LAND AND WATER 
January 2, 1915. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
ZEPPELINS. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Dbah Sir, — I am one of those, who, although busy, find 
lime to read each issue of Land and Water more than once, 
and consider I get excellent value for time so spent. Heading 
Mr. L. Blin Desbleds' instructive and interesting article re 
" Value of Zeppelins for Naval Warfare " in last -week's, I 
am of opinion that the Admiralty have taken measures to 
prevent the tell-tale glares from tlie funnels of warshipsl being 
seen by observers stationed in airships or other air craft. 
I eipect they have provided large cowl-sTiaped hoods of steel, 
fixed over funnels in such a way that they can be detached 
during the day-time and when coming into harbour in order 
to deceive the enemy through their spies. This precaution 
being bo simple, it musit be assumed that it has been taken. 
On this assumption it appears to mc that a further 
opportunity for deceiving the enemy in mid-air presents itself. 
It consists of the preparation and distribution on the high seas 
of imitation or mock furnace glares at any point and at 
any distance from war.ships. Let tlicm be called mock glares^. 
These can be produced in many ways, from the old crude 
torch to the most up-to-date method, viz., chemicals. Between 
these you have gas, oil, electricity, acetylene, etc. The -floats 
may consist of old rafts, old row boats, casks, etc., according 
to the class of weather and the condition of the sea. TheMe 
could be oast off from tlie warships before nightfall. 
In addition to deceiving tlie enemy in mid-air it might 
also require a second torpedo from a hostile submarine to 
estinguish one of those lights. 
The opinion of Mr. Fred T. Jane as naval expert and 
of Mr. L. Blin Desbleds for the aircraft section on this would 
be very valuable. — Yours) faithfully, J. J. Murray. 
Mranelg, Dublin. 
December 26, 19H. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Sir, — We are all the beneficiaries of the excellent paper 
by M. Desbleds on Zeppelins. It raises the entire problem of 
lighter versus heavier-than-air fliers. The Zeppelin, as your 
correspondent points out, is the most valuable auxiliary of a 
warship and for reasons to which perhaps he has drawn in- 
efufficient attention in detail. 
(1) These hovering hawks, stationary, a hundred miles 
ahead of a fleet and with a wireless connection, can take all 
the strain off the sailor man. A dozen men, the crews of three 
" hawks," relieved every few hours, can allow whole fleets to 
lie snugly in some adjacent harbour. 
(2) Not less important, these hovering kestrels can detect 
both sfubmarines and mines. A rigid dirigible was recently 
used for this purpo.se by the Italian Government to deal with 
Austrian mines in the Adriatic. The power of penetration for 
the eye, exercised vertically by contrast with horizontally, is 
very great. In fine weather especially, submarines submerged 
forty feet could be detected easily. Recent experiments in 
the Gulf of Florida by the U.S. Aeronautical Department 
demonstrate this. 
(3) But more important still is the personal factor in 
the great problem of heavier versus lighter. The expert aero- 
planist is, and always will be, a super-man; no less. But in 
a year or two every sea coast town here is likely to have its 
Zeppelin scout or destroyer. These rapid rigid dirigibles will. 
with us, probably represent a popular volunteer effort. 
Because any man whose nerve is equal to a steam launcli might; 
navigate these diminutive Zeppelins, given fair weather. A. 
friend of mine, expert in such matters, quotes their cost of 
construction at less than £10,000. 
These are some of the reasons why the Germans, after 
nearly nine years of anxious experimenting, believed that their 
progress with lighter-than-air machines justified a vote of 
seven millions sterling. That generous expenditure and all 
their years of experimentation is the present Germany makes 
to England. We to-day take up rigid dirigibles at the point 
of efficiency to which the enemy has brouglit them. — Yours 
faithfully, Moreton Frewen. 
DANGEROUS SENTIMENT. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Sir, — I gather from Mr. Jane's article in Land and 
Water of December 26th that towns on our East Coasi' are 
supposed to be protected by mines. 
It would seem that there is more supposition than pro- 
tection about it, and one would like to know wliether the pro- 
tection could not be made a little less inadequate. Or is 
this prohibited by the "chivalry and humanity" that our 
prattling pro-Germans are so fond of prescribing for our con- 
duct of this war? These excellent qualities seem to have led to 
the escape of tlio Dresden, and will doubtless lead to more 
serious disasters if they are not given up in favour of more 
practical methods. — Yours, etc., 
V. D. 
Prestfelde, Shrew,sbury, 
December 28, 1914. 
THE FIELD FORCE FUND. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Sir, — ^The Field Force Fund committee appeal for woollen 
shirts and mufflers for their parcels, which they are sending 
to the front in large consignments weekly on the requisitions of 
commanding oflicers. 
Requisitions for over 37,000 of these parcels have been 
received during the last few days, and must be despatched 
after Christmas. All contributions in money and kind will 
be at once acknowledged by the hon. treasurer and hon. secre- 
tary, c/o Lady Henry Bentinck, 53, Grosvenor Street, W. 
December 24, 1914. 
MORAL V. MORALE, 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Radley College, Abingdon, 
December 28, 1914. 
Sir, — In a note to his last interesting article in Land 
AND Water,' Mr. Belloc wonders why Moral is so often spelt 
Morale. In my youth I always heard it pronounced, as, 
indeed, till quite recently I alwaj-g pronounced it, as a tri- 
syllable. Morale. I have always believed it to be the Italian 
of the French word. Moral. 
In the same way, in my early days Napoleon was alwaj's 
called Bonaparte with an Italian final e, a pronunciation 
which I am sure Wellington always used, and which Napoleon 
himself tried to forget. — Yours faithfully, 
E. Brtans. 
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