202 



Popular Science Monthly 



Wire Cutter At- 

 tached to Gun 



w\ 



The new Ford ambulance can 

 not tip over backwards. Fold- 

 down interior seats accommo- 

 date patients not badly wounded 



New Ambulances Are Shorter Than 

 the Stretchers They Carry 



THE tendency of Ford ambulances to 

 tip over backwards, because of the 

 extreme rear overhang of the body, has 

 been obviated in the new standard am- 

 bulance used for front-line trenches. The 

 body measures half a foot less than the 

 standard stretchers that it carries. 



Four canvas-covered "holes are pro- 

 vided in the back of the body, and into 

 these holes the rear ends of the stretchers 

 extend. Three of the holes are in the 

 lower half of 

 the tailgate, 

 which folds 

 down from a 

 -step. Two 

 stretchers 

 are carried 

 on the body ^ . ? 

 floor; their 

 outside ends 

 each extend 

 into the holes 

 on the out- 

 side, and the 

 two adjacent 

 ends into the center hole, which is twice 

 the size of the side holes. The third 

 stretcher is carried above the other two 

 and in the center of the body. A similar, 

 though larger, canvas pocket is provided 

 to i)revent the upper stretcher and its 

 occupant from slipping out. 



EN the 

 ail of 

 shells upon the 

 enemy's entan- 

 glements does not 

 destroy them en- 

 tirely, the soldier 

 himself must 

 complete the job. 

 Hence it is that, 

 along with a score 

 of other instru- 

 ments initiated in the 

 present war, the wire 

 cutter takes its place 

 as part of the modern 

 soldier's equipment. 

 While these new in- 

 struments are necessary, they are never- 

 theless a great encumbrance. A step in 

 the direction of minimizing the unwieldi- 

 ness of a number of separate instruments 

 has been taken by Frederick A. Warner, 

 of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The bulky pair 

 of shears has been converted into a simple 

 lever, attached to the soldier's gun in a 

 groove underneath the stock. The hinged 

 end of the lever, which lies towards the 

 forward part of the stock, is pivoted be- 

 tween two short cutting blades. When a 

 piece of wire is placed across the blades 

 and the lever is swung inwards, the barbed 

 wire is severed instantly. 



As long as the soldier is in action, he 

 keeps his gun 



steadily 

 at the 



pointed 

 enemy. 



( 



r 



The soldier backs the two short cutting 

 blades against the wire and severs it 



When he comes to an entanglement, all 

 that he has to do is to back the blades 

 against the barbed wire in order to sever 

 it. Between cuts, the solcier keeps up 

 his fire upon the resisting trenches, 

 when in a position to aim with any de- 

 gree of accuracy. 



