The Yale expositor., 1914-10-22

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drogen gas in all it's various forms has
been multiplied threefold by a new
gas discovered at the Spandau govern
ment chemical laboratory. This gas
has also the enormous advantage of
being absolutely uninflammable
The wonderful system of the Ger
man war machine has been installed
with rare detail In the aerial corps.
The equipment of the different sta
tions is really marvellous, for every
thing human ingenuity has been able
to devise concerning the dirigible you
will find in application. Each station
is fully equipped and is an absolutely
independent center in itself. Take the
base at Helgoland. II is the newest
and the one that is always cloaked
with secrecy.
Guarding the DrieibIes.
At the extreme eastern corner OF
the island of Helgoland one sees, amid
the sandy dunes, three vast oblong
iron-gray structures. At a distance
they are not unlike overgrown gas
ometers. ! say at a distance, for it is
impossible for any visitor to get
within thousand yards of the sta
ton. The solitary approach is guard
ed by a triple post Of the marine
guard. If you walk toward the sta
ton, before you come within a hun
dred yards Of the guard, you will find
large signs setting forth in unmistak-
able and terse language that dire and
swift penalties follow any further ex-
ploration in that direction. Not only
English but German visitors to Helgo-
land have found out that even the
slightest infringement OF the rules of
these signs is dangerous. shall, how
ever, take you little closer
Walking on until you are within fifty
yards OF the great balloon sheds, you
pause before tall fence of barbed
wire, this connected with an elaborate
alarm bell system that sounds in the
two guard houses. For instance, il
an enterprising secret agent of France
were to try and steal up on the sta
ton, if he came by night and cut
through the barbed wire, a series OF
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general alarm.
Having passed through the six
strands of barbed wire a tall octag-
onal tower meets the eye. In this
tower are installed two powerful
searchlights as we'll as a complete
wireless outfit All the zeppelins carry
wireless BY means of elaborate re-
iectors it is possible with the search
lights to flood the whole place with
daylight in the middle of night. Thus
ascensions can be made safely at any
hour of the twenty-four.
The three oblong sheds stand in a
row, the middle being the largest, hav-
ing spaces for two complete dirigibles,
while the other sheds house but one
each. They are about 500 feet long,
200 feet broad and 12O feet high. The
whole structure itself can be shifted
to about an angle of forty degrees,
this being worked on plan similar to
the railroad engine turntable. The rea-
son for 1t is that with the veering Of
the wind the sheds are turned so that
the doors will be placed advantageous
ly for the removal of the airship.
The whole layout and the vast area
of space show that it is the govern
ment's intention still further to IN.
crease the plant.
Let us consider one of these new
war monsters. the latest and most
powerful, the X 10. The latest Zeppe-
Inns. charged with the newly discov-
cred dioxygenous gas, giving these
sky battleships triple lifting capacity
the perfecting of the Diesel motor
giving enormous horsepower percent
age with light fuel consumption fifty
of these Diesel engines, their work.
ings secret TO the German govern.
ment. are stored under guard at the
big navy yards at Wilhskushafen and
Kiel, ready to be ipatGSled at the
break of war in submg9Jes and diri
gibles), have given the German typs
of aircraft an Importance undreamed
of and unsupported by the rest of the
world.
Guns on the ZeppeIins.
The operating sphere of the new
balloons mas EXTENDED from lOU TO
/ 400 kilometers. Secret trial trips OF
fully equipped Zeppelin like X Is.
carrying a crew of "a men, six quick
firing guns, seven tons of explosives,
have extended from Stettin, over the
Baltic, over the Swedish coast, re.
crossing the Baltic and landing at
Swinemunde, with enough gas, fuel
and provisions left to keep aloft an
other SO hours. The distance all told
covered on one OF these trips was
1,1S0 kilometers. This fact speaks
for itself. The return distance from
Helgoland to London. or any midland
towns in England, corresponds to the
mileage covered on recent trips.
Picture the havoc q dozen such vuI
lures could create attacking a city
like London or Paris. In attacking
large places the Zeppelins would rise
to a height of from 5000 to 5000 feet.
at which distance these huge cigar
| shaped engines of death 700 feet long