November 21, 1914. 
LAND AND WATER 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
Germaa Wastage. 
Reform Club, Pall Mall, S.W, 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Vsir, — Mr. Hilaire Belloc in his able article appears to 
take the published lists of Prussian casualties as relating only 
to the kingdom of Prussia, thus excluding about 40 per cent. 
of the German armj". Other Tvriters have assumed that those 
lists cover all but the States whose military organisations 
are more or less independent of Prussia, namelv, Bavaria, 
Saxony, and Wurtemberg. These three States would, I sup- 
pose, furnish less than 25 per cent, of the whole army. 
Can Mr. Belloo tell us for certain which is the right view? 
Yours faithfully, 
A. L. 
The French Army. 
November 14j 1914. 
To the Editor of Laxd and Water. 
Sir, — It would be a matter of great interest to your 
readers, or, at least, to many of them, if Mr. Belloc would 
reply to a question which is being everywhere asked. It has 
been stated again and again that at the beginning of the 
war Franco possessed upwards of four millions of trained 
soldiers. Mr. Belloc, when estimating the forces at the dis- 
posal of the Allies, without stating exact numbers, put down 
those of France as 40.r, and affirmed that they were in- 
capable of reinforcement or increase. It follows that in his 
opinion France had put all her forces already into the field 
and that she could not produce more. In that case, if the 
earlier figures are correct, she must have, or have had, some 
four million men under arms. But Mr. Belloc consistently 
adheres to the statement that in the western field of warfare 
the Allies have always, up till now, been outnumbered, 
though I think he has never suggested that the Germans 
have brought more than two million men against them. 
Where, then, are the other two million Frenchmen? and, if 
they are not under arms, why cannot the French forces be 
reinforced? If he would explain this discrepancy it would 
interest many of your readers and, not least, the present 
writer. 
Yonra faithfully. 
An Iokoraxt Layman. 
Zeppelins.' 
November 14, 1914. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Dear Sir, — It may be useful to point out a few elementary 
facts concerning the many claims made on behalf of Zeppelins. 
The statement in Dr. Karl Graves's book that a new gas much 
lighter than hydrogen has been discovered may bo easily 
disposed of, when it is remembered that air weighs approxi- 
mately 75 lbs. per 1,000 cubic feet, and that hydrogen 
weighs only 5 lbs. per 1,000 cubic feet. The margin of 
possible improvement is hardly worth consideration. The 
other claim, that the gas itself is non-inflammable, we may, 
I think, analogously regard as equally futile. 
The other statement referred to by Mr. Thomson requires 
more careful consideration. There are cases on record of 
airships, both rigid and non-rigid, rising to a little over 
10,000 feet. There are very few cases of aeroplanes flying 
at this height unless they arc deliberately trying to do a 
climbing test, in which case they are especially equipped and 
lightly loaded. At that height there can be no doubt that 
the airship has an advantage over the aeroplane. The sliip's 
crew are warm, and are not engaged in holding the machine up, 
and can give their whole attention to their work, whether 
fighting or observing. The aeroplane pilot is, on the other 
hand, fully occupied in climbing his machine, and the ob- 
server is numbed with the most deadly cold. 
The Germans, I believe, claim to bo able to erect the 
largest airship shed in two months, given .ill the parts com- 
pleted and ready delivered at the site. This time will be 
probably the shorFest possible on good ground, and will be 
considerably increased in marshy or bad soil. 
Tho radius of action of 1,4(J0 kilometres is the fair weather 
distance for the newest ships. Thirty-two men were killed 
in Ij2 when ste exploded last year. Seven tons of explosives 
ia distinctly exaggerated, but could be carried if petrol were 
eacrificcd and a short run only required. 
I enclose my card, and bog leave to sign myself, 
AEItONAUTICUS. 
November 14, 1314. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Sir, — Your 'issue of to-day's date contains a letter signed 
Charles I. Thomson setting forth a good many popular mis- 
apprehensions due to lies from Germany and statements by 
experts in this country. 
May I comment on this letter as it comes? 
Your correspondent and expert are probably right about th« 
limited number of Zeppelins (generic name, I take it); and 
their construction ab initio, if there aro not numerous parts 
in stock, must be slow. 
Your expert is certainly wrong if he said the sliortest 
time that could be taken to erect one of the sheds would 
be seven months — a Zeppelin shed on excellent concrete floor 
and foundations could be fully erected in under three months. 
A Zeppelin could be turned out from spares in thfc* 
weeks probably, i.e., mere assembly, but that should not 
convey eighteen a year even to a scare enthusiast. 
As to Carl Graves's book and the weightless metals and 
gases therein mentioned, the Times not long ago published 
a letter from a scientific man of the highest international 
repute, which effectively disposed of the metal on the one 
hand and the advantage of the weightless gas on the other. 
The scientist mentioned may be wrong about the metal 
(he says the periodic law does not seem to predict any moro 
light metals), but his statement that an absolutely weightless 
gas would only increase the buoyancy of the machine about 
six per cent, is based on a natural law of at least 2,000 
years' standing, with which even the rather pernickety M. 
Gustav le Bon would not be inclined to quarrel. 
Actually the metal employed by Germiiny is about two 
per cent, heavier than aluminium. 
As to the crew of twenty-five men and seven tona of ex- 
plosives, a simple calculation will at once display the probable 
dirigibility and target-forming capacity of such a machine. 
With regard to height attained, this is of little conse- 
quence; at 10,000 feet a dropped bomb might hit anything — 
or nothing in particular — and in rising to that height 
against a counter-attack by aeroplane the speed ratio of tho 
two machines is ludicrously in favour of the aeroplane 
Finally, if all that stood between the AUies and the complete 
overthrow of all the evil that Germany represents (and, alas t 
a great deal of submerged good in the tail of this military, 
comet must go down with it) were represented by the dirigible 
fleet which the German Press so hurriedly constructed, on 
paper, to sack and burn London, the struggle wiich is before 
them would already be a thing of the past. D. 
The 6-inch Gun. 
November 14^ 1914, 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Sir, — In his article on tlie war by water this week, Mr. 
Jane partly explains the British defeat in the Chilean en- 
gagement by saying that 6-inch guns are practically useless 
at over 4,000 yards. That is an important pronouncement, 
since it was to bo expected, and certainly to be hoped, that 
the six-inch guns with which our ships are so extensively 
armed would play a useful part in future naval engage- 
ments. Mr. Jane is so great an authority in these matters 
that it is with great deference I would remind him that 
his statement appears to be contradicted by the only authority 
as great as Mr. Jane — and that is Mr. Jane. In " Fighting 
Ships," 1914 edition, ho says of the 6-in. 45 calibre gun, 
with which the Good Hope and Monmouth were armed, that 
its A. P. shell will pierce three inches K.C. steel at 5,000 
yards, and that, at tJie same distance, its common shell has 
a danger zone of 210 yards. *If this bo correct it would seem 
that at a range of 4,000 yards the same gun ought to be 
much better than "practically useless." 
Would Mr. Jane kindly explain the apparent inoon- 
Bistency? 
Tours faithfully, 
J. A. Beaumont. 
The Blue Cross. 
Harnham Cliff, Salisbury. 
November 1, 1914. 
To the Editor of L.^nd and Water. 
Dear Sir,— This terrible war which is now raging in 
Europe I am well aware is taxing the charitable and patriotic 
to the very utmost, but there is one more than worthy object 
which so far has been forgotten, and that isi the relief of 
the sufferings of the faithful friend of man, the horse. War 
without horses would be impossible, and the frightful loss 
caused by modern weapons is creating a shortage in horses 
absolutely unprecedented. It behoves all, therefore, to di> 
their utmost, not only to endeavour to save a« many horses 
w* 
