Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/707

 JO pillar c^cience Monthly

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���I Underwood and Underwood

Before the war this part of the Belgian border contained the most beautiful country roads, shaded by magnificent old trees which the retreating Germans cut down by the thousands

��A Beautiful Section Laid Waste by War's Iron Heel

THAT part of Flanders which is lo- cated between the Belgian border and the Somme river, was known before the war as one of the most fertile and beautiful agricultural districts of northern Europe.

When the British undertook their drive toward Cambrai, the retreating Germans cut down thousands of the trees lining the country roads and placed them across the roads to hinder the progress of the British.

The Lawn Roller Be- comes a Weapon of War

ALTHOUGH conceived 2~\ primarily as a war machine of unlimited pos- sibilities, the invention upon which J. L. Hy- land, of Min- nesota, recent- ly obtained a patent, can also, lay claim to a wide range of

���Not a lawn roller, but a machine which protects the soldier from gun fire as well as from liquid fire

��usefulness in times of peace. A hollow cyl- inder, approximately seven feet long, has a shaft or axle around which it can be rotated. To the ends of this shaft a steering frame is fitted, similar to that of a lawn roller. By means of the steering frame the roller with its contents may be rolled toward the enemy by two or more men, who are protected from gunfire by the roller, which is to be kept between them and the enemy. One or more machine guns may be mounted on the outside of the rol- ler or placed inside of it, so that they can fire through openings in the steel cylinder. When the roller is to be used as a convey- ance for men, either fighting men on their way to the front or wounded men to be taken back of the lines, a stretcher is suspend- ed from the shaft by means of hooks, or a semi-cylindri- cal structure with berths for three men is suspended from the shaft, so that it will swing freely while the cylinder is re- volving.

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