The Washington herald., 1917-04-06
Army and Navy News
Best service Column in City.

will become one of the most important OF
this countrys instruments of defense
Fleets of aircraft, some of which are
already in operation and others under
construction. will form a wartime patrol
of our coasts and our borders. Although
the Importance of the aeroplane in ouI
defensive system has long been recogniz-
ed by military and naval leaders. up till
this time no effort has been made to
study the atmospheric conditions which
have so great an effect on the successful
operation of these mahcines.
A thorough study Of the atmosphere
over this continent and its adjacent
waters and the drafting of a set of
accurate charts for our aviators has been
recommended to the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics by DIR. Charles
D. Walcott, member of the committee
and secretary of the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition
"At present" DR.. walcott said yester-
day. practically nothing is known of the
movements of the fluid in which shortly
thousands of aircraft representing mil
lions of dollars in investment. will be
floating, and. what is far more important.
they will be operated by thousands of
our finest specially trained young men,"
Astrological stations should be i'm
mediately established in conjunction with
military training stations for aviators,
DR.. Walcott believes. The plans should
include, through cooperation of the
Weather Bureau, the establishment Of ad-
ditional stations for observing, measuring
and investigating atmospheric phenomena
in the aid of aeronautics. not only at the
surface of the earth, but at different ele-
vations up to 10000 feet.
How the New England farmer can ef-
feet agricultural preparedness for war is
pointed out in a statement issued by the
committee of the New England Fedora
tion for Rural Progress appointed to for
mulate plans for utilizing the federation
in solving the food question in case of
war.
The gist of the committees advice to
the farmer is to leave nothing undone till
tomorrow that can be done today; to
utilize every moment Of the present in
getting farm implements in condition for
work: to get animals in the best of shape
for the hardest kind of labor, SO that no
time need be lost when the time comes
to use them and to systematize the plant
ing and growing of crops.
In a statement the committee SAYS:
THE outbreak of war will mean the
speeding up of those Industries making
war munitions. This, together with the
number of men taken to recruit an army
will produce a severe shortage of farm
labor. Every day between now and the
time which the land is fit for working
should be utilized by farmers in overhaul
ing and repairing all farm machinery.
harnesses and equipment of all kinds,
so that not a single hour will be lost
when the machines and equipments are
needed In tho fold
The military atmosphere has enveloped
Ohio State University. Co-eds, wearing
khaki-colored coats, are seen daily on
the campus. Khaki uniforms are worn
by the cadet officers. and even the janl-
tors are to have two khaki uniforms
each, with caps to match. The 1000 cadets
in the two regiments are to wear khaki
beginning next fall.
The First Illinois Cavalry Is better
equipped. so far as machine guns go,
than any other cavalry regiment. regular
or militia. in the United States.
So declare inspecting officers of the reg
ular army. When the regiment was sent
to the border last year it didn't have a
single machine gun. The government
didn't have any to supply it, and factories
couldn't furnish them because their en-
tire output had been contracted for by
foreign governments The State Depart
ment declined to ask one of the allied
governments to permit some of the guns
to go to the Illinois troopers.
After the regiment had arrived on the
border one of the firearms companies
found it had five guns not spoken for,
and shipped them to Brownsville. Pa
triotic citizens in Chicago paid for them.
Then 1t was discovered the standard army
ammunition would not fit the guns and
the purchasers also laid in a supply of
shells for them.
Then the government was asked to SUD-
ply mules to pack the guns, None was
forthcoming and the officers Of the regi-
unent. purchased automobiles to take the
guns from place to place. Since the re-
turn home the guns have been made over
to fire army ammunition.
AS a result the Illinois cavalry finds it.
self in the unique position of being near
ly as we'll equipped as similar bodies in
Europe and far better than any other
organization in the United