The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-10-16
PLANS HALTED
BY ARMISTICE

Cleveland, Oct. 15.-The story Of
how the signing Of the armistice
saved Berlin from an aerial attack
was related here today, with the per-
mission of the government, for the
first time by Lester H. Barlow and
Glenn l.. Martin, inventors Of a de-
vice for a long range attack. Only
a few persons are said to have known
the secret, so closely was it guarded.
The basis of the idea was the COM
hining Of the flying torpedo built
principally along the lines Of the dual
motored bombing plane, with a small
plane Of the scout type but carrying
large fuel tank, Mr.. Barlow said
In flying to the objective, the two
planes were to have been a single
unit, the smaller planes engine draw
ing it's fuel from the torpedo planes
tank, leaving it's own fuel supply in
tact for the return fight.
eff the war had continued Cleve-
land would have contributed two in
ventions which would have ended it
speedily" declared Benedict Crowell,
former assistant secretary of war.
zone would have been this flying
torpedo and the other the deadly gas
which was developed in the mouse
trap
"Our scheme to blow to atoms the
German capital, 700 miles from the
battle lines, was so simple that Gen.
G. o. Squier, American ranking gen.
eral of the air forces, was skeptical."
Mr.. Barlow said. "When he was con-
vinced of it's practicability his great
fear was that the Germans might hit
upon the same idea and put it into
effect before we could get the neces-
sary equipment across the Atlantic.
"Under the plan adopted, feet of
flying torpedoes. each of 800 horse
power, would be piloted under cover
of darkness from the American lines
to within few miles Of Berlin. The
pilots would return while the flying
torpedoes continued under mechanical
control to the center Of the city.
There the wings automatically would
be blown from the torpedoes, causing
the whole mass to fall. On striking
the torpedoes, each of which would
contain a ton and a half of TINT or
the equivalent of poisonous gases,
would explode.
"In order to assure a thoroughly
successful attack, our hope was to
launch a feet of at least so of these
dual units against Berlin. Their
aish* weA- to he so arranged that they
could approach the city from all di-
rections simultaneously"
Two months before the armisticc
Was signed, the inventors say the gov
ernment ordered them to proceed i'm
mediately with the production Of a
flying torpedo fleet. A thousand air.
plane torpedoes, Mr.. Martin estimat-
ed, could be constructed and used for
the cost of one modern battleship. He
estimared the cost of one such tor
pedo at $4,000.
The idea came to the inventors in
October, 1915, when Mr. Barlow was
employed in the Martin airplane fac
t1ry in Los Angeles, CAL, srortly af-
ter his return from Mexico, where, as
a major en- the staff Of Francisco Viii
la, he conducted, what he believes,
was the first airplane bombing squad
ron in the world.
Reports of the British air service
that it had released from it's lar~e
scouting planes over the North
small passenger planes that returned
to the base suggested the solution of
their problem, Martin and Barlow
said.
"There is little new to the inven-
tion,' Mr.. Barlow explained. "Rather
it is fusing together of what was
then known" he continued.
Mr.. Barlow has obtained score OF
more of patents on high explosive de.
vices, most of which, he said, were