THE MOTOR MAXIM MAN.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2303, 10 November 1914, Page 6

THE MOTOR MAXIM MAN.

——» ' . IN MODERN WAR LIFE WITH THE NEWEST ARM (By Frank Hillier, in the "Daily Mail.") "Twaoe the excitement of fox-hunt-ing, a delicious spice of dauger, ample possibility of distinguished service, a hundred times the fascination of flight." Without any exaggeration,-this is a fair; summary of the attractions of eer-' vice with the new arm in modern warfare, the motor Maxim. For the type, of young man who seeks sensation in aeroplanes and motor racing, indulges, tlie lust of chase in fox-hunting, there is nothing in life to I compare with it. I .have not served in a motor Maxim, but I have a very good idea of what it. is like. You cannot talk with the men' who have, or motor through country occupied by foes, without realising alniost to the full what a glorious.life it is, a life lived at fifty miles an hour, of which hairbreadth escapes are the rule' and not the exception, crammed with" dashing adventure. . You have four or five young men iii' a motor-car, with one or two Maxims ' perohed behind, sheltered by steel plate, or very often, such is the mettle of these young men, .without any shelter at all. . They go out hunting.' J.u. the early morning they slip out and rush along far in advance'of 'the army or wide out on the flanks. They Beek here and there—"looking for a scrap," as they describe it. ; There may be an adventure lound every turn of the road, ■ and it is hard to describe in mere words the exquisite, thrall of rounding a cornor with the knowledge ■ that on the other side the road may be full of the enemy, of running by a wood which s may spit fire and lead. Exquisite it truly is, and the man' in the motor Maxim has it all and every day.' .' In the north of France and Belgium, where I have lately been, you meet them everywhere, on the. roads, seeking out the lino of the enemy's advance or clearing a countryside of thocuteo of marauding bands of Uhlans or German motor -parties. ..'ln 'tho towns : you ,meet them, too, waiting outside the offices of the staff, for they look in every' now arid again to see if their , game has been sighted anywhere, that they may. go off anew and run him down. ' ' ' This is the best opjjortunity to observe the motor. Maxim man. Tho . first thing' you notice about him is how he hates to stand still. Such is the fascination of the life he leads that he can scarcely bring himself to lie down to sleep; a moment's inaction seems a much greater trial, to him than the hottest brush, with, the enemy. Ho 13 young, without nerves, keen and clear in the ; eye, with the stamp of sporting youth on every inch of him, i young foxhunter,' aviator, polo" player,: • all rolled into one. I have seen the French and tho Belgians at this work as well as our own men, sometimes all, three working together, and this is the' combination that the enemy may ■ well dread, for there' cannot be anything ■ these fellows would not do to outshine each other. . .' ' ' •

Here are some adventures typical of those' they • meet. A Belgian motor Maxim came 'acrosa a largo party of Germans encamped •in a field • by the roadside. The car was driven into the field, and before the stolid Teutons could realise what' had struck them half their number wore dead or wounded. It is easy to realiso the nervous condition of men; exposed to sudden devastation like this. A few mornings ago fivo J'ouug officers stood before King Albert in Antwerp; They were there' to "receive medals, and what they had done was this. - Twelve of them had set out in tnreo motor-cars armed with Maxims to find out what the enemy was doing; They were ambushed at a snot where the road ran through a woou. The four men in the first car were killed or mortally wounded. So many in the second car were ronderedhors do combat that they could not extricate the car. Two of the men in tho third car ran through tlie hail of bullets to tho first and second cars and drove them out of danger. Out of the twelve who set out only the five who stood before King Albert survived thatjadventure.; Such,is the life and such are the men who love it.' . Here in Belgium you find the cars ara often manned "by the owner and his friends, and I know cases wherfe several keen' young sportsmen have clubbed together to purchase a car and have it fitted out as a motor Maxim. I dined the other night with such a party. They were three young Belgian lioblemon, who were every day having, as they put it themselves, tlie time of their lives, and doing at tho same time work of the greatest value to their chiefs. They spoke of their day's work as they might--have done of a day's duck shooting, and certainly they held tho Ger-' nmns m no greater .estimation than those harmless fowl.

- Thero must be many such iueu in Eng. laiul, men with cars or the money to buy them. What ;m addition to'our ioTces a "hundred motor Maxims and then-crews would bo! .And they aio needed, there is every, sign ot that.