The Belgians have a type of car of heavy design, equipped with huge headlights, as well as a searchlight to operate at night. The car has a rapid fire gun mounted in a cupola-formed revolving turret. In the matter of automobiles in the army, Italy outranked Germany at the beginning of the war. While Germany had Mercedes and Opel trucks, mounting five to seven rapid fire guns, which, with their steel armor and solid tire disc wheels, were actually miniature forts, the Italians had more formidable mounted creations of the same sort. ITALY'S SINGULAR POSITION. As a matter of fact, Italy's position in regard to motors is unique among the other countries in the war. Not only are the transportation conditions different, but the motorcar industry in the country is on a different basis. It is said to have been the only one of the countries which was able to meet the demand put upon it for motors without going into some other land to augment its supply. Italy did not buy a single American motor vehicle for war purposes. There are cars of foreign makes in the army and with the Red Cross, but these vehicles were in the country--purchased for private use--when the war broke out and were requisitioned. The big guns of the army are handled by motor tractors, 95 per cent of the army mail service is motorcar service and 95 per cent of the drinking water for the fighting forces is delivered by motortruck. Profiting by the lessons of the other countries called to war, Italy had time in which to prepare for emergencies, and when the order for mobilizing forces was issued the motorcar factories were speeded up and the workers were permitted to stay on the job, instead of being called out to fill up the ranks of the army. Compared with the resources of America, the Italian motor industry is not large; but the product is uniform and practically all of the factories are conveniently located for distributing the machines to the army on the frontier and readily providing repairs and parts. The physical conditions of the country necessitated the use of certain types of trucks and motors and the dropping of some of the practices of other countries in motor usage. The rugged, irregular country, with its narrow roads, makes impracticable the use of trucks larger than three and one-half tons, and "trailers," largely employed by the French, German and Belgian armies, were found not satisfactory. What is described as the Isotta Fraschini heavy model armored artillery car of Italy is considered one of the most effective of the "motor forts" or "land cruisers" developed during the war. THE WHEELED FORT.