Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights

on Land or Sea-Lead Disastrous Bomb Attacks-Valuable in

of the last decade has had its effect upon the operation of land forces. Probably the aeroplane and the dirigible balloon have had a g

highest state of efficiency for military use, so American inventors were pioneers in the construction and successful operati

atmosphere that seem to surround their use, the operator of the aircraft has proved himself one of the most valuable servants in modern warfare. He

equipped with a wireless telegraph instrument with which he is able to send brief messages back to his own line or military headquarters. He can and does mark the changed positions of the contending forces, note the entrenchments and reinforcement

out their being located. The "eyes of the sky," as the planes are now termed, can spy them out. And when the airman has communicated to his military comm

COUT'S US

h the enemy with gunfire he can rain missiles of all sorts upon them. Sometimes the airman flies over the enemy lines and drops

ished his purpose. He has carried messages from one frontier to another in hours, when it would have taken days for a scout

onceal the men from the fire of the enemy are plainly visible to the airmen. And armed with cameras having powerful telescopic lenses they ca

but this is when the force of battle demands, or for strategic purposes, but such an arrangement requires a great deal of time and much work. The battle fronts on

IMMENSE

t live within the trenches and dugouts beneath the ground. Telephone and telegraph wires run through the trenches and eve

r the commanders to know each other's strength

s danger of possible misjudgment because of the great length of the firing lines. The airmen verify positions and make last minute

leet of aircraft that aided Germany in making such rapid advance in its drive toward Paris in the early days of the war. The scouts reconnoitering in the ea

ins or dirigible balloons. She also had something like two dozen factories which could turn out flying machines, and had been at work on the development of her aircraft long enough to have he

'S PREP

oplane squads or corps, and when the United States entered the war one of the first detachments sent into France consisted of 100 aviators. How rapidly the aeroplane forces were developed is indicated by the state

in air over a camp or battleground without being detected. The Zeppelin is the development of the old balloon, made, however, in a conical shape with a long basket or car attached. They are driven by propellers similar to those used

mense Zeppelins was reported to have covered 1300 miles in less than forty hours, covering the German borders, and still keeping in touch with its base. The Zeppelins, because of their large size, can carry la

INDS O

d long steel billets or arrows which had swedged heads and sharpened points. These missiles, dropped from the hei

Such bombs explode after penetrating the fort or object which they strike, instead of going off by contact. Germany is said to have developed some of these that wer

colors to harmonize with the clouds and sky. Special kinds of gas have been used to fill the envelopes or bags, and instead of one large bag they consist of a series of ba

, and all manner of naval craft. From the heavens they can see the submarine under the water, and as either the dirigible or the aeroplane can develop a speed greater tha

HE GREAT D

s have been devised. These are constructed on the principle of the finder on a camera, with graded scale markings to indicate the allowance that must be made for speed and motion.

f the bomb-launching machines on an aeroplane scored eleven bull's-eye shots in a target ten yards in diameter,

raids by the airmen. Mining the air consists of locating small balloons over an area, each balloon being attached to the other with wires. The smal

ast fleet is virtually stationary. About the only case parallel to the aeroplane looking over the hill

MOKE

which throw off dense volumes of heavy smoke, which float low over the surface of the water, concealing the maneuvers of the larger boats and protecting them from the skill of enemy gunners

t for smoke screen, or the famous "low visibility," which means

ich may be within range of his guns tomorrow, the day after, or next week, may be distri

eet this distance away, it brings back the news of the approach in 10 hours. It takes the fleet, traveling at 15 m

r a path 75 miles wide under the most favorable weather conditions. Haze will cut this down considerably. Th

OF FIGHTI

the enemy planes be kept far enough away to prevent their counting the number and type of ships in the command. There is required also a large detail to guard against the submarines. Whil

rks well. It is a double-ender. That is, there is a breech in the middle, and the two ends are muzzles. In air fighting it is seconds and fractions of seconds that count, and the ad

eloped and which have done such wonderful service for the British. In this type the fuselage is entirely enclosed, built

r one, which has a span of 66 feet. Eight feet above this is the upper plane, which overlaps the lower plane by 13 feet on each side. The complete sp

America the equipment of

T GOVERNMEN

organized and placed all their resources at the command of the government. The organization provided for the interc

easoned lumber available in this country of the peculiar type and quality needed for airplane construction. Provision must be made for the future in this respect. All-steel machines have been made and used in Europe to so

their machines most grotesque patterns. They seemed to have taken this idea from the old American Indian custom of painting thei

with the Spring did not rival the variegated hues of the harlequin birds that rose daily from the German airdromes. The coming of this fantastic order of things in t

ASTES O

khaki-colored planes with greenish-gray wings, planes with red bodies, green wings and yellow stripes, planes with red bodies and wings of green on top of blue, planes with light blue bodies and red wings. V

hrough the air. It had a pear-shaped tail and was painted a ruddy brown, just like a large ripe fruit. One of the piebald squadrons encountered was made up of white, red and green machine

put up a stalwart fight. Just as their resistance was strengthened on land, so it was increased in the air. Just as the Germans threw in new divisions of infantry and new

essines Ridge in June, 1917, and completely smothered the German aviation service for

n over during the darker intervals of the brief night when the moon was hidden by storm clouds. Other hundreds went alof

BY MACH

nd circled low among airplane sheds and fired hundreds of rounds from machine guns into them and prevented the enemy machines from coming out. Later in the day, whi

ee responsible for the fact that the Germans could not launch a counter-attack of appreciable strength until forty hours after the

flew down low at times and opened a fire which scattered the gray-clad soldiers in all directions. All pilots report that their accurate fire had a most demoralizing effect upon the hostile tro

S ATTACK

these attacks that he finally ran out of ammunition, but he delivered his last stroke by letting go his signal rockets at a plato

ining for the front. Many of the enemy retreating from the British attack and h

the back seat came along. The Britisher dived at them from a height of three hundred feet, firing at them as they came. He flew so low eventually that th

them. Still further along he attacked a column of Germans marching in fours. The column broke when he opened fire, scattering

ACT PAT

infantry, constantly watching their movements, their progress, any temporary reverse, any attempt to

ct machines. They had to fly through a frightful storm of their own as well as the en

close quarters with collisions barely avoided. Twenty enemy machines were accounted for in the fighting, some flopping about until they broke up in the air and

teries before six o'clock on the morning of the attack which began at 3.10 o'clock in the morning. These planes also directed the firing on the enemy's guns en route to the front, some of

British artillery observing aeroplanes was lost during the week that the intense bombardment was going on

droplanes. About 90 per cent of all designs are monoplanes and biplanes, and the types are distinguished by their single set of wings or planes or the double planes or wings. Both types have their advantages in u

N PRACTIC

uch a speed and have a certain lifting capacity, will rise under a particular speed and may be expected to do certain things under certain circumstances, but with all

oss the surface of a pond, if the imagination can conceive of the water as being air. It is simplicity itself to drive an inclined plane against the air with such force that the impact will produce a lifting power. In raising an ordinary kite, for instance, the boy runs into the teeth

pon a precise formula for their solution. It is sufficient that the aeroplane has reached a degree of practicability in construction and use which insures its pe