The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-23
THE SUBMARINE AND
 AEROPLANE IN WAR
ANNA APSTEIN

BubInarine and the aeroplane. It is ni6cult to judge which of these two important factors will go furthest in Determining the outcome of the great Sentimental conflict but 1t is true that they will play a very important part @ bringing about the end.
 Ae saxnbarine is considered, gen. kSaf1y, a modern invention, but the sssa is as ancient, perhaps as the Ma rsonian phalanx. This idea was arst practically carried out. three hundred years ago. by Cornelius Van prebels who has been called the father of the submarine He punt wooden ship and covered It enurely with greased leather to render it wa ker-tight, and this was the first sub- marine. But no records show that was ever used in warfare and 1t was left for the Americans to really put Inc submarines into practice. which vas done during our great Revolu- Honary War in 1T75.
 The inventor of this submarine was hn American named David Bushnell, It was a turtle-shaped affair propel- led by a pair of oars on a system sim lar to that of Drebers. By the ad- mission of water, the boat was sub- merged, the one operator pumping lhe water out as required
 For military purposes. Bushnell karried a bomb filled with a charge bf gunpowder. The idea was to af- k1x the bomb. from under the water, to khe hull of some British ship and all low it to explode by the means of 2 Eime-fuse.
 The first attack was made on the British Warship, Eagle, but this war ship proved to be copper-bottomed and it was impossible to fix the tor hoedo which was carried down stream and eventually exploded
 The next landmark was the sub marine built by Robert Fulton in n which nlaCa6 at the dis kosaI of the French government and with this 8 hulk was actually blown up-
 Tn the Cri1nean War various pro- 5ects for submarines and experiment. al boats were produced, but 1t was mot until the American Civil War that the submarine was actually used.
 The man who did most to further the work now, was an American i'm ventor named Holland. Tn New York harbor he performed a series of what were then. startling evolutions Gn a one man craft of hta own design, and from his boat the modern submarine evolved.
 But there was much left to be i'm proved upon. and these improve 1nents have entered into the present war. Now no blockade can hold these vessels in harbor. no skill or bravery can counteract their attack when once they are within striking fGlSLdnCS. A S4nSl0 SuOnaE110 cL1n1Q a fleet is like a fox in a. poultry yard, destroying victim after victim. for the only defense against one of these ships is high speed its one vulnerable spot being. slowness.
 The Submarine is also to fire direct because it is invisible, and the expIo- fsive charge. two hundred pounds of wet gun cotton can rip through one mile of water in a. little over sixty seconds after being discharged. This Ia = a. -
 tthe front of. a small house in an un- protected hull of a big batt1eship. Thus it is seen what an important Epart the submarine plays in this great war.
 The question,now arises, which is more importane. the submarine or the Iaerop1ant In the great Continental struggle now raging? The aeropIane is more modern an invention, but are yet in state of uncertainty whether IL ds the complement of the submarine or the antidote.i Nothing has been proven either way. but 1t is Ssafe to say t1aEApre-war expectations las to the value of the aeroplane, at sea have not yet been fulfilled.
 On lond, aerop1anes have done a Icerfain an1ount of damage but much Hess than had been anticipated before 1the war Scouting has proved to be its chiefs work and given good eondi- Itions, aAgreatNdeale of information can ADe S1ean9Q O1 EnS enGTQyS d1SpOSi- Itions particularly during the earlier phases Of a campaign, when the ttroops are in close formation
 If the observers are carefully train fed. so as not to be deceived by the senemy9s eubterfuges. undertaken sole fly for this purpose, an aeropIane fly ling four .fhousand feet above the en- Iemy should be able to bring in infor- sTnaEon, ten times faster and more ac- Iourate1y than a division of cavalry Imight normally obtain after days Ihghting.
 Acting in fhis capacity the aero lp1ane can easily find the vulnerable lsRets in an army, and this has been lthe constant object of all aviators t6ervingf their country. There is noth- iteF and, lowering over battlefield. like an immense bird. he can easily lsend a message to the officers of his foattery concerning the battle.
 Aercp1anes act as eyes to the big fSiege guns and they have more than doubled the efficiency, of gun firing.
 The night work of artillery depends Fa1nost entirely these great birds invented by man. On discovering the location of the enemy, the aeroplane Eor flaming torches thus indicating the leneny's position and the artiIIer1 proceeds with it's word
 Together with these advantages the faeroplane is quite an economical in vestnent- The cost of a, single shot from a. fourteen inch gun will pay for the entire building of an aero plant which is capable of speeding al ninety miles an hour, remaining il the air for hours at a time and hyjns by night as well as by day.
 Another important work of the aeropIane that has been brought ou during this war is bomb dropping Just imagine beautiful city. sus, pecting nothing of a great disaster iS1ddenIy plunged into ruins because c bomb has been dropped almost fror out of the clouds.
 By the invention of both the sub. marine and the aerop1ane the geo.