Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-03
ADMIRAL PEARY SAYS
GERMAN AIR RAIDERS
COULD SKATER
THIS CITY
AN INTERVIEW WITH AID.
MIRAL PEARY

| An arplane attack on Philadelphia? How
| under heaven could you stop it?
| Philadelphia like every other coast city
| or Importance in the United States, could
| offer no resistance now.
| DO you realize that an airplane. launched
| from vessel 100 miles at sea, could reach
| Philadelphia within an hour drop half a
| ton of modern explosives. and get back to
| her ship without anything in the world but
| an accident to stop her?
Five pounds will destroy a torpedoboat I.
Three hundred pounds will send the largest
battleshp to the bottom. Five hundred
pounds. dropped into city canyon, bounded
by close-huddled skyscrapers. would ruin
the show buildings Of fairly large city
There are airplanes built at the present
| time capable of travelling 100 miles an
hour. Battlepanes can make 100 mics with
ease
DEATH AND DESTRUCTION RAINED
FROM THE SKY
This is what an organized fleet of air.
planes could do:
1t could come in at the most leisureIy
speed possible to airplanes 1t could soar
over the city at a low elevaton-loWer
than would be possible in any importan mt
city in Europe. Plane after plane could
pick out its objective point, drop its ex-
plosives, and retreat. AS airpanes usually
travel in fleets of twelve. you might count
ever invented by man falling into your city
within an hour
An organized fleet of airplanes could de-
stroy the navy yard, and two arsenals, at
Gray's Ferry and at Frankford. II could
smash the ganglion of connecting RAILWAYS
at West Philadelphia station. and cut Off
traffic to every point of the interior. And
by dropping more explosives, it might SO
obstruct the channel of the Delaware River
that ships would be unable to make their
way in and out. TO and from the sea.
The havoc that would be wrought among
the office buildings and the entire down.
town district can be easily imagined The
business section of the city would afford
the easiest mark and would. of course. be
one of the objectives of any attack !
SUBMARINE COULD LOOSE THE
AERIAL SCOURGE
How would an airplane get in here from;
the sea?
You probably have seen them for YOUR
selves: have seen recent moving u ctures
of ship at SalonilSi which carried not
only twelve a,rplanes, but a daigible as
we'll Alncst any tramp steamer. OF sum
cient size. could be so fitted
This, however, n by no means the worst
1t Is now reported, upon good authority.
that the German Government has con-
structed ten submarines of large size for the
special carrying of airplanes. These are
TO serve as mobile floating bases. from
which the planes may be sent out In reg,.
lar battle formation. against cities they
may des gn to attack
You remember how quietly the Deu,sch.
land and the German raiders came into
American ports. Think, then. how easily
one OF these ships could slip into some SEQ.
board cove and. within five hours after
coming to the surface. bring down upon
some proud city an amount of destructIon
ana oamage which years would NOT he
competent to repair.
You may remember. how last spr,n~
stephen McGordon. Of the Curtiss xsra.
naytleal school q Newporl News. nav Win
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