New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-01-19
Remarkable System of Defence
Adopted for Naval Mag
azineS at Portsmouth.
STORY ANENT THE HANSA
The Times" Intimates That
Giant German Airship Has
Been Cruising Above the
Kentish Coast.
lBy cable to The Tribune }


authorities consider lies in the air
forces Of Continental powers is well
shown by the system of defence adopt
cd for the new naval magazine at
Portsmouth, where the high explosives
used on battlcships are 10 be stored.
The magazines are situated 1t Beden-
ham. an isolated spot. on the upper
| reaches Of the harbor They consist
Of a number Of sunkon ferro-concrete
chambers which are covered complete
| Is with four feet of earth and tUrfod
at the side in way that makes the
! location of the spot from above a mat
ter Of extreme difficulty. \ fcrro-con-
crete pier is being built thereat for the
use OF small craft only. 4 network OF
rails will enable the explosives to be
conveyed direct. .
The magazines works, which rcscm-
| bic military earthworks, are under the
protection of the metropolitan police.
| who at night are assisted by trained
watchdogs. while the harbor waters
are patrolled by water police. The site
( is some TWO miles from Gosport and
/ Portsmouth harbor. The new works
will cost 100000.
10 is interesting 10 note I'm connec-
! lion with this that the mystery Of the
airships. which are supposed To have
made night visits 10 Sheerncss on Oc-
| tober If and TO Dover on January 4.
still continues to attract the attention
| of a more or less fearsome and exclta-
| BILE people There have been many Off
cial. scmi-onicial and other deniaIs
| from Germany that the alleged visits
, were Of German origin.
However. The Times" publishes this
week a guarded statement 10 the effect
! that there is reason 10 believe the myS-
/ tcrious visitor 90 the kcntish coast TO
have been the famous Hansa. one Of
the finest diriGibles Of the Zeppelin
type The Times" adds that the
Hansa IS not in the possession OF the
German navy. but though The Times"
! does not say so. il is well known that
| this airship can be requisitioned at any
time for military purposes. and has
/ even been used lately as a training
/ ship for officers In active service.
/ This airship is now stationed az Pots
dam and has been cruising almost
daily over Berlin. She has a capacity
of ten thousand cubic metres, is fitted
with three l4j-horscpowcr motors and
can attain a speed Of about fifty miles
an hour In September last she made
record by carrying on an excursion
around Hamburg total Of hfty-scvcn
persons, Including the crew, fifteen
strong. The distance from HAMBURG
. 10 Dover is about four hundred miles.
and a round trip between the two
places is well within the possibilities Of
/ the Hansa.
Gcrmany's activity in airship build
ing indicated that she is as fully de-
/ termincd 90 dominate the air as 10 be
mistress Of the seas SHE is already the
second power in Europe I'm point Of
number Of military aeroplancs and
! Pilots, and is rapidly coming up TO
| France, the leading power, bat it still
seems that it is TO dirigibles and bal
| looms that Germany intends 10 pin her
principal faith. The latest indication
of the German governments intentions
/ in this direction is the information,
! from a source generally reliable in mil
] n i'm, .foI
budget will provide for fourteen mill
tary balloon halls I'm various parts OF
Germany. and the obvious inference IL
! that within a short time there will be
! teen halls,
! Two Of them, It is known, will be in
! Hamburg and Cuxhaven, the most i'm
! portant German scaports, both COM
mercially and Strategically. Sheds will
be built with a pivoted base in order to
allow Of their being turned i'm any
direction, according TO the wind, and
| thus facilitate the entrance and exit of
airships. The sheds will be Of ex-
pensiye design. and will cost In each
case about half as much as the airship
TO be housed.
Another station. according TO reports,
will be on the island of Hcligoland.
which is hundred miles nearer than
| Hamburg TO the east coast of England.
! It is said that a revolving shed VIII be
constructed there in a deep depression
called Sapskuhle. This shed viii be so
constructed that II can be raised TO the
| level Of the surrounding country when
an airshp is to enter or leave, while at
other times il will rest at the bottom OF
the depression.
The roof will bridge the sides OF the
gap so that the situation of the shed
will be hardly noticeable, and greater
| protection is thus expected to be af-
| forded against a possible dropping Of
bombs from hostile aeroplanes. The
idea is reminiscent of II. G.. Weiss ro-
nance Of The First Men in the Moon"
| According TO this story the inhabitants
of the moon lived underground beneath
huge lid. which was opened only in
the daytime and which protected them
from their biggest enemy. night frost.
1858 NEW ENGLISH NOVELS