146 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



April 1, 1913. 



tion directly above the North German 

 Lloyd steamship Anierika. This was 

 done to prove that gas and fuel may be 

 renewed at sea, making it unnecessary 

 for an air-ship to return to a land base 

 for supplies. 



Then came the flight of the Hansa 

 across the North Sea to Copenhagen, 

 and Malmo, Sweden ; and all Germany 

 rejoiced as over a victory won. The 

 Hansa covered the distance of 375 miles 

 for the round trip in exactly twelve 

 hours, which included time for dinner 

 and a few official visits in Copenhagen. 

 Count Zeppelin, who was personally in 

 command, reported that at no time was 

 the air-ship put to its best speed. 



ARMOUR-PLATE FOR AIR-SHIPS. 



The Zeppelin and Schuette-Lanz air- 

 ships, having a rigid framework, mount 

 formidable guns on their hulls at 

 various points. Two are carried for- 

 ward, one amidships, one at the stern, 

 and at least one on the top deck. This 

 arrangement permits firing at a land 

 target from any angle, and also makes 

 it possible to discharge a Krupp shell 

 that is exploded by a time-fuse, and Alls 

 the skies with a rain of bullets — an effec- 

 tive defence against an attacking aero- 

 plane. The gun turrets and cars of the 

 air-ship will carry armour, the secret 

 composition of which has been kept by 

 the German Government in soite of the 

 spies who have endeavoured to discover 

 its nature. This armour-plate is very 

 light, and is only a slight fraction 

 of an inch in thickness, but it spreads 

 ordinary bullets as if they were made of 

 sealing-wax. 



Riding at a height of a mile in the 

 sky, a 500-ft. Zeppelin air-ship appears 

 to an observer on the earth about the 

 size of a lead-pencil. Changing posi- 

 tion, as it constantly does, it makes an 

 almost impossible target. 



An attack by an air-ship upon a great 

 body of soldiers, resting in camp or 

 quartered in a city, is certain to be de- 

 structive and terribly demoralising. 

 That such attacks will be made cannot 

 be doubted. Advantage must remain 

 with the air-ship in any contest with 

 forces on the ground. Modern cannon 

 have sufficient theoretical range and 



accuracy to hit a target the size of an 

 air-ship when that air-ship is hung 

 stationary in the sky ; but no gun that 

 must first be laid and then fired is of 

 practical use against an air-ship in 

 flight. 



REVOLUTIONISING WARFARE. 



Military experts take the view that 

 the aeroplane has revolutionised warfare 

 backward. The flying scouts, serving 

 during the recent army manoeuvres in 

 England, France and Germany, ob- 

 tained so much information that troops 

 were brought to close quarters. Had the 

 warfare been real and not mimic, the 

 resulting battle would have been man 

 against man and with such slaughter as 

 occurred when soldiers fought hand to 

 hand and when the defeated army was 

 usually wiped out of existence. 



The air-ship revolutionises warfare 

 forward. It introduces a new and 

 powerful weapon of attack and makes 

 possible strategy and tactics on a larger 

 and more decisive scale. 



Coincident with the declaration of 

 war, which may be made late of an 

 afternoon, the best-prepared nation will 

 send its air fleets raiding across its bor- 

 ders ; by midnight it will menace the 

 enemy's capital, threaten its various 

 points of mobilisation, and attack fort- 

 resses, depots of supply, and naval 

 bases. The commander at home will be 

 kept informed b)^ wireless of the amount 

 of damage done and of the progress 

 made by the enemy. 



In the meantime, other air-ships will 

 prepare the way for the army of in- 

 vasion. As soon as the army moves, 

 aerial scouts will be out in front, not 

 only to guard against possible surprise 

 and gain information as to the enemy's 

 plans, but to make direct attack if it be 

 thought wise to do so. 



The issue of a battle may depend 

 upon a single scrap of information ob- 

 tained by an air scout. This will bring 

 about the most desperate game of " tag " 

 the world has ever known. Men will 

 fight in the air to make their way back 

 to their own forces, and they will figrht 

 to prevent the enemy's scouts from escap- 

 ing with the information which may 

 have been g-athered. 



