Arizona republican., 1904-08-05
Balloons in War.

The International Peace conference a The Hague five years ago placed a prohibition on the use 1f p' ojec tiles TnICh might be dropped from balloons: Of bombs which upon explosion would diTuss sJnooating gases, and of "N- Ilosive bullets. The prohibt:cn against the use ot explosives from bajoUns was limited to a duration of five years. and his limit expired a week ago-July g. Consequently, there is now much spec ulation as to what action, if any, Rus sia and Japan will take to utilize bal looms in the present war. The situa- tion of Port Arthur offers a. fine op- portunity for Japan to end the siege by new and horrible method, pro- vided the Japanese have provided themselves with the necessary equip ment.
 The peace conference placed no time limit on the prohibition of gaseous bombs and explosive bullets, and why the civilized powers of the earth repre- sented at The Hague-oOmprising more than twenty nations-thought it unnec- essary to prohibit balloon warfare be. youd July 29, 1904, has never been sat islao torily explained. The prohibition was adopted unanimously, and there appears to have been no division on the question of time limitation. The Unit ed States and Great Britain opposed the rule against the use of the objec- tionable bombs, but assented to the exclusion of balloons and explosive bull lets.
 Some of the military possibilities of the balloon were promptly perceived immediately after it was invented The first notable ascent by the Mon golfer brothers occurred in 17S3. Within ten years thereafter a regular school of aerostation was established at Meudon, under the auspices of the army, and in 17S4 the head of it, Colonel Countelli, took up with him to a height of over a mile a general and adjutant to ob- serve the position and strength of a hostile force. This incident occurred on the eve of the battle of Freurus. and the reconnaissance gave the French a distinct advantage over the Austrians. Telegraphy had not then come into use. Hence this information which was secured was transmitted to rhe commander only after the descent of the balloon. Nevertheless. it contrib uted directly to the decisive victory which followed. On that. occasion the astray by means of a rope and wind lass-an expedient which has been gen erIlly adopted ever since when balloons have been employed for observation. At SaLtago in 1898 there was. in ad- dition to the rope, a telegraph wire, by means of which the signal officer aloft could communicate directly and in- stantaneously with headquarters.
 Balloons have tecn used n almost ev- cry great war for a century. The first Napoleon took number of them into Egypt in order to impress the Arabs with the superiority of European ideas. In the siege of Paris, 1S7O-'71, the at tempt was made to establish postal communication by means of airships between the beleaguered city and the national authorities outside, but this did not work so satisfactorily as the carrier pigeon service After all, the principal military use of the balloc' hitherto has been reconnaissance, and one officer after another has testified 10 the help thus received. Lord Wolse- ley has asserted that he finished his campaign in the Soudan far more quickly than would otherwise have been possible because of such aid.
 An observer in a captive balloon is exposed to great danger from the ene- my's guns. Even Coutelle, over a cen