The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1912-11-28
FORESEEN
GREAT WAR
Too Distant as Targets, Air
ships Could Rain Bull
lets Below.

! absolutely unprotected. We would nave
! then a feet of dozen or twenty aero
| planes rising from invisible points in
! shore and circling over the enemy.
! Each aeroplane would have its gun
and its 5000 rounds of ammunition and
| would fire a stream of bullets like wa
| ter from hose. They could not miss.
and the small boats and the transport
| decks would be floating shambles.
| Without regard to troops that would
naturally support the airships along
the shore landing would be impos-
sIbIe till the enemy cleared the air"
Would that be by gunfire from the
decks of battleshlps?" he was asked.
impossible" he replied Gun car
riages have been perfected for aiming
straight into the sky at range OF
some miles. But at height of one
mile an aeroplane is mere speck
against the sky. In haZy weather 1t is
invisible, and the chances of hitting
it from below are infnitesimal. Then
the aeropane. shooting downward. is
not handicapped by its height and 1t
can maneuver at level that takes it
quite out of reach of guns on the wa
ter No; the air cannot be cleared from
below The airships must be reached
by airships. and that is the problem"
As to Bomb Dropping.
American army and navy officers in
terviewed on the subject for the most
part ignored the use of the aeroplane
in dropping bombs. and one expana-
ton is perhaps to be found in the fact
that an aeroplane could hardly hope TO
drop a bomb on a hostile aeroplane,
though that would be its own most
dreaded enemy Against each other,
apparently. machine gun like the
Lewis weapon or the service rife or
an ordinary revolver will be used. The
Lewis gun is so light that, although its
fixed position is in a sling pointing to-
ward the earth. it can be raised to the
shoulder and fired horizontally at an
approaching enemy in the air.
That apparently is how the battles
in the air will be decided. Even Pro
fessor Johann Schultz. the German in
ventor of heavy dirigibles, in recent
interview seemed to admit the superb
GRITTY of the aeroplane in these aerial
skirmishes. He told how, to protect
his heavy Dreadnought dirigibles
from the high flying aeroplanes. he had
planned to mount a gun on top of his
balloon bag The need of a gun in
that Ill balanced position, on which the
ordinary dirigible could not support a
gun, is considered here one good argu
ment In, favor of the aeroplane.
But the possibility of large masses
of explosives being dropped upon the
enemy, either on land or sea, has not
escaped American officers. Reports
frem England that the next war
ships to be launched by that country
would carry decks especially protected
against explosive missiles that might |
be dropped by airships aroused keen
interest here and recalled the expert !
ments of former Lieutenant Reilly |
Scott in bomb dropping from an aero-
plane at College Park. For this exer- |
else the dirigible with its steadier keel I
is admittedly the best, but Mr.. Scott |
in an Astra- Wright aeroplane by t
means of a specially devised appara-
tus recently won the $1,000 Michelin /
prize at Paris by dropping eight bombs
In fifty minutes within circle the
size of a dirigible from height of
2 200 feet
Lieutenant Scott's Invention.
Among officers in this country it is
pointed out that If an aviator attempts
to use bombs against an army much
reliance may have to be placed at
times on the gun developed by the
ordnance bureau OF the navy depart
nent for firing from the ground at
iirships. But. while the dirigible can
lrop a heavier bomb and perhaps do ,
70 with greater accuracy than the /
leroplane, it is itself far better tar
ret for the gunner below. In the end I
t is thought that the aeroplane. which 4
lready has managed TO drop weights {
# 200 pounds without overturning. /
will prove the better from all military I
,oints of view And for the navy it 6
would be almost impossible TO carry
n enormous dirigible on board ship. 1
Mr.. SCOTS success in dropping bombs O
rom his swiftly moving machine at a
reat height is ascribed by him to his
wn invention The invention is sim
lie in the extreme and amounts prac-
cally to nothing more than me c
hanical device for measuring accu-
itely the impetus forward which the
omb will receive from the motion of =
lie aeroplane. This is ascertained by =
telescope pointing downward at an
ngle varying according to the speed a
nd height OF the airship. When
trough the telescope the target is Wis ~
lie the bomb is released mechanically \
ON the exact center of gravity OF p
e craft That disturbs the balance %
e least possible. and Mr.. Scott has IT
own how accurate it makes the aim. q,
Bombs. of course. for the present at q,
asst. will be the heavy artillery of
e skies, and the great dirigibes will r.
the slow moving galleons But the q,
roplane will be the light cavalry. m
ID for the light work that will be 90
eded officers In the United States he
e bending all their efforts toward IN
veloping the aeroplane.