The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-02-16
WIN WAR IN AIR,
PLEA OF EXPERTS
British Authorities Are Impressed
by Aviation Program of the
United States.
WOULD RAID GERMAN TOWNS
Construction Of Giant Fleets Of Air
planes Regarded as Best Means
Of Bringing Conflict
to End
BY JOHN LLOYD BALoERsToN.

BY JOHN LLOYD BALDERSToN.
Copyright. 1917, by the Mcclure Newspa-
per Syndicatel
LOndon.-One morning not long ago,
/ stood on the Thames embankment
and looked upwards at the most Won
derful sight that this venerable cap
ital has ever beheld. The whole sky
seemed filled with almost mOtionleSs
black insects. as though somebody in
the upper regions had let down a can
Opy of dragon flies. There was a con
| tinuous thudding Of distant guns, va
ried by sharp explosions from those
nearer, and the deeper rumble Of the
exploding bombs, as much noise alto
| gether as during a sharp "Strafe' on
the battle front in France.
1t all seemed like a revelation Of 4
new and more terrible warfare. The
German machines. whose black crosses
could see plainly with my glasses,
scattered to escape the bursting black
balls of shrapnel. after coming like
flock of ducks in triangle formation,
but then they seemed to ignore the
puny efforts of the little men on the
ground to harm them, as a proud eagle
soaring above q mountain top would
disdain boy in the valley below pop
ping at him with a squirrel gun.
Some of my impressions were quite
false. 1t is now known that the raiders
were Gotha planes nearly three times
as large as the ordinary airplane, IS
feet long and 40 wide, and their enor-
nous size fooled all lay OnlookerS as
to their height. / thought them not
more than 1000 feet up, and guesses
Of 1000 and 5000 feet were common.
They never came lower than 1900
feet. and most Of the time were three
miles high, and travelling at 10 to ~
miles an hour. though to the surprised
and indignant crowds below they seem
ed almost standing still.
What Future May Bring.
But one fact stands out clear. II
90 airplanes. each capable of carry
ing IA bombs, can come to London
and get back TO Belgium with loss OF
one-seventh of their number, there is
no reason why 30 planes and later =
200 cannot at some future time repeat
the tourney. The bombs used in the
raids of today on cities by the Ger
mans are comparatively harmless
they are not intended for killing peO'
pie in streets, or for firing wooden
houses, but for work against defenSes
; ammunition dumps, guns, where q
maximum exploding power in limited
space is needed.
There are other bombs that can ant
will be made, bombs scattering blaz
! ing pieces of metal for hundreds O
! yards, bombs whirling shrapnel tina
will kill any living thing not under GOV
, er for q great distance from the burst
!. ing point.
! Standing behind me was woman
e perhaps a little historical. She looked
= for sometime at the sky full Of enc
i mics, whose apparently insolvent de
! liberation so angered the crowds
r There were some British airmen up b.
q this time. but those she could not dis
tinguish from the German. She eS
claimed angrily, where are all thOs
airplanes the Americans said they wer
:. going to send over here?" Everybod
laughed. but the question set me think
ing, and this story is the result.
England has been informed by cabl
that Washington proposes TO build -
I Go5 airplaneS and send them TO FL
= rope. Nothing since the reSistratio
of ten million Americans for the arm
y has so impressed opinion in London.
Lesson of Recent Raids.
One great lesson taught by receI
air raids IS that academic debate abol
the ethics of killing women and Chi
dren under the name of "reprisalS
must stop. The air situation has grow
too serious. When bombarding &c
man communications and German b
let's In the rear Of the lines Frent
gunners know they often kill Fren'
civilians, but they cannot stop shoe
ing.
Hitherto it has been said that
drop bombs on German towns Will
stop the Germans from raiding Rr
ish and French cities, and will inhi
q moral stigma on the allied arms. II
EXPERTS now consider that the time h
come to put In a word. and they SO
"The question of killing women a.
children has nothing to do with I
matter. The Germans began this FOL
of fighting. They are forcing US
keep airplanes and anti-aircraft gu
at home. To make an effective
tense we must tie up here many tim
as much fighting material as they Sc
on their raids. We are not compete
for strictly military reasons, to for
them to keep many air squadrons
Germany so that some of them c
reach any one of the hundred plat
that our squadrons may choose to RI
and to arm each of their hundreds
vulnerable points with guns.
Unless we do this, their raiding
lev will give them an enormous m
tary advantage. If we begin raidi
ourselves, the advantage they gain
tieing up our meE. planes and 81
in England will be counter-balanced
the men, planes and guns we can ma
@hop, rio I'M in Germany And WI