Popular Science Moiit/ily 



899 



lessncss of a steam-roller. Guns would 

 not be required to rout an enemy. An 

 army would be as helpless in offering 

 resistance as a flock of geese in the path of 

 an automobile. 



A Giant Thrce-Wlicelcd Armored Car 



It is impossible witliin the limits of a 

 short article to describe this machine which 

 I have conccivetl in all its details. Picture 

 to yourself, however, a self-propelled ma- 

 chine, comprising three wheels and a 

 lica\'ily armored body or car. There are 

 two wheels, one hundred and fifty to two 

 hundred feet in diameter in front, and 

 a single smaller steering-wheel in the 

 rear. The entire structure is short, so 



that the turning radius will be small. 



No doubt >ou are familiar with the mili- 

 tary masts of our American battleships. 

 They are latticed towers, not unlike cages. 

 They are tiius constructed so that whole 

 sections of the lattice work ma\' be shot 

 away; but the remaining portions will 

 still support the mast. 



So 1 would build the wheels of my war 

 machine. Why not armor them instead? 

 They would weigh far too much — thousands 

 of tons in fact. But the hub I would ar- 

 mor — and heavih-. There the spokes would 

 be concentrated so thickly that they might 

 be shot away in great numbers. Besides, 

 the hub and axle must be well protected. 

 Therefore the '-enter of each wheel would 

 be a mass ofarmor as thick as that of a 

 battle cruiser. 



The two front wheels of this war machine 



u 



It would dIow through a whole town, blotting it out of ex.stence as if it were a mere ant- 

 heap. The wheels would be latticed, so that shot might pass through without destroying them 



