AtD p. 855 elephant gun

[Mark Kohut]

During World War I both the British and Germans deployed elephant guns obtained from their African colonies in an attempt to break the stalemate in the trenches. The British would use elephant guns as a means of countering the German tactic of having their snipers advance towards Allied lines under the cover of a large metal plate. Though normal small arms would be ineffective against the plate, the elephant gun would have enough force to punch through it. Likewise, the Germans deployed a specialized, mass-produced weapon called the Tankgewehr to knock out lightly armored British tanks.
   
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_gun
   
  "African colonies".....see V. and GR......
   
  The mascot symbol [of the Republican Party], historically, is the elephant. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast, published in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol.[45] In the early 20th century, the usual symbol of the Republican Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio was the eagle, as opposed to the Democratic rooster. This symbol still appears on Indiana ballots.
   
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:NastRepublicanElephant.jpg
   
   

       
---------------------------------
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20080416/959b2ee7/attachment.html>