prospect that all American artillery will be motor drawn event- H ually. H Besides an enormous saving In forage, for-age, even- battery motorized saves H horses, which are killed by the thou- H sands when going into action. H The perfecting of the tractor, which H is a short, easily handled machine on H caterpillar creepers, depended upon H turning on an engine that would func- H tlon efficiently at a sharp angle. The H engine used will work at a slant of 70 H degrees. It can climb in and out of H shell holes and a special device fur- H nishc9 a soft ground grip that can bo H removed for operation on a road. H |
