LAND AND WATER 
January 16, 1915. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
CRITICS ON THE HEARTH. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Sib, — Your self-stjled " armchair critic " from Co. Water- 
ford is a kindred soul. I, too, was inspired in the eaily days 
of the war with the idea of first catching your submarine (in 
fiahing net) and then cooking it. So inflated was I with my 
brilliant inspiration that I wrote to tell the Admiralty how 
to do it, and received a most polite printed acknowMgment. 
I proposed to cast my net over a wider area than harbour 
mouths— in fact, from Calais to Dover; but can you believe 
it possible, sir, submarines have since careered down the Chan- 
nel and sent refugee ships and ironclads to the bottom with 
impunity! 
A friend of mine walked into the office the other day, 
And when entrenched in my armchair immediately assumed 
the role of critic. He assured me ho had a brilliant idea; it 
was an invention to blow up trains which were not there. At 
least, they were not visible, and the invention went nosing 
along the railway and blew the train up. He also assured 
me he had penetrated to Lord Kitchener's armchair and had 
thereupon sold his invention for eighty pounds. I was 
awfully interested in that eighty pounds, but failed to dis- 
semble, when my friend, to my chagrin, quickly remarked, 
" But I haven't got it yet; they owe it to me, you know." 
I have, of course, been fired by this success with new 
ambition, ojid am preparing further brilliant ideas ; amongst 
others I shall tell them how to send up a man-lifting kit© 
(west winds being prevalent, and the Germans being east, 
unable to retaliate), and to haul up by an endless' cord through 
a pulley on the kite explosive bombs which will bo dangled 
like the Sword of Damocles, over the enemy's heads, and 
then exploded by an electi-ic wire or the pulling of a string. 
If that does not annihilate them all, I shall suggest the 
provision of steel screens, V-shaped and loopholed, to be 
attached to the front of a push-cart, or fixed upon runners 
like mud-skis, each screen to contain within the V a dozen or 
80 of men, who will advance by pushing it along up to the wire 
entanglement, which will then be cut through with nippers, 
and the advance continued in absolute security until the 
trench is reached. The rest will be easy. 
It is evident, sir, that if our respective armchairs were 
removed to the locality of Whitehall, where they ought to be, 
things would begin to happen. 
May I be permitted, even as my co-inspirationist from 
Co. Waterford, to conclude with the remark, "I offer these 
Buorgestions for what they are worth " J — I am, sir, very faith- 
fully yours, 
" Ceitic on the Heastb." 
AERIAL WARFARE. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Sir, — In your issue of January 9, " The Airship in Naval 
Warfare," Mr. Desbleds, in his very interesting article, surely 
makes one very serious miscalculation when he says: "This 
is an important point to remember in dealing with the new 
lactor which has been introduced into naval warfare by the 
advent of aircraft, for it shows that it is only within the arc 
W.W.W. (150 miles) that a Zeppelin can maintain contact 
with its adversaries and Headquarters." Granted that the 
range of wireless of an airship is only 150 miles, what is 
there to prevent two airships working together, the first 150 
miles out from Heligoland practically stationary about 
4,000ft. high, the other ranging 150 miles farther out, but' 
still keeping in touch with Headquarters and the enemy 
through the intermediate airship. As you can sec, many 
modifications of this could be so worked as to bring practi- 
cally the whole of the North Sea within the range of the 
Zeppelin. — Yours faithfully, H. Ttrell-Smitu. 
St. Aidans', Clonskeagh, Co. Dublin, 
*•' There is not, in theory, any reason why two or more 
Zeppelins could not be employed in the manner described in 
the preceding letter. It is only within the arc W.W.W. , how- 
ever, that a Zeppelin can maintain direct contact with its ad- 
versaries and Headquarters. — L. B. D, 
THE SPORTSMAN'S BATTALIONS. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Dear Sib, — May I ask you to help me to raise the ucces- 
eary funds for the 2nd Sportsman's B/.talion? The facta 
briefly are these : — 
A battalion of 1,400 men costs £8 to £10 per man over 
and above the money allowed and repaid by the War Office^ 
and this amount the individuals raising the battalions have 
to find. The money is not for luxuries, but for ordinary 
necessary comforts which mean so much to a man under- 
going strenuous training, and prevents illness, discontent 
and other troubles. Out of this fund also administration ex- 
penses, advertising and printing have to be paid, which aro 
necessarily heavy items. It would be most kind if your 
readers would send m© cheques towards this fund, and so 
help me in the big national work I have undertaken. The 
cheques' should bo made payable to E. Cunliffc-Owen, and 
crossed 2nd Sportsman's Battalion, London Joint Stock Bank, 
Ltd., Strand. 
Any sum 'will be gratefully received and acknowledge^ 
at once, and every care is taken in the expenditure of th« 
funds. 
Thanking you in anticipation for doing the best in your 
power to help in this matter, believe m© to be, yours faith- 
fully, E. CUNLIFFE-OWEN. 
Hotel Cecil, Strand, London, 
SUBMARINES. 
To the Editor of Land and Water. 
Sir, — The readers of your article on Submarines in yoar 
issue of January 2 will be interested to have some particulars 
of an earlier submarine than the " Holland " boat to which 
you refer. 
A submarine was built in 1886, twelve years earlier ttiaa 
the Holland boat. It was, I think, built at Samuda's yard 
on the Thames, but I cannot recollect the inventor's namw. 
It was sixty feet long, eight feet diameter, propelled by twin 
screws driven by electric motors and accumulators; these were 
used for sui'face as well as submerged running. There was 
no engine, and the accumulatorr had to be charged from some 
outside source. The speed was slow, and the range of opera- 
tion very limited. 
I made several trips in this boat with the inventor, but 
it was not pleasant work, as there was no periscope, and we 
had no idea where we were going. 
I do not know what became of the boat. When last I 
saw it, it was in the Tilbury Docks. 
C. 0. GuiMSUAW. 
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