ARMY TRACTION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 828, 28 May 1910, Page 5

ARMY TRACTION.

.ENGINE OP "CATERPILLAR" " TYPE.. IT TAKES BIG GUNS NEARLY ANYWHERE. By Teloerapn-Preiiß Association—Copyrleht London, May 26. At Aldershot, the War Office has carried out successful, trials with a traction engine of the "caterpillar" .type. The ongine drew an Long Tom gun at a speed of eight miles an hour along a road. It also travelled with the gun across loose sand, over a four-foot ditch, and through a bog. CATERPILLAR-LIKE BELTS WITH 32 FEET. THE MONSTER WALKS UP HILLS. The traction engine referred to is, no doubt tho machine whose earlier trials were the subject of the following interesting notice :— Tho military authorities have been testing at Aldershot a military traction engine of remarkable appearance 'and still more remarkable powers. It is a gigantic machine, almost grotesque in shape, invented by a young South African engineer, Sir. Henry .George. do . Trafford Wright, son of a--'woll-known Kimberley engineer.

The value of tho machine to the Army lies in its power of traversing the.roughest ground with ease and safety at high speed, and in its enormous * power development, which enables it to drag heavy guns into position. The Machine and Its Work. The tests of Jlr. Wright's engines were carried out in the Long Valley, Aldershot, when it performed several wonderful feats. It climbed hills at a gradient which would have proved too much for the ordinary traction engine, finally reaching a position on the crest in which disaster seemed inevitable. It crossed a deep ditch five or six feet in width,- and manoeuvred with ease in its own length. In all the machine weighs nearly 30 tons. The peculiarity of its appearance arises from the high, prow-like stem, resembling a steel lighter or barge on the Thames, surmounted by a business-like funnel; its caterpillar-like belts with the thirty-two feet; and its high cab, from which the running and .steering of the engine are controlled.

A_ ride in the cab is an exciting experience. There is barely room for two men .on the steel platform, Bft. from the ground. One man holds the starting and stopping levers, the other the steering wheels. The monster starts easily, with a purring sound. It is remarkable bow little noise it makes even at top speed. Over the sand at Aldershot it walks" with deliberate case, each great foot, 18iu. square, pressing downwards upon the soft soil. Disregarding the track, Mr. Wright puts his machine deliberately at a hill covered with tussocks of grass. The swaying motion, backwards and forwards, which has been felt already.' becomes accentuated. Tho driver grips his handles more tightly as his chaTgo steps up tho hill and over the inequalities of the ground. A Thrilling Moment. At the crest a thrilling moment follows. Half tho bulk is poised in midair. Should tho crest bo very steep, the whole of the monster may bo balanced on two hind feet instead of on tho eight normally on the ground. Then it comes down again, deliberately or swiftly, according to the speed, and begins to "walk" down the other side. The. whole idea came to Mr. Wright when ho saw the i.nwioldly traction engines sent out to South Africa to pull our hravy guns up the kopjes. Any number of flics'' got stuck and were lost. Beginning to experiment six years ago, Mr. Wright gradually built his machine. II rest him and his father a fortune, and almost every part has boon through his hands. If the War Office buys the monster, it will probably bo sent to India or Kgypt, and others, will be mado in England.