The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-06-29
WOULD STATION 1000 AIRCRAFT
 ON THE BORDER
Keen Observer Declares One Machine Is Worth 1000
 Men for Warfare.

ESCey or PrOV1dence, formerly or w a. terbury, where he was employed in the art department of the American for time, is a member of the aviation corps of the Rhode Island contingent of the National Guard. He is a keen Observ- CT, ard his comTne nts on the war situ- ation from an aviator's point of view are exceedingly interesting He is the official photographer of the Providence Tribune, and is a busy man these days. He writes to g. friend in Waterbury, under the date of June 25, as follows:
 Events are crowding themselves up- on me so fast that "A hours does not seem to be long enough to constitute day. For the last two weeks have been on the jump and for the past week l have put in 19 hours every day of the hardest work have ever been called upon to do. I covered Hughes the two days he was here at Brown and the next day was assigned to the military camp at Quonsit Point. Last night managed to get home and sleep in a real bed for a change and enjoyed a good bath this morning, no doubt the last I will see for a week; hope to get in another good nights rest tonight and then for another grind of a week, hope for the boys sake and their parents that it, will be longer, but for mine I trust it will end Wednesday. Have orders to pho tograph every man in camp and get his address, as we'll writing the special-stuff, so you can realize have had little time to write anyone.
 Mexico, like ourselves, has no anti aircraft guns and the flying over the border is fairly safe : if man keeps up over 2,0O0 feet. With pair of binoculars the observer can very easily pick out the enemy and either drop his explosives, thereby dispersing the troops or annihilating them or fly back hi -nf1 f1-11n nh tographic map of their positions to his superior officer. This done he may take a speedfer machine, swing a1oft and direct the heavy gun fire, it is impossible for the, gunners to see 20 miles away and hit the object of their aim One can readily understand how enc aeroplane, manned with a pilot and an observer, can do the work of thousand men, with but little risk and a few minutes work. In the old days this scout work was done by the cavalry at the risk of being ambushed In fact, had there been an aeroplane at Carrizs4l the other day, there never could have been the treachery played upon our boys that occurred. It must have been known at Washington that sooner or later we would have trouble with the country south of us, and it seems strange they have waited so long to get prepared. Now the time has arrived when this country needs pilots and where are they?
 There are a few Sportsmen in the country who own their machines and will no doubt come forward with them in aid of the government but will not be so prompt in giving their services. With all due respect to these gentle men I say this, because some have families depending upon them or their physical condition will not pass the army qualifications, therefore the corps of aviators will have to be drawn from the officers of the army, navy and the militia. Now they are willing in their emergency, to teach any one who is willing to enter-this branch of the service and can pass the physical test
 (which, by the way, is a severe one) This should have been done year ago, as you cannot teach the art of flying over night or in a month. With but
 10 machines at Pensacola in commis- sion at one time, one may discern how long it IS going to take to get enough pilots to fly the latest type machines
 which are changing so often in de- sign tl'at it is like changing from driving a Ford to a Rclls-R oyce. How ever, most makers are usig the "Dep' control, which is fast be coming uni- versa1 There are other schools throughout the country. mostly pri- Vately owned, W whicl so far have not shown their willingness to teach this art gratis and the government hasn't shown it's intention of paying for the tuition to teach those interested, which has found us unprepared in this emer-
 gency.
 There is need of 1000 machines on the border for scout duty as we'll as for carrying explosives and supplies. There 1 should be three machines to a pilot In case one motor gives out, the other
 two will be in commission and can be 1 used at 9 moments notice, for this is
 where speed counts above evcrything ?
 else. A few 1nolneTts may turn .feat
 into victory, or may save thousands oc lives.
 This is the beginning no one knows
 what may happen in the next few
 weeks, Japan has formed an alliance
 with Russia, and during our controver-
 sy with Germany she forced Congress to put through bill that was a bitter
 pill for some of the western states, and there is no telling what she will try
 the next time when this conflict is on l in earnest below the Rio Grande. One 1 thousand flying machines is a very | conservative number to be called into
 use if any other nation desires to take advantage of this opportunity. The Panama Canal is at the mercy of an lup-to-date nation which is equipped with as many, aeroplanes as our race of brown men on the Pacific to-day With very nearly every regular soldier and ni1itiaman on the border, where
 in the history of the nation have we been so weak, so absolutely unable to keep out invasion as we are al this present writing? With 5O aero planes Japan could anchor 25 miles outside of the Panama Canal and with. in 20 minutes could be flying over the tgreat locks and destroy the entire ca nal, blocking our Atlantic fleet from going through to assist the Pacific squadron. This being accomplished | it would be easy task to drive the Pacific squadron off or to the bottom as Japan would outnumber ours two tC one. Knowing the bulk of our arny to be in Mexico, she would have little fear in landing her troops anywhere
 along the western coast she chose. Al : fha SI in he