of them, they remind one of the toy devices with which we played
as children, using the slotted acrobats to do wonderful things atop the
"ladders." The ladders are carried in short sections, which may be
fastened together in a variety of ways, but a good idea of the manner in
which the ladders are used may be obtained if you can imagine a letter Y
made of ladders and turned upside down, with a soldier standing on top
of it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVATIONS.

And making observations is a highly important matter in modern warfare;
more important than it was in the old days. The long-range guns are
aimed and their fire directed by observation and calculation. The gunner
cannot see the target he is required to hit. His job is a mechanical
one--perhaps it would be better to say scientific--for he must read
mathematical calculations and interpret them into accurate gun action.
The guns may be on one side of a hill and the enemy on the other, and
they may be miles apart, yet the gunner must be able to get the range.
His efforts are directed by observers in aeroplanes or balloons, and the
range is established by calculations, so that the gunner must be
proficient in geometry, trigonometry and mathematics generally.

Not all the great guns in the war when it started were owned by the
Germans, for England had 100-ton Armstrong pieces which were capable of
hurling a 2,200-pound projectile; but it was the modification of the
design of the large caliber guns and the method of mounting them, which
permitted them to be drawn wherever needed, that gave Germany such an
advantage.

Most of the big guns are in the navy--on the huge dreadnoughts and
battleships--and therefore the fortifications at Helgoland, which are
designed to resist the bombardment of the heaviest naval guns, must be
regarded as equipment. Helgoland is the protecting fort of Germany's
most vulnerable point. It is the Gibraltar of Germany, and protects the
entrance to the Kiel Canal from the North Sea. If the British could get
past the fortifications to the Kiel Canal, it could establish a close-in
blockade which would render Germany helpless in a short time.

Helgoland is an island fortress in the North Sea, in the center of which
is a mortar battery mounting 11-inch and 16-inch guns, capable of
puncturing the decks of the battleship which comes within range; and
these batteries have a range of from six to eight miles. The batteries
are ranged in tiers, one abov