The Washington herald., 1909-01-24
Useful as Well as FOOlhardy
Feats Are Predicted.
TO COME IN THIS GENERATION
and DirigibIe Balloons
Are Both Included in the Outlook
as Seen by an Expert-WiH Be
Used over Land and Sea. md
Also in Warfare, He Says.

almost entirely restricted 20 mihtary ana
! sporting purposes. Il is now generally felt
that within our time many ether Won
derful and useful applications Of dirigihle
balloons and aerOplanes wiz probably
be made, while, as Inevitably happens
with a.: new devices. many fooIhardy
. and Teprehensible feats wiz also be at
tempted By their aid
The airship-by which term I mean both
aeroplane and steerable baIloon-moves
in a mediDm which is TO be found over
land and water. and thus the aerial yes
sci is unique among locomotive agents
BY land and sea we must accordingly
seek for those applications OF the air
saip. the main limiting factor being the
condition Of the aerial sea. At present
al airships are fair weather instruments
il that they are dangerous TO navigate in
high winds, but as experience gives US
better and more 'windworthy'' machines
there VIII be a greater number Of days
in each year during which the vessels
can be employed. says r. P. Hearne in
the PittsbUrg Dispatch.
To RevOIutiOniEe Warfare.
So much has been written Of the mill
| tary possibilities Of the airship that
need not go fully into the matter here.
Suffice it 10 say that IN the opinion Of
many experts the aerial ship VIII revolt
tionize warfare This will AT first be ef-
fected not 50 much perhaps by the air
ship being a vessel Of attack as by the
new powers Of observation which it gives.
Warfare Is based 20 a considerable extent
on strategy. this being the art Of deceiv-
ing an enemy and making secret moves
An airship gives such a commanding
view in all directions that in the wars OF
the future no such secrecy can be main
tained. The higher the vessel rises the
greater Is the range OF vision OF its crew.
so that al a height OF 2090 feet a distance
Of more than forty miles can be swept
by the glasses OF the observers. and by
the air of wireless Jelegraphy and cam
eras htted with teIephOtO OF Iong-disfance
lenses they can rapidly report and record
every movement Of the enemy. Under
conditions such as these strategic move
meats viii hardly be possible save at
night. and even then the powerful search
lights that can be carried by the airships
viii discover any secret move.
. For destructive raids by land and sea.
surprise attacks on harbors. N naval and
military bases. and lines Of communica-
ton. the airship also has vast possihili-
ties. To many European nations in par
ticular II viii be invaluable in those
highly expensive frontier and punitive
expeditions which are necessary from
time 10 time in remote colonial posses
sions. The United States might even
find IL useful IN the Philippines some day.
The usual expedition on the Indian from
tiers OF IN various parts Of Africa can
move along al the rate Of bat a few
miles a day. and there IS enormous vast
age Of life long before the objective point
is reached.
An airship in half a day could cover a
greater distance than many an expedi-
ton can travel in a month. and the moral
effect Of q great vessel suddenly hover
ing over some remote valley on the In
dian frontier or some almost Inaccessible
place in the heart Of Africa would be
enormous a few bombs hurled from the
sky would strike abject terror into the
hearts Of the natives. who would readily
believe that vengeance from the heavens
pursued them
May Direct Artillery Fire.
IN warfare the airship viii serve 10 di-
rect artillery FIRE in manner which VIII
very considerably diminish the amount OF
useless destruction OF noncombatants and
property that ordinarily would result
from Iong-distance artillery duels. Dirig-
fbIe balloons viii serve as scouting and
observation stations. and aeropIanes by
their greater speed and smaller bulk viii
also be able TO carry out many daring
feat
In naval work the airship viii be most
useful in locating submarines and mines.
as from the deck Of the aerial vessel an
extraordinarily clear view Of objects deep
in the water can be obtained. In the near
future every warship viii probably have
its detachment OF aerOpla.- .-es. which can
easily be started from the deck of the
vessel. These VIII hover high in the air.
viii report the presence Of any vessel
within wide area. and VIII effectively
protect the war ship against any mines or
submarines that may be in the neighbcr-
hood. SwOOping down close 10 the water
the aerOplane would be able 10 injUre the
observation tube of the submarine in
such a manner that the vessel could no
longer steer safe course under water.
Once it came TO the surface it could be
attacked BY bombs hurled from the aero
planes or by gunhre from the war ship
It IS TO be dsvOutIy hoped that long be
fore great war will test the possibilities