Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1910-09-02
MADE
BY BIRD MEN

Boston, Sept. 2.-What military ex.
peits agree will be the most impor-
tant test ever made with aeroplanes
as instruments of scientific warfare
will be witnessed during the Harvard
Boston aviation meet. beginning to-
morrow and continuing for ten days.
All the preparations for the great
meet of the bird-men were completed
today, and, with favorable winds and
weather, the first flights will be made
tomorrow.
AS result of the bomb-dropping
contests to be held during the meet.
some military authorities believe that
the billions of dollars worth of battle
ships now constituting the navies of
the world will be consigned to the
junk heap, and rendered valueless save
as scrap iron. 1t is possible, allege
these experts that entirely new types
of battleships will become Immediately
necessary. These new vessels will be
OF the modern whaleback type. with
rounded necks heavily armored for pro
lection against missiles from above.
with smokstacks completely protected
against chance bombs that might bd
dropped into them and tear out the
engines and furnaces, and with sky.
pointing guns manned by runners
trained to wing" the flying hostile
.bird-men. "- 7'aHr.
No less than dozen heavier-than-air
craft of all descriptions will take part
in the aerial maneuvers in a contest
10 decide the accuracy with which
their pilots can drop bombs on tho
decks OF warships. '''a .
Each contestant entered in the meet
will be provided with the bombs"
each day, and, soaring over the out.
line of battleship laid out on the
grounds OF the aviation meet, bonn.
bard the dummy with the missiles.
The man with the greatest score of
hits at the end of the meet will re-
ceive prize OF $1,000 ana also the
valuable Harvard cup
In this contest, military men will
be able to see, for the first time, what
dozen bird-men can do-a problem
yet unsolyed, although individual avia-
tors have already accomplished feats
that caused naval experts to shudder
at the possibilities of the future. Mem
bers of the general staff of the United
States army, officers detailed by the
Navy Department, experts from the
national guard organizations OF sew
eral states and military attaches OF
all the great nations OF the world
will witness the experiments.
1t is pointed out that in real war.
fare, an aerial attack on an enemy's
fleet would not be entrusted to one
aviator, but that a large number OF
air craft would be detailed on the
chance that at least one of the flying
squadron would accomplish the work
or destruction. This condition will be
duplicated at the Harvard meet. when
every morning every pilot will be Civ.
en- ten bombs filled with a non-explo.
sive powder that will create a cloud
OF smoke when the bomb strikes the
ground. To those gifted with imagi.
nation, the sight of a dozen man-birds
circling above even a supposition man
OF war, and sending down projecti1es
that give forth great volume of
smoke when they strike. will be a
thrilling one. II will be mimic warfare
that will forecast the not far distant
future.
In previous trials of this chara cter
carried out by Clifford b. Harmon. the
aviator succeeded in dropping six sue.
cessive missiles on the deck OF the
counterfeit warship. Harmon used a
gun OF his own invention from
which to drop the bomb. This gun
is a metal tube just large enough TO
mold six bombs. with an arrangement
whereby one bomb at a time Is permit.
ted to drop upon the pressing OF q lev.
or by the aviator. The aviators en-.
tered in tomorrow's meet will be per.
mitted TO drop their bombs i'm any
manner they may desire, either by
hand or with any variety OF mcchani.
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