The Democratic advocate., 1909-08-27
THE AEROPLANE in war
ARMY MEN BEGINNING TO TAKE STOCE
In 1T
May Prove Valuable Adjunct TO Troops
in Many Ways

Wartime efficiency of the aeroplane
is at the moment a much discussed
subject among army men 1t Is admit
ted by many that the possibilities in
aerial warfare have yet to be develop
ed, but recent achievements by Bieriot
and Orville Wright have given rise to
considerable speculation. There are
apparently few officers who arc pre-
pared to assert that modern warfare
would be revolutionized by the intro
ductipn of a fleet of BleriOt mono
planes or Wright biplanes But there
are many who go SO far as to say that
such a feet would be Of value to any
army.
Speaking OF Blerlots flight across
the English Channel. Gen Brun, the
new French minister OF war, char
acterized the aeroplane as the wasp
of war"
AS soon as II Is perfect" he de-
clared the French army will be pro-
ylded with a swarm OF these wasps Z"
The figure according 10 officers OF the
regular army, Was wsll chosen. II IL
lustrates they say. exactly what the
mode OF aerial warfare Is likely 10 be
mftb - kiNlAAN ANHh EhtUAlAANlll
among army men concerning air
craft than formerly Perhaps the
great majority Is still waiting 10 be
shown but many have come 10 the
conclusion that II is high time 10 con-
slider seriously the adaptability OF
aeroplanes 10 military purposes. r.
is the Signal Corps, OF course. that
has taken hold Of the matter officially
bot interest has spread TO every
branch Of the service indeed, the
Impression is gaining ground that af-
ter the Signal Corps officers have been
won over to this now vehicle OF war
fare Il will ba for the officers ~ the
cnmbaiant branches % the service
10 pmt the aefoplHne 20 practical use.
u * the opinion of Col II. o. s..
81 Eeistand. ad}utant general oi the De
partment Of The East. that the aero
plane viii play on important part 10
tle warfare of the future n am not
GA expert he said. IN fact have
never seen aH aeropiguo in a real
test
Last summer I had an opportunity
tn see Farman tly here. but hia per-
furmahce was tame compared 70 the
feu;e that Were then being perform
na hy The Wright brothers here and
abroad Noyrthelea8 / am convinced
That ON government ought 80 bs lib
cral iu ite appropriations for aer0-
nauilcT, There ia no doubt that the
rCrppihuc even IN It's present stage
~ de' eloUment would be ot service
in time ai war,
. think that comparison of an
HerOnlaue % q wasp ia good one
II suggests what could be done with
feet of these craft For purposes
OF recOnnoitering and scout work n
single aeroplanc would have Us place,
but with a whole feet of them. an
army would be able 20 do considerable
damage
Imagine. for example. What might
be- done II they were 10 be employed
in an attack on New York city, ur any
city for that matter. with one aero
plane going AZ the rate Of forty miles
an hour. II would be- dsfhcnlt 20 do
much harm III the way ~ dropping
explosives or iniiammabic materials
down upon our heads. bat with iiect
OF them II would be different n
would then be the aane as q voiiey
fred by a troop of soldiers. some OF
the shots would be almost sure 10
take effect
Nov suppose feet 81 warahlpR
nrcparing an attack OF New York hnr-
bor. came equipped with lot of these
Waapa. as they have been called. While
atlll out Of range Of the harbor guns
they could launch their aroplanes
and keep them lowering over our
Z =
chance Of doing us considerable dam
age. Anyway. they would make things
uncomfortable for the nun-combat'
ants OF the city AZ for the fortiiica-
tons. the feet might succeed In drop
ping explosives 80 as 90 strike our
magazines and storehouses. and you
can readily imagine what that would
mean
IAN this would be accomplished
more easily with heroplaneB of the
Wright or Bieriot type than with dir
| igibles, because they would furnish
less OF target for our guns, Be
sides, they are safer. A dirigible n
| always In danger OF spark from ia
own motor. which would be SUFFICIENT
to explode the gas that supports H.
Perhaps all this sounds rather far.
/ fetched, but you don't Know what u
means 10 an array on the defensive u
/ be harrassed by little things like that
Not long ago | took part In some man
oeuyres, and was delegated TO the
army OF defence Every night the nt'
| tncking feet had a way OF sending out
one OF those little torpedo boats. .whicl
would come sneaking IN close TO shore
and give us all scare.
! 1T became necessary 10 call ouI
the garrison at all hours, just becaus,
OF that one torpedo boat, and you car
see that after few days the army oI
the defence was In sore need of Z
good nights rest. The men had beer
kept on the qui yiye almost constant
| ly, while the attacking force wal
slumberlng soundly well out OF oul
reach.
That is the sort OF tactics, It seemi
10 me that aeroplanes would be abl'
10 carry out effectively. They couls
worry a whole army II they did moth
ing else. II would be a sort Of hi
and run game. They would be iik'
30 many wasps about a mans head.
If they wanted 10, they could dis
regard the rules Of warfare and de
stroy a city without warning. AnG
there Is not much doubt In my minG
that the rules would be disregardes
by the average army II the destruction
of certain city seemed advisable
/ The officer i'm command would M