The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-04-15
WAR SECRETS
OF GERMANS
ARE EXPOSED
Austrian Inventor Relates
Clever Schemes Used
to Battle Allies.
PERISC0PE CONCEALED
Bomb Releasing GondoIaS
on ZeppeIinS Aided in
Hitting Mark.
BY DR.. MAXIM BING,

Berlin Correspondent of Science Service.
BERLIN, April Is. - Periscopes
incased in mirrors to make them
invisible, bomb-releasing gondolas
hung thousands of feet beneath
their parent Zeppelins, rifle gren-
AIDES that bounced into the air be-
fore exploding. were among the
military devices used by the central
powers during the World war. The
tale of these martial inventions just
has been told in a lecture at Berlin
by an Austrian engineer, Otto Ger
gacSevicS, formerly captain in the
Austrian technical forces and hold
er of over a hundred patents.
During the war, it was a favor
tie "wisecrack" that the English
never could see a submarine be-
cause the Germans painted a joke
on it. AS a result of Captain Ger
~gacsevics' disclosures, it is known
now that the %concealing device "a
even more transparent than this.
The end of the periscope was
sheathed in a siXteen-faced prism
of mirrors. These reflected the
waves, and provided the most per-
feet possible %concealing c~amouflage.
But even with the periscope thus
"armored" in neutrality-suspicious.
mirrors, it still betrayed its presence
by the streak of broken water it
caused even when the boat was
cruising at low speed, and at full
speed it often would throw a wave
four feet high and some sixty feet
long.
Ripple Done Away With
This vas overcome by placing
around the periscope shaft a sliding
float of streamline shape, that per-
mitted the water to close in even
ly astern and thus do away with the
long ripple. A DETECTING plate on
top of the float prevented the ris-
ing Of a bow wave. The common
football bladders within the float
became filled with water when the
U-boat submerged, preventing the
outside water pressure from COLLAPSE
ing the float.
So effective was this device in
preventing the betraying white wave
that it was possible for a submarine
to approach within 125 yards of an
enemy ship without being detected.
Word went around among the allies
that the Germans had devised a
means Of using submarines without
employing periscopes.
An equally effective device was
used with the zeppelins. From the
great height the Zeppeiins were
obliged to keep, to avoid the shells
Of the defending guns, it was well
nigh impossible to do any proper
aiming. Thus the bombs dropped
often hit private houses, while OBJ
jects Of military Importance were
missed.
This difficulty finally was over
come by an invention of Captain
Gergacsevics. On a cable, 1000
yards long, auxiliary gondolas were
suspended from the body Of the
airship. They were lowered when
in action, SO that they were only
a hundred meters above the ground
Hauled Up Again
Within the gondola an observer
lay fiat on his chest, directing the
circular motion of his little craft
by a small rudder, and dropping
the bombs by a catch working from
the inside. The airship kept above
the. clouds. After the action, the
gondola was hauled up again.
The Zeppelin raids, however, fin
ally were suppressed by the allies,
through the invention Of an igni-
ton bullet, fired from rifles and
machine guns. Captain Gergac-
sevics nevertheless believes that by
filling the ZeppeIins with helium
and by operating the gondolas with
radio waves, the giant airships Sti1
can be made formidable weapons.
Another invention Of Captain
Gergacsevics was a bouncing rifa
grenade. The ordinary rifle gren-
ade, upon falling, usually buried its
head in the earth and explode
mainly upward, with very little eff
feet. The Austrian inventor de-
veloped a grenade which, upon
striking the ground, was thrown
back into the air by a small auxig-
larry charge. After one or more Of
such explosives bounces the min
charge would be detonated. with
much greater effect than It would
have had if the explosion mad been
close to the ground. The inventor
also provided a noiSeless pneumatic
gun for throwing this formidable
mQanOn