Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1914-11-27

everything in that particular locality.
Through the far-reaching system Of
espionage, the latest and most up-to-
GATE Information Is always fcrthcom-
ing, and time and again myself. often
returning from q mission like one OF
those TO the naval base ii Scotland.
have sat by the hour verbally amplify-
ing my previous reports.
a part Of the intelligence system is
the personality squad, whose duty It
In 10 acquaint themselves with the per-
sonaltty OF every army and navy ON
Ger Of the leading powers.
Aerial Weapons.
Within the last few years an en-
tirely new, and. according to German
Ideas, most important factor has en-
tered and seriously disturbed the reIa-
tive military power Of European ma
lions. This is the aerial weapon.
Since the days Of Otto LiIienthal
and his glider. 1t has been the policy
OF Germany to>keep track OF ali inven-
lions likely to be embodied and made
use Of in the war machine. It Il far
cry from LdlenthaI's glider TO the last
word in aerial construction such as
the mysterious Zeppelin arseyai sky
monster that, carrying a complement
or twenty-five men and twelve tons Of
explosives. sailed across the North
sea, circled over London, and returned
to Germany.
II is my purpose here to tell you
how far Germany has advanced and
progressed in this struggle for mas
terry OF the sky. shall disclose facts
about her system that have never ap-
peared In print-that have never been
heard In conversation. They are
known only to the general stan at Ber-
lin, not even in the cabinets Of Eu-
rope.
Secret AsrIai Strength.
Germany without doubt has the most
up-to-date aerial feet In the world.
The budget of the reichstag of 1905
1908 allowed and provided for the
building and maintenance Of twelve
dirigibles of the Zeppelin type. So
far as the knowledge Of the rest of
the world is concerned this is ali the
sky navy that Germany possesses. It
is fact. though, that she has three
times the number that she officially
acknowledges.
The diribigIe-balloon centers in Ger
many are Ave, and they are situated at
vitality strategic points. There are two
on the French border, one on the Rus
sian border. one on the Atlantic coast,
and central station near Berlin. The
exact places are Strassburg, Frank
fort on the Main. Pcsen, Wilhelms-
hafen and Berlin. This does not In
clude the marvellous station at Helgo-
land I'm the North sea, this being a
strategic point In relation to Great
Britain. Nothing is known about this
Helgoland station. None but those on
official business are permitted within
a thousand yards OF it. l shall tell
things concerning 1t.
Besides these purely military posts
there are a number of commercial sta
tons necessary as depots Of the regu-
lar transportation aerial lines that
operate for the convenience of the
public. Like Germany's. commercial
steamers. however, they are controlled
and subsidized by the government. AT
few hours notice they can be con-
verified and made use of for govern.
ment purposes. Taking these trans
portation lines into consideration. Il
In safe TO state that by now Germany
could send fifty huge airships to war.
RevoIutIonlzlna Discoveries.
II may be a puzzle to Americans
why, in the face of disasters and acct.
dents to these zeppelins, Germany IL
spending about $4,000, 900 ON her aerial
fleet. Now we come to a very signifi.
cant point ! know, and certain mem.
bers of the German general STAFF know
as well as trusted men in the aerial
corps, that there are two conditions
under which airships are operated In
Germany. One Is the ordinary more
or less well-known system which char
acterizes the operation OF all the pas
senger lines now in service in the EN-
pire. It is the system under which
all the disasters that appear In the
newspapers occur. Airships that are
used In the general army flights and
maneuvers are also run under the
same system as the passenger dirig
ihles-for reason.
The other system Is an absolute SO
cret of the German general star. II
is not used in the general maneuvers
only In specific cases. and these al
ways secretly. It has been proved t.
be effective IN eliminating 7B per cent
OF the accidents which have character
ICED all OF Germany's adventures iE
dirigibles and heayiar-than-air ma
chimes. These statistics are known
only among the German general stat
officers.
Critics of the German dirigible whc
rate the French aeroplane superior
point out that the Zeppelins have
three serious defects-bu1k and heavi
l ness of structure, infiammability of the
/ lifting power-the gas that floats them
and insufiiciency OF fuel carriage. Ii
| other words. they cannot ship enough
gas to stay in air q desirable length o.
time without coming down. The sc
cret devices of the German war Office
have eliminated all these Objectionable.
features. They have overcome this
condition OF bulk and heaviness q
i structure by their government chem
lists devising the formula &c e. materia
that II lighter than aluminnn. We