The sun., 1908-12-26
Diriglblc Airships for the Army.

Both Secretary of War WRIGHT and
General j. FRANKLIN BELL, the Chief OF
Staff, ask in their annual reports for an
appropriation to equip the Signal Corps
of the army with dirigible airships.
General BELL, perhaps the best scout in
the army and alert TO the need of an
intelligence department as good as any
other army possesses, is an earnest adj
vocate of aeronautics for military pur-
poses and realizes that Germany,
France, England and even Italy are
outstripping the United States in devel-
oping the airship for the use Of their
armies. Great progress has been made
by all of them, notably by Germany,
during the Last twelve months, while
our own War Department, lacking the
means to acquire the rights of inyen-
tors, has been handicapped. 1t has no
such machines as the Zeppelin dirigible
balloon at it's. disposal, nor is our Signal
Corps much better equipped with any
variety of airship than it was during the
war with Spain.
II is all very we'll for the Secretary of
War to say that during the past year
the Signal Corps of the army has been
instrumental in materially advancing
the progress Of aerial navigation by the
encouragement 1t has given to- owners
and inventors Of dirigible balloons and
aeropanes,p but the fact is>that the
Department has had no adequate fund
to tempt inventors. and whatever
progress there has been 1t is an indi-
vidual here and there and not theSignal
Corps that should have credit for it.
The Department possesses only one
small dirigible balloon capable of
carrying two persons and having a
speed of twenty miles an hour, and
rights in the Wright brothers aero
plane have not been acquired, partly
because the machine has not fully salts
fed the tests prescribed, but mainly
because the Department with meagre
funds in hand could not afford to make
a purchase outright or risk an ultimate.
failure of the aeroplane. In his report
the Secretary of War says:
The armies of the principal foreign Powers
are devoting special attention to military aero
nautcs, England now having of1eers and
20 men exclusively used for aeronsutical work;
France, "A officers and 4ss men: Germany. 20
oticers and 46s men: Russia, 70 ofiicers and s2sS
men: Italy oficers and 20 men: Austria. IS
ofnces and Ist men; Spain. ofncers and iOa men.
On the other the United States has az present
only oficers and 10 enlisted men engaged ex-
clusively on aeronautical work"
Our Signal Corps happens to be one
Of the undermined and overworked
branches of the army, and until 1t il en-
larged the detail for aeronautical ex-
periments will cut rather a sorry figure,
but unless Congress is persuaded to
take some notice of the progress abroad
in developing dirigible airships and vote
an appropriation for the Signal Corps,
the complement OF three officers and
ten men is likely to remain as it is. At
it's last session Congress was asked for
sos, 900, but seemed to regard military
airships as a hobby of the visionaries.
Secretary sWRIGHT now asks for an
appropriation Of s5O0,0O0. We are not
prepared to say that he should have
the full amount-votes of money for
a specific purpose soon become fixed
charges and expand mightily-but the
European war departments are so far
ahead Of ours in aeronautics and the
use of the dirigible airship is now so
positive development in military sci
ence that Congress should not fail to
make what General BELL calls "a liberal
appropriation