The Nome daily nugget., 1915-09-02

Lusltanla at the time of her sinking
 loday d navy without aeriaI eyes IS about as well able to take care oi ltseIf as is a submarine without it's periscope. All army without aerial scouts can be eorraied and slaughtered ike d herd of sheep.
 The great lesson of the war so far Is that today commander in chief, to nave any chance of victory at all, must nfst obtain command Of the air. let if the call of war sounded to- morrow in the United States 1t would find us in this amazing and appalling situation-that our great navy, of which We have so much reason to be proud. and our little but valiant army, second. man to man, to none in the world, would be as blind men pitted against men with sight. For We have no air forces.
 When the war began, Germany. 1t is believed, had at least 1000 aero planes ready to take the field. France l had some 600. If the clarion call for defense rang out in the morning, how many flying machines could this coun- try muster before night? Not enough in the entire country to protect even New York City. It is the incredible fact that this great land, though the birthplace of the flying machine, could not count upon 100 aeroplanes all told, and probably not more than thirty would be of service in the work of national defense.
 The United States navy has but seven machines, the army only dozen. Most of them are old. and though good enough for purposes of instruction, are little capable now of much use in ac ltual war Builders could send about half a dozen which they keep on hand for demonstrations.
 Of the privately owned machines, most of which belong to members of the Aero Club of America the majority are light, old models. and not more perhaps than ten of them could keep the air for as long as an hour, so their usefulness in reconnaissance work would be limited.
 Probably not more than a score of Ireally suitable machinees could be Hound available to he.nation. The best of them would be the four just built for members of the Aero club-Vincent Astor. Harry Payne Whitney. Robert IGlendenning, and Clarke Thomson These are flying boats and far and Iaway more powerful than anything the navy possesses
 But none of these machines are any where near the stations where they would be needed in the hour of danger lThe army's aeros are away at Browns = vile. sTex.. and San Diego. Cal The navy's are at Pensacola, Fla.
 Not a single machine IS at Governors Island to help guard New York City. Consequently. this city, with all it's lteeming population and its wealth, the gateway to the richest land in the world. is absolutely at the mercy of the next overseas rowdy who chooses to toss his character to the winds and undertake to achieve his purpose with his sword
 Our naval and military forces should be put upon a modern aerial footing without another moment of unneces sary delay. Our militia should be equipped and trained and a reserve of practiced pilots should be formed to be drawn upon in case of emergency.
 I conceive there are three types of opinion prevalent at this moment in the Icountry. On the one hand few would extreme We have a larger number who assert that freedom from aggression is to be had by parleying for it. But neither of these represents the people of America.
 The great body of Americans desire to be permitted to live peacefully. at tending strictly to their own affairs, under the established usages of inter- national law.
 But to be in a position to maintain our rights We must not neglect to adopt the means while We still have the op- portunity to do so. Our lack of aero planes, together with the lack of skilled pilots and observers which is the nat ural consequence. constitutes a grave danger, an the country should be aroused to it.
 Denied aeroplanes, our coast defenses ] as well as our ships are no longer mod