Arizona republican., 1914-02-22
AERONAUT|CS
 GRAFT SOURCE
France Finds It's Air Fleet Much Inferior to That of Germany and Less Than Half as Large as Was Believed
lRT A. l.. L.'AmOureauXl


 recruits who are specially fitted for aviation are systematically barred from it, and others who have no ap- | titude for the service whatever have the greatest facilities in entering it. As to dirigibles, the French atmy, which is supposed to have by this time nearly a score of airships avail Gble, possesses only seven. and these. 1 the senator thinks, are of doubtful utility.
 ' Senator ReymCnd is the most com !, retent man in the senate to speak on aviation. He is an excellent pilot himself, and has made flights from Paris to his constituency in the south. and. in fact, he was the first member of parliament to visit his i constituents on an aeropiane during ! an election. His comparative review O. the condition Of aviation and of ! the airshp service in the French and i German armies is particularly in- { tercsting. He says:
 Germany possesses fourteen dirig ! ihies. of which seven are Zeppelin airships, capable of being used as destroyers. France has only seven dirigibles. The German military bal looms have a capacity of 2oS,0oo cubic metres; the French balloons have only capacity of 54,000 cubic metres. The German dirigibles have motors of 500 h. D. and 800 h. ?. The German airships have a speed of 80 to % kilometres (about 50 tu 60 miles) an hour; the French airships scarcely have a speed higher than 45 kilometres per hour, and only one of them can attain a speed of B kilometres per hour. Seven of the German destroyers are powerfully armed and can be used effectively in offensive operations. They can each carry 9 persons. in addition to q crew of F men and eight tons of weight. together with one ton and a half of ammunition. They have al ready thrown projectiles of 610 kilos without slackening their speed, and they are about to make experiments to throw pIojectilcs of 500 kilos. On the other hand, they are provided also with means of protection. The car is supplied with machine-gu and on top of the balloon there is a gangway supplied with machine guns that can fire 600 shots d minute.
 France has nothing to compare with this. Germany has suffered heavy losses. but for each Zeppelin destroyed she has decided to build two substitutes. One of the lost Zeppelins had at the time it was destroyed made flights covering a distance of 2o,000 kilometres. Tn 1911 France drew up brilliant program of dirigibles It was to comprise heavy cruisers, light cruisers and aerial scouts But. alas. in the fol- lowing year. 1912, it was realized that the light cruisers and aerial scouts could not be of great service. Their construction. therefore, was aban- doned. and it was decided in No yember, 1912. to build seven large cruisers with capacity of 24000 cubic metres each. Four of them were to be delivered in october, 1913 and three others in January. 1914 At present not one of these airships is yet completed. Only thtee of them are building and may be finished in few months; but the construc- tion of the other four has not vet been begun.
 As to airship sheds. Germany has thirty and France has only twelve The German sheds are movable on pivots, and the airships can enter protected from the wind. France has no such turning sheds. The German service has organized special facili- ties for landing at night. The land ing places are indicated by means of electric lights and signals. Nothing of the kind has been done in France German airships are capable of fly ing 1900 kilometres (about 112f miles) without a stop, and one Of them has remained in the air for q period of 24 hours at a height of 46of feet. In France our airships only made three sorties during the ma neuvers of 1912. It is true that ir 1913 they made a more brilliant showing but their strategic use was misunderstood. We are made to be lieve that a great deal has beee ac- complished while nothing whatever is being done
 The senate voted a motion regret ting the want of organization O. military aeronautics and expressin: its confidence that the minister O war would introduce the necessar, reforms NJ Nouens, minister o war, declared that the number O aeroplanes in France compared ia vcrably with that of German aero planes. Germany had between 4J and 800, while France had 600. Ar engagements had already been mad to purchase armored aeroplanes, 0 which a ce1tain type had alread, given great satisfaction to the mill ltary authorities. Existing machine had rendered great service in Nor COCO by dropping bombs and burn ing villages. but before long th army would be provided with nor formidable aeroplane. which woul, be both armed and armored.
 A curious case of posthumous libe concerning George Sand has bee' decided in French law court. an damages have been awarded to tin plaintiff. Madame Frederick Lautf the granddaughter of the novelist. Paris theater in 1911 gave a play il five acts, entitled ''L Enfant q Steele" written by NJ Le Lasseul describing the famous love affair o Venice between George sand and Al