The Washington herald., 1912-09-08

dirigible has been used TO carry out
Reconnaissance in actuai fighting; III
crew has reconnoitered. the enemy's po
graphs. and dropped bombs. and two
facts have become ahundantly plain.
One is that We are at the beginning
and that there is evidently no limit
which we can foresee at present to
the use of the air craft In war. says the
Spectator. Of London; the other Is thai
the possession of an effective air 'fieei
Z 10 an imperative necessity. not of to-
morrow, but of to-day. II to-day wal
were declared between two powers, the
power possessing the most efficient all
feet. eaeteris paribus. would win. This
II any military expert ever doubted It
has bean made a clear certainty by
the work OF the italian dirigible P1
in a Reconnaissance of the Turkish DO.
sition near Bengazi. described by the
special correspondent of the Turin
stampa-
The P1 left its hangar at s in the
morning, carrying on board the COM
nandante. Peuco, the pilots. Capt. Say
mandi. and Lieut.. Bengal, and sup
ply Of bombs. It rose over the sea to
height of Loo meters. turned eastward
over the oasis OF Koefia, and satisfied
itself that at the moment the oasis con-
tanned none Of the enemy. Next 1t turn
ed south toward Sidi Mufta, near which.
at the foot OF the Djebel and on the
plain. lay the Turkish lines. AS soon as
the P1 came. near the camp the Turks
opened rife fire. This proved futile, and
the P1 dropped a bomb among the tents
which took instant effect.
shells Go wild.
The Turks ceased their rife fire and
brought their artillery into action They
had previously planted their guns on the
slopes of sandhills. burying the trail Of
the carriage SO as to take the recoil with
Oft overturning the gun. They sent their
shells up almost vertically. but their IRE
was wild and harmless and the dirgible,
dropping bombs. proceeded on its course;
it completed an exact reconnaissance Of
the enemy's camp. estimated the number
Of Turks and Arabs, took photographs of
the position, and In two hours returned
unframed to the Italian lines, with the
whole plan of the Turkish position at the
disposal Of the italian general
The dirigible. in short. that morning
obtained for nothing Information for
which a general a few years ago would
have sacrificed troops as a plain duty.
She was unopposed; she was in the POSI-
ton of a warship abe to outrange the
ships engaging her, she could hit without
being hit, and see without being pursued.
1t must have been an exhilarating two
hours for her Italian crew; for the Turks
it Is difficult to imagine q more hopeless
and helpless experience.
What of Both Sidess
But what would happen in another
WARM a war in which both sides pos
sessed an air fleet? The first obvious
point is that it will be impossible for
dirigible to reconnoiter an enemy's posi-
ton as the P1 reconnoitered the Turk
fsh position. with nothing more to fear
than stray rife bullet through her en-
yelope, and with very long odds against
even that. The ascent of a dfrigible on
one side would be countered by a dirigi-
Bile ION the other. Here, of course, we
come at once to the question whether for
war purposes the future is with the diri-
gfble balloon or the heavier than air ma
chine.
The probabilities. no doubt, are that
In the future 1t may be possible to
build aeroplanes capable of carrying a
crew Of twenty-five or thirty and that
large aeroplanes Of this kind would be
easier to control than dirigibles, with
their huge envelope, offering so vast
surface to rough wind But We are
dealing for the moment with the war
conditions, not Of tomorrow, but of to-
day, and to-day, IL the weather made it
possible, dirigibles would be used for
reconnaissance because of their capacity
for carrying crew In addition to the
pilot.
Another advantage, too. which the
dtrfgfele possesses over the aeroplane is
that 1t can ascend vertically, whereas
the aeroplane must leave the ground
at an angle and necessarily must take
some time in circling up to any con-
siderable height. We may imagine, then,
two armies lying opposite each other,
as, for example. the Russian and Jap
ancse armies lay before the battle of
Liaogang. II would be the object of the
attacking general to discover the strength
and the disposition of the enemy, so
that he might know where to drive in
his wedge or throw the full weight of
his numbers.
Noise of Engine.
He decides, then. to send up his
dirigible before dawn, so that with the
earliest light he may gain the knowl-
edge he needs Of what lies before him
on the ring Of hills across his front.
She goes up and with her or after her.
as soon as 1t is light enough to cruise
about and above her. goes her squadron
OF aeroplanes. She has to journey out
Ave miles or more perhaps before she
can begin to see what she wants and
she may have to reconnoiter a front
extending over twenty miles of hills. The
enemy she goes out to spy lies wait
ing for her. knowing that the sound to
listen for is the drone of her engine
5000 feet above him and that the mo-
ment he hears that drone in the dark
sky he must, at the peril of his coun-
try's life. send up his own ship or his
own destroyers to cut her down before
the light comes or before she can use
her eyes and see what he means to
hide from her and turn back with his
secret to her own camp.
May BE Fefnt.
He must send up his feet, or part Of
It, but even so he can only do so in
doubt. For how is he to know that the
drone he hears is the drone of the real
brain he is to fear? May It not be, per-
haps. merely ship sent up as feint
to puzzle him, TO draw OF the attack
of part OF his force while the real eye
and brain wait their opportunity in an
other ship following the first? May 1t
not be merely the first of number of
feints designed, one after another, to
drain his camp of destroyers until num-
beers tell, as they must In such war,
and some ship at last flies out from the
attacking lines to find no destroyers
IA. hr,f n clr hort