Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1914-09-17
ENGLISH INVASION
is GERMAN DREAM

New York, Sept. 14.-Preparations
for an invasion of England by air
ships are now being rushed to compile
ton in Germany under the personal di-
rection of Count Zeppelin, according
to the story told today by Felix Wilkes,
who returned with his family on board
the Holland-American iner Rotterdam
after a long visit at Cologne and other
points in Germany n Austria.
AS Mrs. Wilkes has relatives in
Cologne and Mr.. Wilkes is himself of
German ancestry, he had carte blanch
in military circles, and probably
brought Jack with him more definite
information about the movements of
n kaiser's army han any of the
refugees who have preceded him.
Americans here may not appreciate
it, said Mr.. Wilkes, but England is
the main objective point Of Germany
in this war. | was in Cologne for
three weeks-in fact, L left there only
a week ago Thursday-and l found out
that the Germans have the greatest
hatred of the English, whom they hold
directly responsible for the war. The
purpose of the army is to crush Eng
land, and the present operations are
all directed to that end.
AS L was given to understand from
reliable sources, the kaiser's plan is to
cross the channel as soon as Paris is
either captured or invested. Calls is
the port which is to be made the base
of operations, and the movements of
German troops in nothern France are
unquestionably to be directed against
the English.
Twenty-eiaht Ready.
AT the present time q fleet of %
Ieppelins are in readiness, and there
are four different companies which are
working day and night manufacturing
more. Each factory can urn out one
of these engines of destruction a month
at the cost of 10000 francs apiece. All
are equipped with bomb-throwing bas.
kets and guns. Inc Germans display
the utmost confidence that. acting in
conjunction with the battleship fleet,
the aerial fleet will be able to put Eng
land at it's mercy.
THE usefulness of the Zeppelins, as
you know. has been definitely proven.
| was talking with of the officers
OF the Zeppelin which flew over Liege
on August 5, which was the first time
an airship was ever used in actual war
fare. The V excitement of the
flight was SO great that every one of
the crew were abed two days after their
return to Cologne. Several bombs were
dropped into Liege. and the Belgian
artillery fire at the aerial visitor. Three
of the compartments We're punctured
with bullets: but this seemed in no
way to make the airship unmanage-
able.
New krupp Cannon.
You may ave learned by now that
the big deciding factor in all the sue
cesses of the German army been a
brand new kind of krupp cannon
greater than eve the German people
realized had beer made for their army.
No pictures or full descriptions of this
gun have yet been printed. I saw sew
eral of them being rushed to the front.
and can give you some little idea OF
their make-np.
The bore of the gun is AZ cent?
meters. or 16 inches, three inches bigger
than any cannon previously made.
They are great, bulky machines. drawn
by motor power. the barrel of the can
non alone weighing two tons. The
she'll which they fire weighs 2,l00
pounds. and IN artillery officer told me
they will go through 81 feet of con-
crete and then explode. You a
readily see from this why Namur and
other places fell lmost without resist
ance. Krupp employees operate these.
guns. as none of the army men have
vet had an opportunity to practice with
them.