The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1944-07-07
WNU Services, Union Trust Building
Washington, ID. G.

In the last Gays OF June Wnen tne
papers were full of stories of Ger
many's "secret weapon" the robot
plane, scene which I witnessed
some three decades ago returned to
haunt me. stood in large tent
with a crowd Of people, oh-ing and
ah-ing at mechanical miracle we
were witnessing. 1t was in Germany.
Before us stood a pompous gentle
man in evening clothes with fero-
cious mustachios. He had a wand
in his hand and with it directed the
movement of beautiful little dirigi-
BILE about three feet long, a perfect
replica of the zeppelins which were
just beginning to be talked about.
1t did look rather startling. The
impressario moved his wand to the
right and the miniature dirigible
started off around the top of the
tent, its tiny propellers whirring. He
dipped his wand and the little ship
nosed down and began to descend.
He traced a graceful circle upward
and the ship assembled and re-
produced his movement in the
air. Finally, after performing all
sorts of such feats it gracefully de-
scended and landed on a table.
1t was an impressive sight but
afterwards an American engineer
who had witnessed the display ex-
planned to me that it was all "per-
fectly simple" He said the wand
was merely a signal to man con-
cealed from the audience who sat
before an electric switchboard and
controlled the ship by radio. Since
then many experiments have been
carried on by this type Of remote
control but so far as I know it has
not been used in any engines of war.
Naturally, when I first read the
news of the robots, the picture of
the little zeppelin foated into my
mind. Experts admit that the Ger
man pilotless planes are nothing
but rockets and they can be sent in
only the general direction of their
targets. But the same experts freely
admit that there could be radio-con-
trolled pilotless planes. =
mention the rocket attacks
not so much to emphasize the last
historical gesture of the writing
Teuton, but because they mark an
important milestone in the psyche
logical battle whose frenzy has
mounted in these weeks since the
invasion. The robot attack was not
nearly as much of an offensive as
a defensive stroke. Reports reach
ing Washington in the last days indi-
cate that there is a defeatist
psychosis mounting in Germany.
That this bit of Buck Rogers fantasy
was to be an antidote, is clear from
the tremendous play it received in
German propaganda.
The tension in enemy countries is
understandable to any of us in Wash
ington who have gone through the
strain of that morning when the
first hint came over the air that
D-day was dawning. Like many
other newsmen, writer's and broad
casters, was routed out of my bed
shortly after midnight after be-
ing on the alert for weeks, and from
then on for many hours that bed
was a stranger to me.
HoW Did the Enemy Feel?
Temperatures rose and fell for
many days thereafter but the peaks
and valleys of emotion in this coun-
try could have been nothing COM
pared with those of our enemies. AS
yet we cannot know exactly what
the German pulse beat was when
our forces reached their shores after
all the boasting about Hitler's "West
Wall; or how kimonos fiuttered
when the japanese homeland was
ruthlessly hammered by an engine
of war more terrible than any they
expected existed-or when Ameri-
can naval guns roared in the
Kuriles and the Bonins, almost in
Hirohito's back yard.
It takes some time to assay the
morale in enemy lands, but thanks
to certain reports which have al
ready reached the Allied capitals we
can gauge the mental state Of the
population in Germany.
Some Of the information comes
from secret sources which may not
be disclosed lest they give a hint
to the gestapo as to whom or where
the sources are. One such report
speaks of that spectre "the third
man" who is haunting the Nazi
minions everywhere they go. Per-
haps he is bent old derelict sweep
ing the street crossing. Perhaps