The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-03-27

But Fought on the Ground,
Says Contributor to Lip
pincott's Magazine.

Baron z. Adrian vonMuming, the
distinguished aeronautical engineer,
contributes an 5n=eresttng paper on
'sThe Aeroplane and War" to the
April Lippincott's Magazine.
That the battle of the future will
be fought in the air is an often state
meut," he says. But we are not to
squa drons of armored aeroplanes en-
gagged in a sort of aero-naval en-
counter. such a proceeding presents
q certain gruesome ptcturesquenesS,
but as actual military tactics would
not prove commenda BILE. No. the
battle of the future will be fought
on the ground, but planned in the
air. And in this day OF scattered
forces and long distance firing, cor
rect planning is more conducive to
victory than numerically superior
@As-a matter of fact the aero
planes efficiency as means of de-
Tense or attack is extremely 44mlted.
Its size and carrying capacity are al
ways in proportion to each other, SO
that if machine could be built ca
pable Of lifting many men or heaVy.
guns it would have TO be OF such
Size as to make handling it on the
field a precarious matter. a single
well directed shot would be sufficient
not only to disable It, but to bring
lit to the ground with loss OF every
man on board
Many military authorities appear
to have pinned their faith on bomb
dropping, almost every army IN the
world having experimental wltnout .
much success, with devices intended
to insure correct aim when dropping
rojectiIes containing explosive ma
Iterials to the ground To the unini-
ated. it appears strange that It
should be 80 d.hicult to hit even a
large target, such as the outline OF
| battleship, from height OF
thousand feet. And an aviator at
\ tempting to drop bomb among
hostile forces would have to fly con-
siderably higher than that.
| another point which speaks I'M
favorably for the practice OF bom6-
dropping is the comparatively small
size of the prejectiles that can be
used Moreover, scattering Of the
forces attacked will prevent much
damage.
During naval engagements, aero
planes are supposed to be used in
blowing up battleships by dropping
la heavy load of explosives upon their
decks. But really in this case none
of the really vital parts OF the snip
would be affected, and it does not
seem to have occurred TO most OF
the writers on this subject tlIs-S at
the moment of the explosion-by
reason of the laws of falling bodies
the aeroplane which dropped the
explosive would be directly over the
target, and the upward column or
air generated would DE sure to put
an end to the aeroplane and its OPP
orator We all know hOy a heavy
explosion will break plate glass win
dows placed sometimes several miles
away. Such being the case, blowing
up a batt1eship from above would
REQUIRE wflful life-sacrlfce on the
part of the men detailed to the work,
as all of the air set in motion by the
explosion would be detected up
ward
From the above considerations,
we conclude that the real work al
Iotted to military aviators in var
time will consist IN scouting. In
deed, for scouting purposes, no better
method than soaring right over the
very position of hostile forces can
be conceived. The field Of battle can
De thoroughly surveyed before an en-
gagement, and battles can be plan
ned from knowledge of conditions as
they really are. not as they are sup
posed to be by the officers in charge.
/ And thereby-and this IS where the
peace advocates score a point much
\ unnecessary bloodshed will be pre-
vented, owing to the previous exact
\ knowledge OF conditions that viii be
encountered"