Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-14
Menaced by Both Sides, Meth
erIands Has Liking for
. Neither BeI|igerent.
KAISER NOT IN FAVOR
OF LATEST WAR ENGINES
Reported to Have Been 0verruled by
General Staff in Use of
Battle Fire"
Copyright. 1915. by Herbert ocr.y3
I'll Holland enter the war"

will Holland enter the war"
Many have asked that question late
ly. The answer is guesswork. of course.
But an acute French observer thought
that it is possible Holland will be
forced in-after Germany begins to
break.
The allies do not dare touch her
now" he said. Holland is sitting on
the fence, with a club in her hands.
But If the allies should begin to win
and Germany to retire, it would then
be desira BILE that we have an open
road through Holland. in order to at
tack the tip of Germanys weak flank
In Belgium Holland doesn't like
either side. England has interfered
with her trade and blockaded her ports,
and foolish German statesmen have
said that some day Germany will sWal-
low her. But-when Germany breaks
it may be made to Hollands advan-
tage to give us a right of way. TINS
is war of diplomacy quite as much
as of shells.
What about the Zeppelins:"
More Guesswork. of course. But my
personal belief is that one of these
DAYS huge fleet of Zeps Will hoat
over England and make attack in
earnest. Zeppelins are practically i'm
mune from attack by either land or
air, the Germans say. They can go
so high that the anti-air craft guns
cannot reach them. and if they are
attacked by aeroplanes all the Yep
pe1in has to do is to put its tail down
and scoot for the upper levels me
aeroplane must corkscrew up me
Yep can reach heights the aeroplane
cannot. Nowadays. too. the Yep car
ries riflemen on top. so that the aero
plane, which gets overhead, as Warne-
ford did in his machine, is not IN COM
plete command of the SITUATION
But they haven't done anything yet
Experimenting With Zeppelins.
My personal belief is that the Ger
mans haven't really tried with the
Zeppelin as yet. think the raids up to
this time have been charting and pilot
training affairs. Certainly the damage
they have done is nowise commensu-
rate with the damage one assumes they
could do if they tried. 1t appears the
British admiralty also takes this view
of the purpose of the earlier raids. for
the publication of information ABOUT
Zeppelin raids is to be forbidden in the
future. This is not altogether to save
the feelings of the British public
which is by no means so tlmld ana I'M
questionable a public as the censor
would have us believe-but because
this published information is of infinite
value to the German air pilots. IL the
newspapers keep silent future raiders
may not be able to find out whether
they were over Southampton or Sioux
City.
(which side has the best artillery?
It's toss-up. The French seventy
hves are easily the best light neid
pieces the world has ever seen. They
can hide back of hill and shoot the
buttons off a German ma jor on the side
of it. So very excellent are they that
the French artillerymen have been al
most S safe during this war as though
they were only engaged in maneuvers-
They have both range and accuracy on
the German ieldpieces, and of late, at
least, their shells have been superior
in exploding power. On the other mana,
the big guns of the Germans are bet
ter than anything the allies have. MOST
Of the work of driving the Russians
out of Galicia is said to have been done
By the big guns
Mystery Stories of Gas.
"Are the French using tutpinite?"
Don't know. 1t is persistently re-
ported in Paris that at the beginning
OF the war the French used this deadly
gas in one action only. against one
trench only, in an experiment The
effect is said to be that the unfortu-
rate who inhales it dies instantly-so
very instantly that he does not have
time even to jerk. Unpleasant stories
are told of a trench filled with dead
men who retained the attitudes of life.
II the Germans continue the use of
their trench gas the French say they
will be forced to use this turpinite. 1t
ia said to be difficult and dangerous to
handle.
What is the new burning liquid of
which the French communiques speak?
Another mystery of the war. What
ever it is, it is used for trench defense
purposes rather than for offonse, ! be-
lieve II is also my conviction that
both French and Germans are using it.
At all events, was told in Paris that
hremen from the French capital had
visited the front TO instruct the SOL
diers in the safe method of handling
the new "benzine bomb" This. ac-
cording to gossip. is bomb which ex-
plodes on impact. and is filled with a
liquid that ignites when 1t comes in
contact with the air. II was asserted
that the Germans had been driven out
Of various trenches in the ia byrinth'
by its use.
THE German hre defense is, | was told
at Berlin. chemical which is thrown