The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1922-12-07


ress. hut since the days that the 1s.
raelites fought the PhIlistlnes, aud
even before that. wars have come even
when peace was believed to be certain
to rule in the future. Therefore the
United States today Is taking no
chance.
Neither the army or the navy has
much money to spend for drilling pur.
puses Of any kind, hut such money as
there Is, Is being used to what the
service men believe to be the best pur.
pose. Quoting from an explanation OF
the Ipaneuyers the following Is what
they are intended TO do:
These experiments are expected to
deteri.iine the suitability Of alrships
captive balloons and alrplanes In. OBJ
servatiOn Of fire; ranges and condi
tions which make air observation pre-
ferable to ground observations; the
number of airplanes which can be used
simultaneously to observe and report
deviations In the field Of fire and ex-
tent Of interference to radio telephone
and telegraphlc messages caused by
nelghbOring radio communications In
operation; the best method Of Observ-
Ing and reporting deviations from air
ship and airplanes; the best method
Of observing and reporting deviations
as observed from ground stations and
ranges and conditions nj which vsrti-
cal spotting from captive balloons near
the battery firing is more satisfactory
than spotting from ground stations"
| All to Protect Our Coast.
Now all this seems to be rather Sc
verely technical, but what Is to be done
| largely concerns itself with making II
| as near certain as possible that In case
| the coast of this country ever shall be
| attacked by foreign fleet, our air
planes may be able quickly not only to
locate approaching warships, but in
stantly to notify the land batteries Of
the exact range.
All over the world the science of avi-
alton today is advancing rapidly. In
England they have just been holding
what was called gliding tests. Air
| planes without any engines take to the
air, and by clever manipulation some
Of the operators have managed to stay
in the air after the manner Of bird
for so long a time as two hours. II
Is. therefore, within the range Of pos
sibilities that one day men will be able
to do that which he started out to do
years ago-hy like a bird.
! II is not believed in Washington that
even with the perfection of gliding ma
chimes the motor-operated airplane
ever will be superseded. because the
| machine with n motor in II cali make
three times an express train speed, but
1t is believed that flying. real flying,
one day will be possible. OF course
FIXING suggests "fiapping of wings"
What man really is accomplishing to
day to minor degree Is soaring"
The present day glider stays up In the
mir somewhat after the manner Of a
buzzard or hawk. II is true that
hawks and buzzards flap their wings
but they make considerable distances
ut times without any appreciable wins
movement.
Flying by No Means Safe Yet.
Army aviators say that II Is some
thing Of a relief tn be able to go up
into the air without the virtual GER
talnty that somebody Is going to take
pot shots at them from anti-air guns
and without also the almost certain
knowledge than an enemy aviator Is to
come at them with his Fokker and his
machine gun. There are dangers
enough. however today, as the serv
ices know, in air navigation The
death lists of the services still are
heavy, and yet neither the army mol
the navy Is having the slightest diff
Guilty In getting men willing to take
the air training with the knowledge
that when they start at real work they
are running more risks of injury anC
death than those encountered by mer
In any other profession Of life.
MarksnIanship from the air has i'm
moved since the early war days. tn,
craftsmanship referred to here Is tina
for which objects on the ground fur
nish target. When the war begaI
I'm 1914 aviators were unable to hit an,
ground mark that they aimed at witt
their explosive shells. The speed witt
which they flew and some other con
| at.to,s mazda accuracy almost impns