The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1918-07-11
BOMB DROPPING
FROM AIRs IS NOW DONE
BY MACHINERY
Missiles often Weigh 100 Pounds
Three.Quarters of a Ton of
Bombs Can Be Loosed

oompS Can 6e IooSeo
In Two Seconds.
London, July 11.-Bomb-dropping is
a branch of aerial warfare which by
its very nature affects civilian life
more than any other; yet little is
known about 1t by civilians. Bombs
in the early days Of the war were
dropped overheard by hand, but this
was soon discarded as the weight of
the bombs increased, and there arose
the need for releasing them easily
while the bomb dropper was scrutin-
izing his target.
British bombing machines now
carry, say, sixteen bombs, weighing
perhaps 1O0-weight each-as heavy
very often, as the man who drops
them. The bomb-dropper is some
times eight or more feet from his
bombs, which he often never sees.
He kneels in his small cockpit" on
the extreme nose of the machine, a
bomb sight" in front of him-a
wooden lever at his side. With that
wooden lever he can release his three.
quarters of ton Of bombs In two
seconds If he wishes to, or he can
drop them slowly one by one, across
the factory or aerdrome which 1t Is
his duty to lombard. 1t will be seen
that with his faculties absorbed In
obtaining the exact range with the
bomb sight, directing the pilots steer.
ing to the right or left with his hand
in order to cross exactly over the
objective, the actual releasing Of the
bombs must be as simple and as easy
as possible.
Bombs are usually dropped in a
line, one after another, so as to In.
sure greater proportiin falling up
on the objective. II all are released
at once there is a danger that hey
all may fall slightly short of or be-
yond the objective. On moonlight
nights the visibility is SO good that
not only can the bomber see the
flash of his bursting bombs, but he
can also distinctly see afterwards the
clouds of smoke caused by each, and
can by this check his results.
Bombs can, If necessary, be drop
ped "safe"-so that they will not ex-
plode even II they strike the ground
with great force. This is made pos
sible by a steel safety pin which has
to be drawn out before the bomb be-
comes live"
Aerial torpedoes are not used. The
German bombs, being fish-shaped, and
in some instances being very long,
have the appearance of torpedoes.
Thus have risen the legends of the
"torpedoes" being fired into one part
Of London, which the machine Is
over another This is not so. These
Lombs are dropped in the same way
as the others.
Various fuses are fitted on bombs
ior different uses. II they are intemi-
ed to kill men an instantaneous fuse
is used so that the bomb explodes i'm
mediately on touching the ground,
and the splinters scatter over a wide
area like shrapnel. If they are in.
tended to damage buildings delay
fuse" is fitted so that the bomb ex.
plodes certain fraction Of time after
the impact. This allows the bomb to
penetrate inside the building before
bursting, and so the destruction is
much greater. Similarly delay fuses
are used for dropping on submarines,
for even II the submarine itself is
not struck the enormous displace-
ment Of the water may save it in, or
jar its plates so much that they let
In uvafar and nouOa a. 20 otnar