WAR NEWS.

Taihape Daily Times, 31 October 1917, Page 5

WAR NEWS.

A NEW HYDRO-AIRPLANE. 'The Curtis’s Aeroplane Co (U.S.A.), has received a £4O 000,000 order for > aeroplanes. The plant will employ 15,000 men on the job. This company has devised a :flying/;boat ,:which is said to weii' adapted to all the purposes, of, modern war,in,the air, and particularly' to coast patrol. The he\y.,; hydi-p-aiyplahd differs from prefiling types - byjllfviifg its engine installed in the body of the boat, instead of over the operator’s head. Another feature is an appliance which gives the operator power to cut loose entirely from the planes, throwing the power of his engine to a regulation marine propeller for aquatic propulsion. By this device it is expected that all the perils of coast patrol duty will be eliminated to a large extent. If sudden gales should strike one of these planes while at sea it could be brought to the surface of the sea, where it could be converted into a motor, boat. , , J Jrwav l —■*> THE WAR IN THE AIR. The most significant contribution to the practical business of the war America proposes to make is in the field of the air. The American Secretary for War has announced that “20 000 y ,of the aeroplanes provided for in an appropriation of £128,000,000 were now actually being constructed, and the whole programme bad been so arranged that trained aviators would be ready as soon as the machines, motors, and machine-guns were available. Powerful .bombing planes of the heaviest design were being built.” Now, 20,000 American aeroplanes > making their appearance in German skies when active operations begin in 1918, will be for German eyes a very disquieting Some nine or ten regiments of engineers have already reached France, and are employed in the reorganisation and reconstruction of the French transportation system. The war has shattered what may be called the physical organisation of France, especially its railroads, which have been worked beyond the limits of physical endurance. As a result, they have all but fallen into ruin. Tracks are battered or broken; bridges are out of repair; rolling stock is nearly worn out. A complete overhaul of all the railroads of the country is necessary. Water systems gas and electric plants, the ordinary highways—all have .been neglected War, it is clear, drains the very life-blood of a nation! All this explains the call for men especially skilled in railroad work. The most urgent task is that of re-order-ing the lines of transportation which directly supply the armies holding the long line between the Vosges Mountains and the English Channel.