The Wilmington morning star., 1940-04-27
WASHINGTON
DAYBOOK
BY JACK STINNETT

WASHINGTON, April 26.-That there's moth.
ing new under the sun has become such a
trite phrase that anyone who reads may run
off at the mouth with it a dozen times I day
without getting more response than a casual
"ain't it 500"
Nevertheless, ever since the European wild.
fire burned into sudetenland and spread to the
Finnish forests, reams have been written and
more reams talked about new methods" of
warfare. With the German foray into Scandi.
navia, this talk has broken out anew. Common
tators and military observers are at it ham.
mer and tongs.
But Wait a Bit
Armies. guns and supplies, dropped from the
skies-marvelous Thousands Of troops ferried
by plane across the Skagerrak into suffering
Norway-wonderful. The old troop transport
system soon will be obsolete. Better start
junking the ships. Better start building arma.
das of the skyways.
Submarines and planes: the brand new way
Of dealing b~litzkrieg death. That A. Hitler and
his ~gang-what geniuses. They've made the
only really original contribution to warfare in
our generation.
Wait a minute before you start passing out
any credits-if credit it can be called-to A.
Hitler, Stain & Kamerads, Inc. Let's take n
look at three letters dug up by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
Letter No. 1, dated 1884 and written by a
man who had just witnessed several balloon
ascensioNs: at appears, as you observe, to be
a discovery of great Importance, and what may
possibly give a new turn to human affairs.
Convincing sovereigns of the folly Of wars may
perhaps be one effect Of it; since it will be
impracticable for the most potent Of them to
guard his dominions. Five thousand balloons,
capable OF raising two men eacn, could not
cost more than five ships of the line: and
where is the prince who can afford so to cover
his country with troops for it's defense, as
that 10000 men descending from the clouds
might not in many places do an infinite deal
of mischief, before a force could be brought
together to repel them?"
The author? Benjamin Franklin.
And That's Not All
But wait. Go back more than zoo years, to
1870, and hear what Father francesca Lana
had to say about an ~airplane which he had in.
vented, but which, because of poverty. he
could not build:
at may be thought that God will never suf.
fer this invention to take effect, because of
the many consequences which may disturb the
civil governments of men. For who sees not
that no city can be secure against attack, since
our ship may at any time be placed directly
over it and descending down, may discharge
soldiers. The same would happen to private
houses or ships at sea. And this they may do
not only to ships but to great buildings, castles,
cities, with such security that they which cast
these things down from a great height out
of gunshot cannot on the other side be offend
ed by those below"
And that's not all: 40 years before that, old
Leonardo da Vinci drew marvellous plans for
a submarine, and in his notes set forth this
reason for not making his invention public:
"How by an appliance many are able to re.
main for some time under water; how and
why I do not describe my method OF remaining
under water for as long a time as L can re-
main without food; and this 1 do not publish
OF divulge on account of the evil nature of men
who would practice assassination at the bottom
of the seas, by breaking the ships in their
lowest parts and sinking them together with
the crews who are in them
So you see, if there's anything new under
Mars, Hitler ct al, didn't think of it first.