Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-29
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

The war abroad has not only devel-
oped great new fighting machines. like
the aeroplane, the armored automobile
and the submarine, but it has perfected
number of smaller wee pons which, in
themselves, are quite as important as
the big epochal arms which have revo-
lutionized warfare and made modern
war so entirely different from the con-
flicts of fifty or even fifteen years ago.
Every one of these smaller thunder
bolts of Mars is important in its par
ticular sphere and, as there are many
of these lesser weapons which are be-
ing used for the first time in this war,
the United States has taken particular
pains to study them and estimate the
effect they will have upon future con-
fiicts Full reports upon these miscel-
laneous weapons, made by Uncle sam s
military observers, are now on file at
the Army War College at Washington.
For example, there is one addition to
the science of aviation which has been
found most impor-
Beacon Lights tant in the direction
of air scouts during
1oI dlTsAAps. the pre- sent war.
This is system of war beacons,
lighthouses for airships which literal
" mark the way of the aeropiane and
the dirigible at night.
These beacons are of three kinds, the
flash, the fixed and the revolving; but
instead of operating horizontally as do
htt fh hel throw
beams vertically into the clouds and,
by means of prearranged systems OF
signals. show the aeronaut exactly
where he is. Germany has more than
a score of these beacons, which enable
her air scouts to steer straight course
at night and proceed undetected to the
point of reconnaissance without expos
ing themselves to observation one or
these night lights, the Weimar beacon,
has no less than 21,20O.O0O candle pow
err behind it's huge revolving f1ashlight
situated atop the military aerodome
Another improvement with respect to
aviation is the system of landing lights
now in use abroad. which, up to the
present time. have not been employed
on this side of the Atlantic.
The type of landing lights agreed
upon as the most desirable are imbed-
ded in the ground
Landing Lights; and protected By a
nv. go large sheet or plate
"1Au oduSeS. of very thick glass
upon which the aircraft may land di-
rectly and be brought to full stop.
In the center of the landing base is Il
very strong white light, which burns
all the time as a guide to the aviator
har tn Ian ii n
nal 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 col
or, are placed one at each corner of
the landing stage. These are connected
with a weather vare about fifty feet
high, in such a manner that they are
extinguished and lighted
For example, if the wind is from the
the south and west red
lights will be burning. while the north
and east lights will be extinguished.
will cause all the lights except the one
at that corner to be extinguished. and
so on. In the event that there is no
wind near the earth, all |
the lights are turned off. and only the
white center light Is left burning. BY |
this simple means the air pilot is at
all times enabled to tell the exact di- |
rection of the wind near the earth and |
to know how he should steer to make !,
a clean landing in case he wishes to !
descend. |
The present war also has effected a |
number of important strides in the art |
Of bomb dropping |
Bomb Dropping from aeroplanes
Now Science. many improS 1
ments upon the bombs themselves. The |
chief objection to the type of bomb |
used prior to the commencement of
the war was that it exploded upon con-
tact, and therefore produced but little !
effect upon concrete foundations or !
similar hard substances. Hand gren-
AIDES would have been almost as effec-
tive as the old style air bombs.
But practically all the nations now
engaged in the war are using a bomb
which is partly the invention of an
American army officer, and which first
buries itself in the ground and then ex-
plodes The resultant effect Is similar
TO that of a sunken mine, and the dam
age, is far greater than that OF the old
type contact bomb.
Each of these bombs weighs about
eighteen pounds and is fitted with
steering vanes to insure it's steady
course through space and make GER
tain that it strikes head-on. They are
dropped from . specially constructed
ana HES thu MARKS.