THE Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1909 THE COMMAND OF THE AIR.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9604, 25 September 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1909 THE COMMAND OF THE AIR.

An ambiguous warning to the world at large may be discerned in the Ger ■ man Emperor's recent speech at Stuttgart, where he remarked that "Heaven had allowed Count Zeppslin to parform a splendid work for the Fatherland, uniting the people in a great patriotic idea." What that idea may be can only he surmised; but it is at least a plausible suggestion, in view ot the deadly armawent that has already beep designed for the fleet of Zeppelins which Germany now possesses, that Count Zeppelin's great aerial ships bode no good for certain other nations in Europe. The efficiency of these enormous airships as instruments of war forms the theme of an exposition by Mr Carl i Dienstbach and Mr T. R. MacMechen, in the August number of "M'Clure's Magazine. The collaborators describe with great particularity of detail the construction and armament of these aerial warships, the latest of which is 446 ft long, with „a speed of 35 miles an hour. L'he new type of, 1 airship now being built at Friedricbshafen is to be 510 ft long. -It will be able to carry a full crew, and also five tons of guns, ammunition, and torpedoes, a mile high in the ' fcir, over a radius of 500 miles and back. Krupps recently produced for use on board the German airships a light, high powered machine gun, capable of throwing 60 shells a minute to a range of several miles. The authors i state that the gun teats have been made in great secrecy, although descriptions and charts oi the shooting of the airship guns have been issued in a publication circulated for the information of the lierman army and navy. The new machine of war which has already trrived, says these authorities, is a ship as large as present ocean battleships. "It will fight from the height of a mile above the earth, and will manoeuvre during battle at a rate of 60 or 65 miles an hour. The winds at this elevation average over 24 miles an hour, and on brisk days often reach 30. The aerial battleships will move to windward and sweep down the winds when passing over the enemy. In this way they can direct an absolutely certain fire upon the earth while they are themselves out'of danger." The authors reckon that a few Zeppelins with their new long-range machine gunr would .speedily blot out a whole army of infantry and cavalry. Artillery alone could bring them down, and then Qnly by good luck, for a an unknown range and travelling at such a high rate of speed they would be very difficult to hit. But they would never go within range of artillery. If the Zeppelin can do all that these authors affirm in their extremely interesting article, which, is supported by photographs and drawings of the monsters, and by charts of certain German citiies, as viewed from an airship, ten, indeed", some of Germany's neighbours must be in grave peril. Herr Rudolph Martin's statement thai in ten >

years Germany will have 1,000 Zeppelins and 10,000 aeroplanes, which will "facilitate the invasion of England," assumes a new signiricance. England—and her dependencies over sea —have every reason for prepar • ing their aerial fleets of defence immediately. Some startling information is given in this article as to the completeness with which the Zeppelins are equipped for war. Tests have been made, it seems, showing that it is possible for men suspended in a car 100 feet below the airship t3 steer it by electrical communications. Thus the airship can be kept concealed in a cloud from a hostile battleship. The enemy will know nothing until from the cloud a mile high a hail of maximite torpedoes descends upon the battleship and tears it to pieces. For night fighting the airship carries searchlights, which are exhibited at great distances below it, thus illuminating the enemy clearly and leaving the position of the airship unknown and so high up that it would be practically invulnerable, even if it were known. Obviously, therefore, the only efficient form of defence against the airship is the airship. The collaborators draw attention to the marked negligence which has been displayed by the British Government in this matter of aerial navigation, and indulge in gloomy prophecies as to the probable consequences of that negligence.