THE WARFARE OF THE FUTURE

Temuka Leader, Issue 2430, 26 November 1892, Page 3

THE WARFARE OF THE FUTURE

“If I can rise (says Mr Maxim, of gun renown) from the coast of France, sail through, the air across the Channel, and drop half a ton of nitro glycerne upon an English city, I can revolutionise the world. I believe I can do it if I live long enough. If I die someone will come after me who will be successful if 1 fail.” Well may Captain Fullerton, R.E., an authority on the subject, say that if they realise the expectations of their inventors, aerial machines will enormously affect the position of the United Kingdom. A total change (as he observes) will have to be made in our defensive system ; the value of the navy will be very much reduced, and the “ silver streak,” of which we hear so constantly, will for all practical purposes, disappear. An aerial navy of the very first class will then be an absolute necessity. Fortunately for us, remarks the London Daily News, there are still some practical difficulties and unsolved problems. Mr George Phillips, R.E., observes that a successful aerial machine heavier than air will require to be able to take its own weight from rest, and to come down vertically and gently. Mr Stringfellow —a name which may have a prophetic significance for Mr Maxim if he should be caught with his nitro-glycerine balloon anywhere in these islands —adds that if any part of the mechanism went wrong, or the motive power stopped, all control would be lost, and it must come down crash, as a bird will if it is winged