Popular Science Monthly 



541 



objection to the type; for on 

 soft or muddy roads the 

 wheels may sink so that the 

 axles rest on the ground and 

 the car may stall, although 

 the great power will still turn 

 the wheels. 



Another type is a lighter car 

 built on a rear wheel drive, 

 one and one-half ton truck, 

 equipped w4th steel wheels 

 and airless tires and capable of 

 running forty miles an hour. 

 Having but one turret, the 

 weight is reduced to about . ^ 

 nine thousand pounds. It has 

 not the power to maneuver 

 on bad ground that the heavier car 

 has, but is probably better fitted for 

 all-round service in the United States. 



Still another type follows the lines 

 of that just mentioned, but is built 

 on a touring car chassis by 

 a private company. The 

 weight is about six thousand 

 pounds. The "bridges" 

 carried on each side for 

 crossing trenches form a 

 novel feature. There are 

 a number of other 

 features reflecting 

 European exper- 

 ience. In case of war 

 the majority of cars 

 would probably be of 

 the general type of this light high-speed car. 

 The light truck shown at the bottom of 

 the preceding page is not in any sense an 

 armored car, but is interesting as showing 

 what was done to carry National Guards 

 machine guns on the border. Each regi- 

 ment was given five trucks in lieu of the 

 pack mule equipment of the regulars. Four 

 each carry one machine gun and ammuni- 

 tion, and the fifth, spare parts and supplies. 

 A ten-gallon water tank is carried under 

 each body on account of the scarcity of 

 water which the troops encountered in the 

 border service. In action the trucks are 

 left under cover and the guns and ammuni- 

 tion carried to the firing position by hand. 

 The "caterpillar" type tractor is being ex- 

 tensively experimented with to replace horses 

 for drawing the heavier field guns, each 

 tractor doing the work of sixteen horses. 

 As these tractors may come under fire, 

 certain vital parts will be armored. More 

 powerful tractors of this general type were 

 doubtless the basis of the English "tanks," 



A light-weight type of high speed for general 

 service which has received high endorsement 



A model built on a touring car 

 chassis by a ^private company 



but the little forty-five horse- 

 power tractor shown in the 

 photograph on the left 

 is only expected to do 

 light service, principally 

 to transport the army 

 guns and ammuni- 

 tion in record time 

 wherever they may 

 be needed and in 

 spite of unfavorable 

 road conditions. 



How the Submarines Got Their 

 Peculiar Names 



EVERYONE knows what submarines 

 are, and what an important factor 

 they have become in modern naval warfare. 

 Their nomenclature is rather interesting. 

 In the United States Navy the first of these 

 crafts were named for various kinds of fish 

 and reptiles, and we had such odd cognomens 

 as "Adder," "Moccasin," "Pike," "Stur- 

 geon," "Shark," "Carp," "Haddock," etc., on 

 the naval lists. Before this list of piscatorial 

 names ran out the system was changed, and 

 designations of A-i, A-2, B-i, B-2, etc., 

 down to the more recent submarines au- 

 thorized in 1 91 5, known as the O class. In 

 general, the numbers applied correspond 

 to the particular lot in which they were 

 constructed, and the letters closely follow 

 the number of years since they were first 

 built. In Germany they are all known as 

 U-boats, the U being ^ the first letter of 

 Unterseeboot, meaning submarine. 



