The Dominion. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1915. ZEPPELIN ON ZEPPELINS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2383, 12 February 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1915. ZEPPELIN ON ZEPPELINS

• Count Zeppelin seems to have - made some interesting remarks in i an interview with an American, a 1 report of which will be found in our cable. columns. His views are characterised by a commendable sense of caution and reserve, and by an ! absence of that extravagant boasting which we have learned to ex- . pect as a matter of course from . leaders of thought and. action in Germany. But when Count Zeppelin states that Britain is trying to arouse the world to bring pressure to bear against the use of a weapon which she does not herself possess he is talking nonsense, and he knows it to be nonsense. British people are quite willing to admit that the Germans are entitled to use their Zeppelins to the utmost, provided- that the. rules of battle are not violated. They are not going to whine over any losses they may, suffer, but they feel a proper contempt for a foe that stoops so low _ as ; to make war on women, and children and other, noncombatants, and to throw bombs on churches and hospitals. The fear of German airships is not causing English people sleepless nights. They have heard so much brag about dreadful raids by fleets ot Zeppelins, and the actual performances of these. aircraft have ' fallen .so far short, of the promises that they are now in the. frame of mind to await the development of events with philosophic calm.; The Zeppelin has not yet oome up to expectation's as an instrument of attack. Its achievements so far have been neither brilliant nor sensational; but it is too early yet to definitely condemn it. Count Zeppelin makes no extravagant predictions of gigantic battles in the air. He says that only the distant future can tell what may happen in this respect. As far as the present war is concerned any expectations which may have been entertained of the clash of huge fleets of airships have not been fulfilled, although there have been combats in the air between small groups of aeroplanes, and aircraft have fully •justified their existence in less sensational ways. Probably they will play an even more important part as the struggle proceeds. Count Zeppelin speaks much more guardedly about the much-promised aerial attack on London than the German newspapers. When asked if the Zeppelin had fallen short of his expectations, all he-was prepared to . say was that they were far from perfection. Experience has. undoubtedly * shown that they have scirious limitations and imperfections. Whether they are more effective than aeroplanes is a point on which opinions strongly' differ. For one thing they are designed to serve quite different purposes. On being asked if Zeppfelins had proved their value as a , naval weapon Admiral von Tirpitz recently gave the rather vague reply that he thought "aeroplanes are also extraordinarily well suited to naval warfare." "But," he added, "Zeppelins are far superior to them for carrying, loads over long distances." He could not yet say which of the two types will in the end prove to-be the best in, the weather conditions in which the German Navy has to work. Questioned regarding the report that an invasion of England by Zeppelins is in preparation, the German Admiral remarked that he thought that a submarine war against British, shipping would be still more effective. But it should be borne in mind that at that time he had just announced his scheme for'the blockade of the British coasts, and no doubt desired to' emphasise the effectiveness of the submarine. Still, one cannot help feeling, that there is some significance in the note of reserve and uncertainty regarding the capabilities of the Zeppelin which pervades the utterances of both the Count and the Admiral. Their extreme guardedness seems to come like a douche of cold water on the enthusiastic belief which the people of Germany have hitherto been encouraged to place in their airship fleet; but too much reliance must not be placed in utterances of this character by high officials who know that they are speaking to the whole world. It is not always convenient for such people to lake their enemies into their confidence or to say exactly what they really think. The opinion is, however, growing among British airmen that the aeroplane is superior as a fighting machine to the Zeppelin. This view is confirmed by the recent Cuxhaven raid. A writer in the London Observer states that British airmen are convinced- that they can fly above or alongside the Zeppelins at will and. puncture the "inflated monsters."