The Washington herald., 1912-10-27
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

to variety OF causes 1n0epeteose " =
new thing. For example. there p ~ yet
no way but surmiss a. to the .relAtive
merits Of aeroplanes and driSiblsc. Tne
latter are far more. suitable Tor pomp'
Dropping. but also Infinitely more vuiner'
able The only people. with war expert
ence Of aeroplanes are the 1tahanss
They soon found that dropping expso.
.sives upon angry Turks and Arabs armed
with rides ID . very different anair 70
dropping dummy bombs. at aeriaa
gymkhanas. From which many mihtafS
and naval officers in all countries are
now coming to the conclusion that tne
will be the dirisible balloon. and that the
primary use Of the ,aeroplane VIII pe 70
attack or defend IT. Consequently q
power with Q great many aeropIanes ana
very few dirfgibles probably is no better
of than a powefA with . great many
difisibles and few seroplahes. Between
the two no doubt there exists some suit
able ratio. but to. date no one 10 IN .
position TO say what that ratio H.
In the matter Of numbers there II no
doubt that France is the leading aeriai
power, Just as fifty years ago sne was
the leading iron-ciad ships. power. Inere
10 q total. Of about twelve enecf1ve war
dirigibles besides two Others IN buhdine
and some private dirigibles which couio DC
utilized for military purposes Az tne emo
of 1911 France had . nominal military
and naval total Of 30 aeropianes. OF
which perhaps not more than 200 were
really effective. These. however. are be-
ing continually added to with view 10
making q total force Of about 80
In. the matter Of personnel. wnicn u
really moro important than the ma
chines.-France IL extremely well on
Tho nation took to the air with Just the
same enthusiasm that 1t took 10 the tor-
pedo boat, the submarine. and tne motor
car. It has been the unenviaole rate OF
France. finally. to be surpassed In all
thing, in which she once led: but her
position to-day as the prime aerial power
cannot be questioned.
It is worthy Of note that private aero
planes In France are on the decrease.
Paradoxically enough this is q sign OF
progress, because France Is the only
country in which the hotel Of private
machines ID not mainly made up Of more
or less homemade and amateur efforts.
II IL questionable whether Germany or
Russia. Is the second aerial power. In
the matter of dIrigibles. Germany has at
least ten effective military airships. also
half q dozen private ones which at any
time could be taken over for military
purpose: about five more such are build
ing. Russia, on. the other hand. does not
possess more than fve military dirigibles
which can be considered really enecuve
and has no private ones whatever.
With military aeroplanes things are
more or less the other way. At the END
Of 1911 the German total did not exceed
forty-eight. and Of these some were OF
doubtful efficiency The Russians. on
haA GinCa then both
nations have added to their flying forces
to the number OF at least 30 per cent
Both are hampered by the fact that they
have more machines than trained aviators
to use them-Russia especially. Germany
has about 100 private aeroplanes: Rus
sia has practically none. For the rest
the Indications are that Russia has little
or no faith in the dirtgible balloon.
whereas Germany, which first OF all de-
voted nearly all her attention to light
er-than-air machines. followed by an
aeroplane burst Of enthusiasm. now has
resumed the building OF big dirigibles
with feverish energy She Is supposed
in the interim to have evolved improve
ments in the gas-baGs which place her
far ahead Of any other country u THIS
direction
The fourth naval power in the matter
OF numbers is Italy, but as she is the
only nation with practical experience Of
sky work in war, her effective position
may be considered higher. At the end
of the year 1911 she had three military
dirigibles. twenty-six aeroplanes manned
for military work. and some fifty pri-
vate machines. Of which one-half were
of no use whatever. Since then her
aerial army has been considerably in
indication that an ex-
act number of machines at any given
time Is very unreliable evidence as to
what can be done. An aeroplane can be
built in about as many days az 1t takes
weeks to train a man to make the best
possible use Of 1t.
Italy has evolved no aeroplane Of her
own which can be called in the first or
even the second rank-the work at
Tripoli was done by machines of French
design. In the matter of dirigibles.
however, her position Is different. The
type favored by her is unique. So far
as can be CLEANED 1t is an extremely eff
fective type. but 1t always has been con-
structed with a certain amount Of Sec
recy. The outstanding feature of Italian
dirigibles is a particular attention to
speed line forms. Italy, with her dir
gibles. is fortunate in one respect-no
disaster has ever befallen any Of them.
The British aerial fleet in point Of num-
oers Is a bad fifth. Not more than two.
iirigibles are effective, and neither Of
these can be considered Of any impor-
ance. The position with aeroplanes up
70 the end Of last year was no better; II
anything, 1t was worse. The navy had
,nly five machines lent by private enter
Prise. and four official pilots to fly them.
rhe exact number of army aeroplanes
s a matter that has never been exactly
as every time the matter
was mentioped in Parliament. figures
nave been Out Of accord with known
Iacts. Since then matters have been
,ettered, q total Of 131 future aeroplanes
being provided for altogether. and the
,fficial scheme provides that the Royal
Flying Corps shall be neither naval nor
military, but q distinct aerial service"
No British aeroplane Of unique design
has as yet been evolved which can be
compared to the best Of the French ma
hines. On the other hand. at least three
British firms. and possibly five. have pro-
luced aeroplanes which, though lacking
my distinctive features, are superior,
". at any rate. equal, to anything built
lbroad. That the best British designers
should be encouraged is obviously sound
,olicy. 1t will be a deadly error to regard
leroplanes as battleships. and little less to
the horses Of the mounted infantry Of
he future"
1t is probably not too much to argue |
hat every British constructor capable |
II producing efficient machines should |
lis services be at disposal whenever re- |
o build them and how to use them effect |
h,,fI hat ho hnI