WHAT MAY HAPPEN.

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 March 1910, Page 4

WHAT MAY HAPPEN.

WHEN GERMANY BEGINS TO i SHOOT. 1 AIRSHIPS Wild. DESTROY ENGLAND. I Herr Rudolf Marlin, who was formerly an ollicial in the German .Ministry (if tin 1 Interior, and who has madi a name for himself by foretelling the recent development in aerial navigation at a time when his prophecies were ridiculed by all serious men, hawritlen a pamphlet, entitled "\\ right and Zep])cdin,” which is sold in Germany at the popular price of The fourth chapter of this pamphlet is entitled, •'England no Longer an Is hind,” and contains the following notewort h v passages ; What is the most important, chaiigi produced hy Wright and Zeppelin? England ceases tu be an island. Ihe mightiest world empire of (lie present time is Great. Britain, and Great Bn lain Inc, obtained Imr world power as an island. Because Gnat Britain i'. an island, possessing the last ports, she has in the course of centuries acquired the mastery over tin greauu part of the world, namely, coer the

c-n. Because Great Britain : pr >t c ltd against !h-. Continent bv *h North Sea and the English ('haiimd slit- lias been able to live without com pulsory military servin', aim devuU her strength to the constrnciion of Inn Navy. Now that England nnisos t< bo an island she inns! reckon mole and more with the possibility ot invasim by the armies of the (.'oiitineni. In ili case of war between Great Britain ami Germany, is the defeat of 'in- British fleet and the invasion of England by a German army impossible? Germany would not, in any eirenmstanees, s> the loss of her fleet and of I: t nun canlile murine without making an at tempi to contest the maritime supiviu acy of Great Britain, and to land German army in England with C'alai and Ostend as her base. Tie honou of the German nation and the coin met cial interests of Germany would male such an attempt absolutely necessary. MENACE TO BU IT ISI I EI.EE I*. The defeat of the British in i h North Sea and the landing of a Ger man army in England will be great 1; facilitated by the development of tin aeroplane, side by side with the steer able airship. The mi mher of such unships will only inerease slowly, because they are costly and difficult to con struct but numbers of cheap aeroplane: will grow at an enormous speed. Even it a war between England and Germany were to break out in ten years' time, it is improbable that the number of German steerable airships would exceed a thousand, but in view of tinmagnificent development of aeroplanes there can be no doubt that in ten years’ time there will be' more (ban 10,000 aeroplanes in Germany. People who now see Orville Wright or Omni Zeppelin in the air only think of this one specimen of a single inventor. Not until the wholesale construction of aeroplanes and gigantic airships has been ill process for several years will people accustom themselves 'to reckon with large numbers of aerial vessels as factors in warfare. Aerial vessels of all classes will raptTv increase the speed in carrying capacity. Zeppelin 111. is almost as Jong as one of the great battleships of the Dreadnought; class,’ but. Professor Schulte's airship, which is being built for Herr Carl Tan/, at Mannheim, will be still larger. The diameter of the balloon will be 58ft as compared .with 42ft.. the diameter of Zeppelin ill., and the capacity will ho 700,000 cubic feet, as com'paml with the 530,000 cubic feet of Zeppelin Ilf. The new airship will be able to carry from thirty to fifty persons, according to the length of the voyage. ,A British Fleet in the North Sea would be in a very dangerous position if compelled to encounter a Gentian aerial fleet of steerable airships and aeroplapos. AeroI planes and steerable airships can travel faster than battleships. At an altitude of 4700 feet large airships are fairly secure from the guns of battleships. Night and fog and clouded skies for aerial warships give many Possibilities of hovering over floating battleships or naval ports, and dropping their destructive dynamite torpedoes. Whelp could the -British fleet of battleships, take refuge? In the i*T? : l )0 ?t s $ Sheemess, Dover, or Portsmouth the fleet wmti offer ait excellent target for aerial projectiles. German airships can cross the nar?cf« Channel, twenty ap'* in width*

in half nn hour, they are immune from the attack of the British fleet. DESCENT UPON LONDON. Wright or Zeppelin, starting from Calais, could reach Loudon in (wo or ihrco hour.-. After the bombardment of London the huge airships of Count Zeppelin or Professor Schuile could ;dy return across tho Channel. Germany’s success in war with Great Britain would depend upon two premises; first, that Germany shall immediately increase the number of In r aerial vessels of all kinds ; second, that Germany shall not fall into the error of undertaking an aerial attack in unfavorable weather. Aeroplanes and steerable airships can be constructed in large numbers in a few weeks if proper preparations were made, and a favorable wind or lack of wind frequently occurs. William the Conqueror waited in 1066 with his army and fleet none than a month for a favourable wind, and, (hanks to hipatienee, achieved the great success e! capturing England and founding the English race and world power. Or v *lle " right and Count Zeppelin, by their performances in Berlin, have re minded the English that England since Bleriot’s Channel flight incensed to be an island and that the technical possibilities of a German in\asion iu case of war increase's from '“"in!i to month. Wiight and Zepp, - lin, therefore, are creating a guarant- c for the maintenance of peace betwee: Hie closely related nations of Genmany and England.