New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-31

j last unat aero tdlo on England mas
u been made. Yet j. was a raid. say
~ the Germans, which only forecasts
real Zeppelin raid.
All London is awaiting it-and dreading All
rnslsnd is awaiting it-snd fearing All the
vo-ld is awaiting it-snd wondering.
Germsny's giant sirships Rave always been
surrounded by an air of mystery. They are
,owerful every military man knows that. But
now powerful they are is another question.
There is a general feeling that Germany has
%, shown her hand, that she has big sur
&c, somewhere up her sleeve. She undoubt-
.dly has.
Take for instance, the silent motor. Late
.As last fall an American, Edgar Allen Can't
I'll JUS, happened to be in Ostend at the time
ga Zeppelin raid. 1t was warm, clear night,
,,vs Mr.. Cantrill, with scarcely any wind. He
vas sitting on a bench out OF doors. Suddenly
r. heard a faint sound that seemed at first like
n, noise CT an approaching automobile. Little
Nv little the sound drew overhead. Heads were
rr,ned aloft; nobody seemed to realize what
n. thing might really be. There was none OF
-. sharp staccato Of the aeroplane motor, and
-. sound was anything but warlike. Then
sonebody saw it, great dim shape, swinging
directly above the town, half mile possibly
above the earth.
4 LIGHT IN THE SKY, A FALLING
FLAME AND THEN DESTRUCTION
There came a fare in the SKYE like the strik-
ing o. a match. Only this match started to fall.
As It fell it grew larger, Kissing in streak OF
fame straight for the ground. Then it landed.
There was a deafening explosion, hasty Wis
ion OF a raw pit in the ground with buildings
.o,ering into it from every side. then PIN
wheel squirt Of liquid fame, scattering every
where. The whole square was instantly afre.
That was one Of the dynamite oil bombs.
Now. according to MIR. Cantrll, this was on
still. clear night. The great cigar-shaped
balloon could be seen plainly. And its ap-
proaeh could be heard. This Zeppelin was
eouipped with one of the older model audible
motors audible, that is, when the machine was
almost straight above the city itself. The new
Zeppelin motors are noiselesS (and If the Ger
mans call a thing noiseless it seems to be
fair gamble that the word can be used in its
strictest sense). If an audible Zeppelin could
slide over the city of Ostend on clear, starlit
night what couldn't feet OF silent Zeppelins
do on a foggy night over London? The idea
will bear thought In England it is bearing
thought
The accusation has often enough been made
against the Germans that they are literally
war.rnad. However true this may be, there is
no question now Of the fact that the whole
German nation is solidly Zeppelin-nad.
CONQUEST THROUGH THE AIR AN
AMERICAN MADE IDEA.
This idea OF conquest through the air which
has terrorized the British people since the be-
ginning Of the war was not made IN Germany
stall. II was made, of all places, in the United
States. Count Ferdinand Won Zeppelin, to-day
seventy.six years old and in 1908 dubbed by
the Kaiser in an outburst OF unselhsh enthu-
sasm the greatest German OF the twentieth
century" did his first military apprenticeship
in the All al the age of twenty-five IN the bal
loon CORDS Of the Army of the Potomac. SO 1t
was during our own Civil War that he hrst
came to appreciate the war value OF air craft
Few stories of achievement possess more
romance han the heroic fight Count Zeppelin
has maintained ever since these early Gays 10
build dirgibles for the purposes OF war. lie
has faced the ieers Of mankind, as did the
American, Langley; ne has sunk his own pri-
vate fortune. together with those OF his family
and friends: he has sacrificed his peace OF
mind; hundred times he has risked his own
life And if any one person can be said to nave