Review of Ueviews, llf,ll3. 



THE NEXT WAR. 



147 



TORCH TRAILING FROM THE SKY. 

 As an engine of destruction the 



Navies of the air are so new that it 

 j^ir_ would be foolish at this time to attempt 

 to define their full powers and absolute 

 limitations. It is certain, however, that 

 there will be fighting in the air between 

 hostile scouts and that naval tactics will 

 be followed. The largest air-ship will 

 have other air-craft more or less at its 

 mercy, just as the dreadnought of the 

 sea is more than a match for anv cruiser. 

 The French have fulh' demonstrated 

 that in a contest between two aeroplanes 

 the one that runs and fights will have a 

 distinct advantage over the one that at- 

 tacks. 



THE COMING AIR-CLASH. 



There is a very great similarity be- 

 tween the navies of the air and the sea. 

 A fleet of dreadnoughts would be at a 

 great disadvantage without cruisers and 

 torpedo-boats to scout and perform 

 other services of much value. But in 

 this day of heavy armour and long- 

 range guns a fleet of cruisers could not 

 hope to meet hostile dreadnoughts with 

 success. So it is in the air. The air- 

 ship is a dreadnought capable of work- 

 ing great destruction upon an enemy. 

 And while, in a sense, it acts as a scout 

 as well as a fighting-machine, it must 

 have its own scouts in the form of swift- 

 fl)'ing aeroplanes. Independent of the 

 air-ship, the aeroplane will be of value 

 as a scout to flash out a few miles in 



ship is by no means limited to the use 

 of its guns and hand-dropped missiles. 

 The next great war will be all that 

 General Sherman said. And more. If it 

 is thought necessary to devastate a coun- 

 try as Sheridan devastated the Senan- 

 doah Valley, the air-ship will be em- 

 ployed. A trailing wire with a torch 

 at the end will spread flames through a 

 village or through ripened grain fields 

 much more quickly and thoroughly than 

 could be done by a thousand incendiary 

 infantrymen. An active machine-gun 

 will prevent an)- attempt to extinguish 

 the fires. 



By means of hooks at the end of 

 strong wire cables, small structures will 

 be overturned on railroad tracks. The 

 torch will then complete the work, and 

 the heat w-ill be sufficient to twist and 

 dislodge the rails. Gas tanks will be 

 exploded ; power-houses rendered use- 

 less ; railroad terminals destroyed, and 

 such general havoc worked that the 

 population will have to move out of the 

 territory or starve. 



Mammoth air-ships with 2000 miles 

 radius of activity (the naval Zeppelin 

 and the new Schuette-Lanz air-dread- 

 nought are nearl)- equal to that) will 

 operate independently of the armies, 

 carrying on a sort of guerrilla warfare advance of an ami}' to observe the la\' 



in the air. The}' will fly hundreds of 

 miles be}'ond the theatre of military acti- 

 vities, and raid parts of the enemy's ter- 

 ritory that but for the air-ships would 

 remain untouched by the hand of war. 



of the land and make certain that the 

 enemy does not succeed in an attempt 

 at a surprise. It will be more of a firefly 

 than a mosquito ; more of a news- 

 gatherer than a fighter. 



