Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-10-20

who are following him should have that effect.
OF course it Ia not possible for any heavier
than air machine at present made to fly 5000
miles without STOP though Germany claimed
when the war ended to have perfected the
dirig7bIs to such an extent that it could cross
the Atlantic and return in a single trip. We
know now, however. II We did not know be-
fore, that sustained fight for stretches OF thou
sands of miles in reasonable safety is only
question of mechanical development which is
inevitable in the next few years. Considering
how new navigation of the air is 10 man the
strides already made have been marvellous
That fact was strikingly impressed upon every
one who has been privileged to see the big
planes swooping down from the clouds into the
Rock Island flying field and tearing away again
at speed which lost them to view in period
Of few brief seconds.
Man has been travelling on the ground for
a good many thousands OF years and he has
been navigating the seas as long as written
history records his doings. Long ago he came
to consider himself perfectly a. home on the
water In the air however. he is still virtually
a stranger He is just learning the third d.
mension of locomotion. 1t has been only half
a generation since he first was able to move
through the air to a given objective. Having
ACCOMPLISHED SO much in so short time the
possibilities for the future appear to be with
out limit.
In the recent war the world was given just
a hint OF the damage that airships, used for
the purposes Of destruction, are capable of
doing The high explosives and the machine
guns they carried were dreadful in their exc
cuton, but science can and without question
will work out much more powerful agencies
for them to apply. Think of the effect upon
the civil population of center like Chicago or
New York that the poison gas that a feet Of
airships could carry might have. Think what
it would mean if deadly contagious diseases
were scattered from the air all over a thickly
settled country. suddenly affecting great num-
hers of either the human population or their
domestic animals. Think of the effect il fungt
which ruin the grain or destructive insects
which strip vegetation and kill trees and
shrubs were dropped over large areas. Think
how easy it would be for any country, su-
preme in the air and with the discoveries of
science at its command, to deprive the people
of another country, even thousands OF miles
distant of that which sustains life and Of
even life itself without firing shot-without
even declaring war.
In the light of this feat of flying twice
across the continent in less than so hours
ought 10 De aDle 10 uOFe CREAMY uiSSeih INC
utter folly of contending that it is safe and
advisable for the United States to Withdraw
from world affairs and live hereafter within
it's own shell. 1t is out now and it has got to
stay out The world must be pOliced more
diligently in the future than it has been in the
past The airshtp is too dangerous a weapon
to trust in the hands Of whoever may be able
to get it to employ to such uses as passing
whims may suggest.
Forts may stop land forces and' coast de-
lenses and mines may hold up attacks from
the sea, but there is no known barrier to check
invasion from the air. which is most dangerous
of ALL Law and order must regulate the air
ship at the starting point to make sure that
it engages only in legitimate traA1c.