Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-09-26
Big War BALLOONS
FOR OFFENSIVE WORK
Col, Cappsr, Of the British Army. Says They
Gould Do Great Damage to an Enemy by
cropping EHplOsIVOs-COples Of Col.
CappOr's Paper Sent TO Every Z
Signal Corps officer In the
Regular Army.


uses Of the dirlgible balloon, recently
delivered to his brother officers of the
Royal Engineers lecture on the dirl-
gible as a military utility. That ad-
dress is being carefully studied by
every dirigible expert of prominence
in the armies of this and other coun-
tries.
Colonel Capper says that the future
OF the dirigible is bright with posi-
bilities, and that in case 1t should be
used In a future war the part the
aerial corps will play will be second
to no other branch of the service, In
Guiding even squadrons OF battleships.
A copy of Colonel Capper's remarks
was recently sent to the Signal Corps
Office of the Department of the East,
in the Army Building on Whitehall
street, by the War Department in
Washington, and the excerpts that
follow were taken from that copy.
That part of the paper that is most
interesting to the laymen is that
which tells what the dirigible can do
IL called into use during a war. OF
that phase of the question Colonel
Capper says:
II wish to say few words regard
ing the probable uses of dirigible
balloon in war; and here can only
speak, of course, from theory, and do
not presume to lay down the law.
ut appears to me that we shall
have to possess two different classes
of vessels. The first will be the COM
paratively harmless small class of
balloon of from 10000 to 100000
cubic feet capacity, to be used for
scouting, and possibly for attempts at
destroying, by high explosives or in
cendiary mixtures, important iron
bridges or store depots close to the
army or fortress, or for harassing the
enemy by dropping few bombs into
his camps at night and so keeping
him constantly on the qui vive.
1T is probable that reconnoiter-
ing balloon to be safe during the day
time will have to maneuvre at an alti-
tude of at least 5000 feet, from which
height only large bodies and import
ant movements would be readily Wis
ible. At night, however, balloon
can descend with safety to within a
few hundred feet of the ground, and
may get valuable information. Even
on bright moonlight night it is diff
ficult to see a balloon,at 500 feet up,
and 1t is very difficult to keep a
searchlight on it.
with light wireless apparatus in
the balloon much valuable informa-
tion might, under favorable circum-
stances, be obtained without undue
risk of losing the vessel. In any case,
the cost of such a vessel is compare
lively small, and the loss of a few
would be small matter to an army
The radius Of such balloon will be,
perhaps, one hundred or one hundred
and fifty miles"
Colonel Capper than takes up the
consideration of the second and far
more important class of balloons, the
class that includes such machines as
the famous Zeppelin airship, and he
talks of vessels of capacity of even
100000 cubic feet.
"The second class, and the more
important one If really seriously de-
veloped," he says, may revolutionize
the strategy of war. Large vessels
of from 100000 to 100000 cubic
feet capacity, capable of travelling at
a speed of forty miles an hour in a
calm, and of carrying considerable
quantities of high explosives, can set
out, and, with a favorable wind, can
cover vast distances in a few hours.
When they will come, and what their
objective will be, cannot possibly be
known to the enemy, who cannot al
ways be looking with guns ready
pointed into the air, while they will
pass over the country so quickly as
to be out of range almost as soon as
seen.
Keeping high up in the daytime
and descending at night they can keep
their direction with practical certain
ty, and lowering close over any de-
sired spot, may launch explosives
with delay-action fuses, which will
enable them to retire to a safe dis
lance before the explosion occurs; or
they may even risk destruction to eff
feet some notable exploit.
Their detectives would not be the
enemy's armies, but his dockyar6s,
arsenals, storehouses, railway centres.
ETC., where the maximum of damage
can be caused at minimum of cost.
Possibly they might even attack the
enemy's navy If he has one, but pos
sibly the same effect would be pro-
duced in a more humane manner by
merely destroying the docks, etc.
There would appear to be but little
difficulty in lodging the explosives
with great accuracy If good plans
are available to work by, while the
expense, even should several airshius
be lost, would be insignificant.
Colonel Capper next pays his re-
spects to the proposition that would
prohibit aerial warfare between the
nations.
Should all the powers of the world
agree that aerial warfare should not
be carried on, he says, then there is
no necessity Tor us to move in the mat
ter, though as long as those on the
ground can shoot at those in the air
| see no logical reason for refusing
these in their turn their power of
offense. But as other nations are
taking up and developing their air.
ships we cannot afford to be behind
them.
"As citizen of an island power 1
even welcome the airship, feeling that
the idea of an invasion by an army
transported in these vessels is chimer-
ical, and that he would indeed be
bold general who would dare to
transport a hostile army to our
shores, crowded up in fragile trans
ports, in the face of serviceable
feet of dirigibles, which at the short
est notice could sally forth and daal