The sun., 1914-08-16

dropping md other death dealing de-
vices are distributed among the belliger-
cnt nations of Europe and are ready "a
rise and give the world a demonstrate ion
of the terrible reality Of the advent of
aerial warfare. such as Wells, Verne
and kipinG have depicted.
Those aircraft will control the move
mcnts ana actions NJ the armies and
navics and viii eventually decide The
fate Of nations.
\ hundred aircraft have controlled the
actions NJ the German. French and Bel
gan armies In the past week and a
half dozen have saved Belgium from the
power of the Germans and have checked
tho advance Of the Kaiser
For two years GERMANY and Russia
have kept their progress in aeronautics
secret. last year England and France
limited the nature of development s
which could he made public only a few
people closely connected with the aero
nautical circles of different countries
know ot the developments that have
taken place. The only offi-i figures
outsiders can get are contained in the
official reports of tho year 1912 Hence.
to the outside world. France has less
than 400 aeroplanes and England barely
100.
These figures are incorrect. They rep
resent only a fraction of the actual
strength. as have sscertained from I'M.
published official reports and other
sources For instance. IN tho debates
over the reorganization Of tho aeronauti-
cal branch NJ tho French army in the
Chamber of Deputies q was shown that
the French army bought 300 aeroplanes
In 1912 and 336 IN 1918 With the 2Os
bought with the money collected by pub
lie subscription. we have Sii machines
for the French army without counting
the large acquisitions Of 1914.
The strength in this respect Of the
British navy and army can he gauged by
the following statements made by the
Frs Lord ~ the Admiralty Winston
churchill. and tho War Secretary. Col.
Scclv. 10 the House of Commons last
February. Replying t. questions in the
House as To the number of alrships
owned or being huilt either by the Gov
crnmont or by contractors Nj Churchill
SAID: There are fstoen d!rig hle air
ships built, huding or ordered at The
present time for tn naval wing"
In his memorandJn - the House or
Commons oH ;hc army estimates last
March Col. Scc'y made ,he following
statement:
with large numbers NJ new aero
planes OH order ~ rho present moment.
and the constan. ioh'!t- ~ those in
hand 10 hecomo ura' sn" service. II ~
hardly possible - -'vo ~nv exact figure
Tor the numh-r of .e,~..Ceable aero
planes in Possess an or IN, army which
viii not have cN3soi - ha correct he
fore u Is printed; bIt az general in
dication 80 th- r~orrrst made in the
past year It mnv bo Sr'd rha, az COM
pared with 'Ho ar"rp'"-cs In existence
on March %. 1919 'isrc were on Feb-
ruary % last l5l or baud. and between
those dates s. hpl r"cn struck of az
nnserviceab'e md r.p'atcd. An ade-
quate reserve ~ are engines and
considerable quaint 40 ~ snare parts
have been proy yl5c1."
From s.m.in"'- rl"ah'e official hut
unpublished reports and frum knowl-
edge of conditions ami ac~onautical
plans of the no 'nps estimate their
strength rs follows:
France Norouauos. 200 military
Ho0 added snc. hv arnu's'. on OF nri-
vatc machines and ou.nY. ~ factories
Dirlgihcs 70. ~ close - 100 feet in
length II NJ loss than 800 feet In
longth : privately owned. or 81 alto
Eethcr
Germany >rop'ancs. 500 military
4nn added since ny acquisition and ont
put Of factories, Dir Gibles. 70. Zen
pel'ns Of from $50 20 400 fee; long. %
d'rigibles ot other types. including those
privately owned
Russia Aeroplares. 500 military $50
added since. DrlG'hos. I6 Of different
types. hut mostly under $50 feet in
length.
England Seapanes. 200: 500 army
aeroplanes; 200 added since. Dirlglbles
H. mostly now. up-fo-date machines
acquired in the pas twelve months
Austria-Acroplaros $50. Of which al,
hnt 100 have brcn acquired since the
hegnnng OF hostl'itics. Dirlgihles. 10
mostly under 300 fcet in length.
Belgium m-Aerop'anes 10 and 40 ar-
nnred since tho beginning OF HOSTILE
tlos Dirigibles, ., medium size and
! small
sorvia Aeroplanes. 40. DrlgibIes
none.
The aeroplines have been held back
50 Tar by the slow marching armies
Moving at the rate Of twenty miles n
dhN is tremendous speed for an army
while tho speed dcma nded from military
a'roplin"s : from sixty to ninety miles
an hour Thus an acropane can cover
1000 miloS In day against the army's
twenty miles
This speed makes strategy impossible
Wherever the acrOp,anos are Move
ineniS of armies and navies are quickly
detected and reported. and checked bv
tho other side simultaneously with their
execution.
1t was Wellington who said: "Vlctory
helongs to he commander who makes
tho hest guess as TO what Is haupen!ng
on the "ih'r side of the hill" Napoleon
guessed wrong ana lost. with aero.
planes nothing Is left Ia guess As
Gen. fonnoau Of the French army eX-
pressed 1t after using a,roplanos I'm the
man"urres, "WIh the aeroplana every.
Thing is seen 10y the eye, nothing is left
TO guess"
with acroplanes there ale no
military curtains, nor any cover, that
can hide from The chief OF the arm the
depth, width and compost ion Of couos
ing forces, the position Of their reserves.
'heir eNoluil"ns in front and rear. TIL,
general who knows how to use aylators