The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-08-26

| The war abroad has not only
developed great new hghttng ma
chimes, Ike the aeroplane. the ar
II mored au tomobile and the submarine.
but It has perfected number OF
smaller weapons which. in them
selves, are quite as important as the
Il big epochal arms which have revolu-
tfontzed warfare and made modern
war SO entirely different from the
conflicts Of fifty or even fifteen years
.lngo. Every one of these smaller
Ithunderbo1ts Of Mars is important In
| It's particular sphere and. as there
are many of these lesser weapons
which are being used Tor the nrst
time in this war. the United states
has taken particular pains to study
them and estimate the effect they VIII
have upon future conflicts. Full re-
ports upon these sce1laneous- wea-
pons. made by Uncle Sans military
observers, are now on file at the army
war college at Washington.
For example: there is one addition
to tie science of aviation which has
been found most important IN the
direction OF air-scouts during the pre-
sent war. This is system Of war
beacons," lighthouses Tor airshtps.
which literally mark the way OF the
aeroplane and the dirtgible at night
Throw Bombs VerticalIy.
These beacons are OF three kinds;
the fash. the fixed and the revolv-
.ng; but instead of operating horizon
tally as do lighthouse. the beacons
throw of pre-arransed systems OF
signals, show the aeronaut exactly
where he is Germany has more than
a score OF these beacons which en-
able her air scouts to steer straight
course at night and proceed undetect-
ed to the point Of reconnaissance.
without exposing themselves to OBJ
seryation. One of these nfght-lights.
the Weimer beacon, has no less than
81, 100000 candle power behind It's
huge revolving dashltght situated on
top of the military aerodrome.
to aviation is the system OF landing
lights now in use aboard which, up to
the present time, have not been en-
ployed on this side OF the Atlantic
The type of 1anding-lights agreed
upon as the most desirable are I'M
bedded In the ground and. protected
by a large sheet or Plate OF very
thick glass upon which the aircraft
may land directly and be brought to
a full stop. In the center OF the land
!; ing base is a very strong white light
which burns all the time as guide
to the aviator where to land. Then,
| in order to signal the direction of
the wind near the earth-for many
accidents in landing are caused by
| air currents which differ In direction
from those of the upper regions-
four other lights, red In color, are
placed one at each corner of the land
ing stage. These are connected with
a weather yane about fifty feet high
in such manner that they are au-
Dramatically extinguished and lighted
according to the veering or the wind.
F'o,. example. If the wind Is from the
southwest, the south and west red
lights will be burning. while the
north and east lights will be ext1n-
guished. A sudden shift OF the VINO
to the west will cause all the lights
except the one at that corner to pc
extfnguished, and so on. In the event
that there is no apprec1able wind
near the earth all the lights are turn
ed off and only the white center light
is left burning. BY this simple means
the air pilot ia at all times enabled
to tell the exact direction OF the vino
near the earth and to know how ne
should steer to make q clean LANDING
in case he wishes to descend.
New Kinds of Bombs.
The present war has also effected
a number of important strides IN .ne
art of bomb-dropping from aero
planes and dirigibles and many I'M
provements upon the bombs them
selves. The chief objection to the
type of bomb used prior to the COM
mencement OF the war was that II
exploded upon contact and therefore
produced but little effect upon con-
crete foundations or similar hard
substances. Hand grenades would
nave been almost as effective as the
old style air bombs.
But practically all the nations now
an gagged in the war are using bomb
which is partly the invention OF an
American army officer. and which first
buries itself In the ground and then
exp1odes. The resultant enect Is