September 
1:2, 1914 
LAND AND WATER 
was fiiiily advivncecl. Every Power had a few small aiisliips 
of uo war utility, which I have omitted from the above list. 
In the matter of aeroplanes Germany had a lead iu 
efficiency and numbers over any other individual power. The 
Germans and Anstrians between them about balanced the 
Tiinle Entente in actual efficient .slrongUi. 
Since good aeroplanes can be built iu si.x weeks or less, it 
is obvious that exact figui'es mean nothing where they are 
concerned. The question resolves itself into the number of 
pilots, who take at least six mouths to train. 
With airships, on the other hand, exact figures go for <a 
great deal. It takes a good year to construct a large airship, 
and a very considerable, time to 
AIRSHIPS AND THEIR turn out " merely a small one. 
BUILDING. TJjat is why we can discount 
stories of scores of German airships 
built sine? the end of last July. 
We may now briefly consider what has actually happened. 
A Ztppelin has dropped bombs on Antwerp; but, generally 
ypcaking, no real oifcnsivc capacity has yet been indicated. 
Tlie scouting work done has probably been fairly good, but 
inferior to similar work done by aci-oplancs, as a Zeppelin is 
a fairly easy target. 
This has neees?itated caution. The number of Zeppelins 
dc'troyed to date is thi-ce for certain — I doubt if it is more. 
The French appear to have lost one dirigible, name unknown. 
Our own dirigibles have not been near any fighting so far as 
is knov.n. but have rendered invaluable scouting service in 
connection with tlie E.-cpeditionaiy Force. This sums up the 
ainhip ;,ituatiou to date. 
Wc may now turn to the aeroplanes. These appear to 
bave been extremely useful in locating troops, guns, &c. A 
considerable number on either .side 
AEROPLANES AND have been brought down by rifle 
RIFLE FIRE. fire. This is due 1o the fact tliat 
in order to m.akc cfltetive ocsevva- 
tion a comparatively low altitude is csscutiaJ. Also all troops 
appear to have adopted the sa,me metliod of rifle attack — a 
steady firo on a spot some dislancs ahead. Every aero- 
plane destroyed seems to have xuu into such a shov.er of 
bullets. 
Unless the pilot be hit the chances of an aeroplane being 
iujui'ed by rifle fire arc very small. Descriptions are usually 
so vaiguo that it is difficult to suggest exact percentages; 1 ut 
at a rough approximation it looks as though at least half tie 
< 
9ATTtE AIRSHIP 
S 
■ AEROPLANE 
DIAQRAM TO ILLUSTUATB THK AI'PP.OXIMATZ T.VBGET OITEKED 
BY VABIOUS CLASSES OV AIECKAIT. THK rOTlOSTIAL l)A3tA9.-f 
BY B03IB IS, rr SHOCLD BE NOTKD, IN ABOCT THS SAMIC 
riioroiaioN. 
aeroplane casualties have been brought about by hasty and ill- 
considered movements on the part of pilots endeavouring to 
get out of the bullet zone. Possibly three-quarters are to be 
attributed to this cause. The killing of a single soldier iu 
ordinary land fighting is calculated to require some thonsauciH 
of bullets; it can certainly need no less to hit an aeroplane 
pilot, despite the fact that he has no cover unless he chances 
to be in a bullet-jiroof machine. 
In conclusion, although comparatively little has so far 
been heard of the aerial arm, v.'e maj' expect any day to hear 
of further developments. 
A TOPOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE 
WAR ZONE. 
By E. CHARLES VIVIAN. 
Arys. — -V town in East Pnis-ia. on the .Si)ciding Lake, 
about twenty miles west of Lyck, and on the Lyck-llothflless 
Jinc of rail. 
Audun-le-Roman.— Situated on tlie railway between 
Thionville and Longiiyon, a little over a mile witliin the French 
frontier. 
Bojan.— Situated within sight of the Roumanian frontier, 
in the .\u.«trian province of Bukovina. It is about four miles 
from the Bussiian frontier, and is on the line of rail from 
Tchernovitz to Moghilev and Odessa. 
Chalons-sur-Marnc— Tlie chief town of the Depart- 
ment of Marne, in Fiance, population about 22,'XKI. It is 107 
miles east of Paris by rail, and is situated on the !i!ainc Canal. 
It is in time of peace the lieadquartera of the 6tli Army CoipH, 
and is a military training station of considerable importance. 
Champenoux.— Situated about seven milfs north-ca.st 
<if Xan.-\-, and about four miles from the German frontier. It is 
elightly south of the strategic railway from Toul to Vic. 
Compeigne. — A thickly -wooded district about twenty 
miles west of Sois.'-.on.^ and fifteen miles north-east of Senlis. 
It is about tliirly-six miles north-north-east of Paris. 
Dantzic. — Dantzic, or Danzi;i, is situated at the south - 
we.st'-in e.\tremity of the gulf of Dantzic, on the Baltic Sea, and 
is a strongly fortified port of the province of West Prussia, of which 
it is the capital. The main city is built on tlie left bank of the 
Kiver Vistula, hom two to three miles from its mouth, and 251 
miles north-east of Berlin. The fortifications include ramparts 
and bastions, and means for flooding the surrounding ci>nntiyin 
^-a.'-e of attack ; a large garrison is maintained in the town, even 
in limes of peace, and the total jiopulation is over KK'/ifK). The 
ifottlaii, a .small tributary of the Vistula, traverses the main town, 
vrliifh contains a harbour ; most of the port trade, however, is 
dune through the Neufahrwasser harbour, which gives directly 
ou to the gulf of Dantzic. The principal railway lines are those 
connecting the town with Berlin to the south-west, with Stettin, 
more directlv west, and with Koenigsburg at the eastern extremity 
of the Gulf of Dantzic. The manufacture of arms and ai tillery 
is largely carried on here, and there is also a naval building 
yard and depot, and a marine station. The im])orts by sea amount 
annually to about £3,0(X),0()0, and the sea-borne exports to a 
.■similar figure ; the principal exports are grain and timber, and the 
chief imx)orts coal, petroleum, and fish from the Baltic ports. 
Dyle. — A river of central Belgium, tributary to the Nellie, 
which in turn flows into the Scheldt. The Dyle passes through 
Jjouvain and Mechlin. 
Fere Champenoise. — An imivirtant junction of roads 
e.ist of Paris, and about midway between Chalons and 
Coulommiers. about twenty-four miles west-south-west of 
Chalons. It is also a station on the Kheims-Esternay line 
of rail. 
Florenville. — A town of Belgian Luxembourg, situated 
on the left bank of the river Semois. It is adjacent to the French 
frontier, and ia about fifteen miles east from Sedan. 
fifteen miles north-west of 
of the Strasbourg-Bale railway. 
Gebweilcr.— Situated 
llulhausen, ou a branch 
Population, about 13,000. 
Gol<I;\pp. — The jioiiit of junction for the Insterburg-Lvck 
and Stalluponen-Rastenburg strategic railway lines in East 
Prussia. It is situated about twelve miles west of the Ki!s.jian 
frontier in the Government of Gumbinnen, and is a town of 
considerable importance. 
Gorodok. — A village about eiglitoen miles east of the 
Austrian frontier, situated in the Kussiun Government of Podolia, 
near the Lemberg-Odessa line of rail. 
Hal. — A to'.vn in Belgium, situated on the P.iver Sambre, 
about nine miles south of Brussels, at the point of junction of the 
Brus.sels-Mons and Bnissels-Tournay railways. It is about 
twenty-five miles north-wast of Charleroi. 
Kibarty. — The frontier village, on the Eusaian side, of 
one of the Berlin-Petersburg lines of r.ill. 
i; 
