If our guns had been built in Paris we could have had them at the front in three days. They were made to move by rail, and to be ready for almost immediate action. But they had to get to France first, and the difficulties of fighting a war 3,000 miles away were impressed upon us by this necessity for transporting them. No ship was big enough to carry one of them set up. Each had to be taken to pieces before loading. The last of the mounts was completed May 25--a new record for quick construction. But getting a ship to take them over was no easy task. The first ship assigned was so badly battered up on the incoming voyage that it had to go into dock for repairs. The second ship, the _Texel_, was sunk by a U-boat near our coast. It was June 29 before the first of the battery transports, the _Newport News_, heavily laden with material, sailed for France, arriving at St. Nazaire July 9th. Setting up these immense batteries was a trying job. Facilities at St. Nazaire were very limited for the work of assembly. Lieutenant Commander D. C. Buell, an officer of railroad experience, who as inspector had watched the building of the mounts, was sent to France. Admiral Plunkett and his force were on hand when the major part of the material arrived. All set to work, and in a little more than two weeks the first train was assembled. Then arose another complication. When the French saw the size of these mounts, they were afraid their immense weight would crush the rails and probably break through or weaken bridges. The railroad authorities were unwilling for them to move over their lines. For a time it seemed as if they would never get to the front. But Admiral Plunkett and his aids had more confidence than did the French. The first train, which had been completed a week before, left St. Nazaire August 17th. It proceeded slowly and all doubts were removed when it rode the rails and passed over bridges without the slightest trouble. The news of its coming had somehow spread through France and its progress toward Paris was like a triumphal procession. All along the route crowds assembled, cheering the American naval gunners "going to land," and girls decorated the gun with flowers. A second battery was on the way before the first arrived. Camouflage was no concealment. Everybody knew the big American cannon were on the way. And the Germans must have learned it, too. For, when the battery got near the front, the German long-distance gun was hurried away. These two batteries were to proceed to Helles-Mouchy, and from there search out the hidden enemy in Gobain. But when the batteries reached this position, it was found that the German terrifier was gone, leaving only its emplacement to mark the spot at which it had so long operated.