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i 5 1G, THURSDAY, JAN UARY 24, Some of the Problems of Getting Food 'and Munitions Up to'the Front HE uait first American combatant to appear on the battlefields of France was a motor transport convoy, most of the men of which Bad been students gt Cornell University This is a branch of the service which is often lost sight of by: those to whom war seems only the ficree clash of in- faptry with steel against steel, the rattle of rifle fire from thie trenehes and the suppypy artilierymen hurling tous of depth over range after range of hills which weré yaiiily vensidered protection for troops and battecies. All these wre 8 port of the glamour ana thie' tumult, the. terver and the glory of wir, but to the men of the {transport sorvice falls duty as Tiszardous, as diffi cult and demanding as mueh coutage. Theirs is work which dges. not show ta the uninitiated. "One does not hear the tajes of their heroism because it does not appeal to the imagination as does tha lon dig of a chirge, the slaying of "a 'dozen men wmgl¢ banded or the swith- mifig of a'stream under direct fire. Bat their names are not absent from orders, and the official reports bear testimony to the xalor of many a man who drives a'fruck to serve the fighterh with am- ¢ munition .and supplies. I'he duty of the convoy is not to fight 8 Its to GEL THERE with its precious load. . The ammunition is needed at # certain point at a certain time, No sace rifice is too great to accomplish: its mis sion. 1 the way is 'barred, the men, armed with carbines, rifles or pistols, must break throuzh, or if possible go by ahoiher rosd, Must Get There, It is not running away. The big idea, the one thought which must constantly hamitier in the mind of the commander of the convey is to get there--get there got there! othiould the enemy shell the road, an other route is taken if possible. If it ifn't possible, the trucks must pound slong as best they can, and those which " damaged so they Exnuot travel must Be tipped off the road, and if there is danger that the conténts way fall into the hands of an ches. they mist be destroyed, Right up to the tield of batts thie boys who drive the transports mist venture. They are undér fire, bot they have little iF any opportunity to retum it, < Tt ia almost: u passive foro of fightiig, for SHiey haven't ahy chance to fight back, nd that is the hardest thing to boar Ai is only when a transfor Is directly aftathed by infantry of vival that the soldiers Win guard it w0d crap the men on the tucks bave ¥ chance to fight. Then they must fight to. the last wid destroy their erigoes" it they Are hope. Iessly sterounded by a "supérior foree, Thix must be done before thes can think of themselss at All Whole battalions af infapry and squadrons of ofvaice are, sometimes sacrificdd iy order to gat a wagon tialy through. = ° a) the" present Tighting iw Koop i cdutoys travel over'comparatively shops routes and trench warfare makes. them Wore of less immune to. guerilla sticks. The chief danger to 'Convers in this ¥ind of fighting is from artillery fire, ax the ciemy has the range of the roads aba frequently drops shells on M over which amwisition ands ' Hoy igres. wiki he distributing deboti a ATE compa tively near the front and Fupplies on od tn hem by railroad. Where avert positions have been Bold for long time, narrow gauge lines are laid the ammunition is loaded on spe. -eonstructed cars. Ba Seti of he and some" of the most thrilling, wlien the big sdvauces gre in progress It "is likely before the close of hostilities there will things are different bie plenty of work Tor thie coiveys in the field of thes shifty [fighting which always abeom- panies the use of this service with armies which are on the move In mobile armies the question of transportation of ammusition becomes more complex and great importance at- taches to the movément of tlie trains Motor tencks are used wherever possible, becduse of their speed, the. large lougds. which u single wehicie cau curry. There are cases, however, Where horses andemitles mist be ¢ai'ed upon to BOW here antomobiles sire useless, It is Wuch {rains which have furnished ony might almost say "Wild West" fighting of the war, and when the armies begin moving again there will be more of it In the United States army, and a recurrence open, in order to. Bring them vuiler wificient coltiol, convurs are divided wo trims of not tobe. than whe hundred \opicles. Such » train' occupies abou ons mile of rond wie, Motel velticles ave mare or leas newt for eld service, and their handing in ole DrERsization has hot been reduced to so hard and fast a selence ay las tint of wagon trains: Everyti tralis is In prindiplé tive of Métar alnd although yond spaces, the mumber of rw tirelessuess and, ng which is true of wagon that i veliizles fh a ira, stan vs Agivalied in a day slid sy Forth uatumlly Viry. Whe Banke Fonds willch motor teks fas ark Bnke it Porsiiay 0 coitey w given amon of amionnition oF supplies witha. soalier wit, making 3 mace casily dn femsinbie. "and being' "hore 'etehomteat da , me tis usual raul. with sy mass resiatants ax wre dyailable, to be ju com: Cmainl Tol train Nien le divides ats fons od Swanty 10 thicty rebieon ; ' Wagon Maser. ig chirge of gach sedtion. 4 5 + 8 on-commidsioned «officer or Wagan it is removed From the todd; qiickly 'ms possible and its load dis wibuted to other vehicles No attempt to repair it is dy Hi is olng dn delay hie colin, - Fally arches! © it a Between Seetiony oil "the wt #dditibual security "i provided. by envairy is ie Ta: oven coin. 95." Adie Ton trains faguite an 3 pete adeptode 1 ht ate ton Sek or pecially' sirmz grad, a A wrist How? he mien en SR feains are anned, Top--At the Light Rail Head in Picardy with Prussian Prisoners Coming Back from the Firing Line Under Escort. Small Oval--Transport in Difficulty on a Narrow French Road. Upper Centre--A U. S. A. Transport Train Ready to Move, Lower Centre--Conditions a Horse Transport Has to Meet in France. Bottom-«A. Transport Motor. Which Needs Considerable Human Ald in Extricating Itaglf. Those ahead, if they are surprised, are likely to be thrown into confusien and the train may be cut in two, The same is true when we're rotinding a curve and the hedd of the column is not in sight of he tall of it. "You take a conple of hundred cavalry coming Selling and shooting down onte the flanks of & wagon train in sich a situation; and unless you've got a prefry stitl force with you it's likely to be all up with the train. "Another favorite time for an attadk is when 'the horses are being watpred or we are beginning to form a corral. Once the corral is formed we're in a pretty strong position for defence. | The first 'thing fo do when you're gttacked is to form' & corral if the cnemy is in su- perior force 'Rnd you cap do it. One of the strongest formations and a quick one to form ix o dismiond shape "Ih this formation calls each of: the .quadrilateraid section. IT itis a wagon cotivay the teams of the fils two seo tions countermarch in fotming the corral, That-is, they turn aroud so that all the horses are facing in¥ide the corral, the wagons being axle to dxle. "Meguwhile the guard has engaged the enemy on a line as far away) from the eorral a& possible and shéiter frenched are dug or wire entanglements erected if there is time. the enemy af a distance great enough to prevent firinz into the wagons or trucks. The troops accompanying a train never séek a fight. heir duty, like that of the Forming in Line. "If there isn'y {ime for this formation the wagons may be formed in tho lines facing each other. An Oval or & square is & good formation for defence + "The men whe have to stay" with the wagons or trucks take what protection they can and keop up as heary a fire ar possible against' the enemy. but the bunt of the fighting falls on tiie escort unléns they dre driven back on the train: "Tf 'lie enefity i€ Wot in superior force the train simply kéeps ob moving in the wost orderly manner possible. The worst part of this kind of fightiog that even the escort eannol pursne the enbmy if le is besten off. : "Phe best it can do is (0 chase the wiurAnders far suough io verily ithe {acs that they are really retroativg and they 'are noc merely" withdrawing to sttack from @ new quarter, - "The 'minute the train » atedcied ines of the cunboy itself, is (0 get the ampiunition to the men in the firing line Their first ubject is to prevent surprise. Surprise is never excusable in the eyes of the higher commanders, and a'strong advance guard und flank guards are em- ployed to detect "the approach' of sn enemy. The edcort must earn of marand: ing forces in sufficient time to keep (hem wut of effective fire range of the fraind. The flanks ¢f a convoy ave the most whinerable, god Tor this redson sthe ib "ment an enemy i reported near the * folumn ix closed up. If the roid is wide enough the vehicles proceed two abreast, which most effectively reduces the length as of the flanks to be protected.: Attack on 8 Convoy. "The enemy neunlly noon dans ai) 4 convey whes we're passing ibrongh a dbfile. aver & bridge. round a e. ovér ough joad or np or dowi a steep slope" sai x man Fho baw seen mich serviea dn iis ihe, VPret's whea we're most help ea. ¥ Sra whol train crossing & bride. werties The teams on the beilge ran't torn