Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-09-23
A|RSR|PS FAILED
SAYS WRITER
Herbert Corey Believes they
Haven't Fulfilled Hopes
of Officials.
lBy Herbert CoreY.l

London, Sept. 23.-Atrcraft have
utterly failed to justify themselves as
instruments OF battle in the great war.
AS instruments OF RECONNAISSANCE
formula was suggested to me by an
officer of the British flying corps:
"One howitzer is of greater value
than two score of dirigibles. One
aeroplane may conceivably be of
greater value than a squadron of
scouts"
Confirmatory opinions have been
secured from two Of the leading fly
ing men OF France. M. Bieriot. the
first man to fly the English channel.
and now n Of h leading %aeroplane
makers of France-his factory is at
work day and night turning out air.
craft for use in the war-made this
statement: 4.!,
1.-THE d%irigibles have done nothing.
The aeroplane has been useful-but
the Last word remains with the guns"
m. Pegoud, who has figured in sew
eral daring exploits, is quoted as fol-
lows:
From an aeroplane n sees-but
one does not always know what it is
n sees. The airman may see that
the enemy Is in possession Of terri
tory, but the work of developing in
what strength 1t is held must still be
carried out by cavalry or motor
scouts" II II
Little has found it's way into print
as to the details Of the work done
by dirigibles or planes in the war.
Gossip from the front, heard in Lon
don and Paris, is that innumerable
attempts at aggression have been
made by tn aircraft Of both sides.
In one case a German dig hoated
over the city Of Brussels. and dis
charged nine powerful bombs. From
the atrman's viewpoint conditions for
this savage raid were ideal. There
was no wind, and the motor, balloon
was m~anoeuvred over the city as cas-
lily as a catboat in a breeze. The
city, thereby assuring the maximum
OF cost to life and property. -.
Only twelve persons were injured.
or these only five were killed. The
Total damage amounted to the shat
ter1ng or the upper story of q house
and to the excavations Of a saucer
shaped hole in the ground in which
a man might lie down. comfortably.
one shell from a six-pounder would
have cost more in life. The Germans
were at the time within ten miles of
the center of the city 81 Brussels at
one point Of their line. The siege
howitzer of today has an effective
range OF more than twelve miles. A
projectile discharged from such a gun
would have absolutely demolished
any building upon which it fell.
Field Gums More Successful.
To the objection that a howitzer is
q heavy and unwieldy piece Of ar
tillery, and is therefore not fitted for
neid operations. it may be pointed
out that the Germans are using a new
siege U which Is equally heavy and
teams of from twelve to thirty horses,
and are so Immensely heavy that or
mary country bridges are often re-
nullt before an effort Is made to cross
them. Their shells are charged with
a new high explosive, OF which little
Is known except that its effect is an.
paltng. It is to this gun that the
Germans success in reducing forts
Which had been considered practical
ly impregnable to attack is due.
Another successful attempt at war
ron the air was that exploit of
which M. Pegoud was the hero. with
one companion he flew over a series
OF German encampments near GRAY
enmacher, in Belgium. His machine
was the largest and most powerful
H!eriot-Gnome in the French lines.
Most war aeroplanes are armored be-
meath to protect the operators from
bullets. Because Of the Tremendous
load Of 'incendiary" shells. hand
M explosive bombs Pc
gond carried the armor was stripped
from the machine before the start.
otherwise 1t could not have lifted
from the ground. AS it was, PeRoud
was unable at the outset to lift h
C more than 500 feet in the
ar. That fact aided his aim in the
made his plane an excellent ,tarrat
AS a measure Of .self-protection he.
flew. at night. In lack of exact knowis,
edge, gossip has it that his O Of
bombs weighed 500 pounds. He dis.
charged every one before he return
Bombs Could Not Find Mark.
Ihe net result, SO far az can be as
certained, was that the frtRhtened
Germans blanketed their fires 80 that
the aeroplanist could not find his tar
get. 1t was at first stated that two
conveys OF ammunition were destroy.
ed BY his bombs. This has not been
confirmed. It is highly likely. Of
course. that II an ammunition caisson
were struck by IN explosive p~roiectile
IL would be destroyed. It does not
necessarily follow that the next war.
on OF ammunition would sufer. Tho
.tncendiary" bombs he carried would
unquestionably cause q confederation
y they fell among city, houses. They
are almost harmless-as harm IL
counted in this war-if they fall
among the tents of an encarnnmant.
- new high explosive