The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-03-28
H.A SKIN LETFsER
The Wings Of War and Peace
b Frederia J. Haskin.

ID By Frederic
From now on, war has wings. Aero
planes are as much a part OF mod
ern navy as are torpedo boats Ply
means of its winged auxiliaries, a
navy may literally invade hostile ter
ritory without landing man To its
air scouts the modern war vessel
must trust for safety from submar-
ines, and this will be more and more
thue as the rapid development of the
submerged destroyers goes forward.
In the army the aeroplane has won
a place as important as that Of cav
4 airy. Moving pictures OF the enemy.a
position are taken by air scouts and
STUDIED upon the screen by the stan
at headquarters.
4 United States Behind.
This Is the place OF the aerolpanes
in war, as the last eight months have
| clearly shown 1t. France went into
the war with an equipment OF 400
4 aeroplanes, Germany with i 900, RUS
STA with 500 and Great Britain with
4 400, and all OF them have been work
ing overtime to increase their aero
nautical equipment ever since the war
began.
AT the same date, the United States
government owned % aeroplanes, OF
which the navy had 12, and OF these
We're available for service.
4 That we have Jagged behind other
nations in The development Of aircraft
for naval and military purposes is not
a new fact, but it has recently attain
ed new and more widely apprecia-
ted significance. This is shown by
the naval appropriation bill recently
passed, in which Congress appro-
lpriates a million dollars for the CON
Instruction and maintenance OF aircraft
and, far more important for the fu-
ture of flying IN America, it provides
for an advisory committee which Will
enable all the departments OF the gov
eminent and the best scientific brains
of the United States 10 cooperate for
the development Of American air
craft.
1t is not only for national defense
that the manufacture of aeroplanes in
this country must be perfected and
promoted That aircraft have a great
industrial future in the opinion of ex-
perts who have studied their develop
ment during the last ten years 1t
was an American who invented the
heavier-than-air flying machine, and
Americans who designed the first
practicable models That the United
States. although outstripped in the de-
yelopment Of aircraft for use in war.
should regain her lead by first making
them the; wings Of peace as well, is to
Am orleans the most inspiring posi-
biiity in the future Of aeronautics.
BE Widely Utilized.
DR.. Charles ID. Walcott, secretary Of
the Smiths onian Institution, and a
distinguished scientist, who has fol-
lowed the development of heavier
4 than-air flying machines from the
first crude aeroplane constructed the
n Langley to the present day, told the
House committee on naval affairs that
If the aeroplane develops as fast in
the next ten years as it has in the last
q ten, 1T Will be widely utilized a decade
from now, both in sport and Industry.
He reminded the committee that ten
years ago the aeroplane was regarded
as foolish idea, and said that last
summer he had mounted hydro
plane for flight over Lake Cayuga
in New York with somewhat less mis-
/ giyings than he trusted himself to an
automobile eight years ago.
DIR. Walcott deliberately prophesies
4 that in a few years aeroplanes will lie
i La regular part Of the United States
iSN, slAI LLi6tL l1lGy VIII carry
4 passengers over the more rugged
parts of the continent where great
mountains and rivers make railroad
construction slow and difficult. He
4 believes that as soon as the mater
I5ials used in American aeroplanes
have been standardized, types at pop
ular prices will quickly be developed
and will play the part in pleasure and
business that8certain cheaper makes
ofsautolnobiles; do now
These forecasts may seem highly
i imaginative to the average American:
out when it is remembered that now.
several stabilizers are being perfected
(which will make it almost impossible
for an aeroplane to fall, and that com
sbustion engines have heendeveloped
In Europe to almost incredible per-
lection. so that they are absolutely
\ reliable, ita is realized that travel
4 through the air may come to be the
sfsafest- kind a
Committee Needed.
81 To directly control this rapid davei-
! opment, and to coordinate ali the
q forces that will take part IN it. is the
purpose OF the advisory committee
which is provided for in the last naval
appropriation bill The committee is
to consist OF two Representative each
Of the war and navy depratme nts, one
from the Snlit hsonian institution, one.
from the United States weather bu-
Ereau and one from the bureau Of stan
idards, together with at9least five adj
ditional persons who Will be chosen
for their expert knowledge Of aero