The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-06-23
"YANkEEP PUNCH"
in AIR FLEETS
WILL WIN WAR
General Squier Wants Over
whelming Force to In
undate Germans

VdSiiIlSI Ion, y uQo heterogeneous
and brigades of winged cavalry
sweeping across the German lines
| and inundating the German forces
| under terrific storms of leaden hail.
is the way in which Brig-Gen. George
| o. Squier, head of the American
Army Aviation Service, would put the
Yankee punch into the war.
He would do it, he said today, by
such an overwhelming force Of air.
German air service to live.
Commenting on the $600,000,000
aeroplane building programme that
| is to be laid before Congress by the
| Council of National Defense, Gen.
Squier said:
"By the Yankee ~unch' I mean
a Enthusiastically American way OF
working. to get big results. We have
a reputation of looking at old things
from a new angle, and there. is no
reason why the American army, when
| it takes the field should not live up
to what they stand for. The field of
glory for us will be in the air, send
ing our myriads Of aeroplanes over
the German lines to teach Germany
that we have come to win.
A6FOplan0S Logical F1&nUerS
.'Aeroplanes are the logical fight
! ing machines for Americans, because
!! we are an imaginative people, and
when our Imagination strikes fire
nothing can stop US. We are impa-
tient of p1odding methods, a nation
of individualists. We are willing to
send our hundreds of thousands to
the front if needs be to dig holes in
the soil for interminable months, but
we don't get enthusiastic over the
idea. We want something that APP
peals. to our knack for inventing
things. for getting over obstacles In
an original way. And the air way
lis our way.
"It might be of interest to point
out that all of the picturesque fea-
lures in the matter of invention and
| innovations Of a startlingly modern
nature have been, up to now, adver-
/ tised exclusively by the German side
of the European argument. The talk
| OF coming Zeppelin raids, of artillery
ponderously magnificent, of schools
1 of U-boats, was spread through Ger
many. Every housewife, every butch.
ers' boy in Germany impatientl3
awaited the results of the Kaiser''s
sensational invention. And wheI
Count Zeppelin's monsters went aftel
England with bombs while Big Der
thas' began dropping unbelievable 81
gantic shells into Belgium, it was {
signal for the German spirit to 81
wild with patriotism.
'eThe U-boats were the next sen
sation for popular consumption, and
whatever their effect on Germany
beloved freedom of the seas the.
have had their slim ulating effect up
on the Teutonic psychology. The,
j helped Prussia in a press agent way
Zeppelins, super-cannon, u-boats
have furnished the German punch.
4 "The' American punch must be
given through our aerop1anes.
Doesn't Doubt Yankee Nerve
81 haven't the slightest doubt o
1.-THE Yankees nerve and ability to en-
dure any hardship as well as-per
haps better than-the citizens Of an,
other country. But what I am con
isidering is how to give American
Qualities to our brothers in arms a
their maximum efficiency.
The answer gained is aeropIane
i and yet more aeroplanes. Fever.
4 young American worthy of nam
would be keen to join our flynn
} army The game ideally suits our ma
. tional temperament With The wealtl
we can devote and QUIZ unqualified
facilities for manufacturing there
no reason in the world. why W
} should not be able to produce. in
4 comparatively short space Of time
, an overwhelming aerial fleet.
! IAN army in the air, regiments an
brigades Of winged cayarry, MOUNTS
on gas driven horses, could blind tn
eyes of Germany until her gunnert
L.. ~ ron
would be put out of business by tn
Allied artillery.
ssKnock Out Germany's Eyes"
.PThe modern type of land war i
dependent upon two things above al
, others; aviation and artillery. The
are cooperating elements in a fight
ing army, and against an enemy
, flying machine is terror and a men
ace to big guns That aeroplanes ar
positively essential for directing ar
; tillery fire Is an axiom among mill
!, tary men who have seen action il
,, the sort of battles being fought o.
, the Western front.
"The magnificently obvious thing
then, is to knock out Germany's eye
, by thrust through the air. But m
: idea would be something vastly lar
ger than thrust. An inundation o
IaeroplaneS would peter express IN
idea in It's magnitude. Sweep tn
Germans from the sky, blind : tn
Prussian cannons and the time woull
; be ripe to release an enormous flocl
:, of flying fighters to raid and destro
military camps, ammunition depots
military establishment of all kinds
The firing upon troops from machin
; guns from aeroplanes is becoming
!, commoner and more accurate. One
given an upper hand the flying ma
chimes become frightful engines Q
destruction.
sThe greater the air fleet the safe
it becomes to the aviator connecte,
with it, and the more deac.y TO e.,
:, enemy to which it is sent,
Victory Cheap at $500, OO0,OO0
six hundred million dollars look
, like a lot of money. Considered i
the terms of winning the war, it /
positive bargain. England is spend
ing $39,000,000 a day for her shar
, in the war. At such rate per der
] it would take something like fort
night to more than pay for the al
: fleet which we arc planning to buile
The idea is so vast that it would rea
like the dream Of an old fashione