Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-08-26
NATIONAL DEFENSE PROBLEMS
VII.-Lessons of the War-New Weapons.
By Frederic J. Haskin

The war abroad has not only devel-
oped great new fighting machines, like
the aeroplane, the armored automo-
bile and the submarine but it has per-
fected a number of smaller weapons
which, in themselves, are quite as I'M
portant as the big epochal arms which
have revolutionized warfare and made
modern war so entirely different from
the conflicts of fifty or even fifteen
years ago. Every one of these smaller
lthunderbolts of Mars is important in
its particular sphere and, as there are
many of these lesser weapons which
are being used for the first time in
this war, the United States has taken
particular pains to study them and
estimate the effect they will have
upon future conflicts. Full reports
upon these miscellaneous weapons,
made by Uncle Sans military observ-
ers, are now on file at the Army War
College at Washington.
"War Beacons"
For example, there is one addition
to the science of aviation which has
been found most important in the
direction of air scouts during the pres
ent war. This is q system of war
which literally mark the way of the
aeroplane and the dirigible at night.
These beacons are of three kinds;
the flash, the fixed and the revolving;
but instead of operating horizontally
as do lighthouses, the beacons throw
their beams vertically into the clouds
and, by means of prearranged systems
of signals, show the aeronaut exactly
where he is. Germany has more than
score of these beacons which en-
able her air scouts to steer q straight
course at night and proceed undetected
to the point of reconnaissance with
out exposing themselves to observa-
ton. One of these night-lights, the
Weimar beacon, has no less than 27,-
100000 candle power behind its huge
revolving flashlight situated atop the
military aerodrome.
Landing Lights
Another improvement with respect
to aviation is the system of landing
lights now in use abroad which, up to
the present time have not been en-
ployed on this side of the Atlantic.
The type of landing lights agreed
upon as the most desirable are inn
bedded in the ground and protected
by large sheet or plate of very thick
glass upon which the aircraft may
land directly and be brought to a full
base is a very strong white light
which burns all the time as q guide
to the aviator where. to land. Then,
In order to signal the direction of the
wind near the earth--for many acci-
dents in landing are caused by air
currents which differ in direction from
those of the upper regions-four other
lights, red in color are placed one at
each corner of the landing stage.
These are connected with a weather
vane about fifty feet high in such a.
manner that they are automatically
extinguished and lighted according to-
the veering of the wind. For exam
pie, If the wind is from the southwest,
the south and west red lights will be
burning, while the north and east
lights will be extinguished. A sudden
shift of the wind to the west will
cause all the light except the one at
that corner to be extinguished, and SO
on. In the event that there is no ap-
preciable wind near the earth all the
lights are turned off and only the
white center lights is left burning. BY
this simple means, the air pilot is at
all times enabled to tell the exact di-
rection of the wind near the earth and
to know how he should steer to make
a clean landing in case he wishes to
descend.
Bomb Dropping
The present war has also effected a
number of Important strides in the
art of omb-dropping from aero
planes and dirigibles and many
Improvements upon the bombs them
selves. The chief objection to the
type of bomb used prior to the com
mencement of the war was that 1t ex-
ploded upon contact and therefore |
produced but little effect upon con-
crete foundations or similar hard SUBJ |
stances. and grenades would have
been almost as effective as the old |
style air bombs.
But practically all the nations now
engaged in the war are using a bomb |
which is partly the invention of an |
American army officer, and which /
first buries itself in the ground and
then explodes. The resultant effect is |
similar to that of a sunken mine and |
the damage is far greater than that of |
the old type contact bomb.
Each of these bombs weighs about |
eighteen pounds and is fitted with |
steering vanes to insure its steady
course through space and make cer-
tain that 1t strikes head-on. They are |
dropped from a specially constructed |
apparatus which enables the marks
man to sight" his target and drop the