NEW TERROR IN WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14835, 11 November 1911, Page 2 (Supplement)

NEW TERROR IN WAR.

AN INVISIBLE OF THE SKIES.REMARKABLE INVENTION. Extraordinary though it may seem, patent rights have been granted in England for an "improved airship" which will be invisible. Though the improved airship is to be much longer than the leviathan liner Olympic, yet at a height of 1500 ft it will bo detected with the greatest difficulty, and at 3000 ft it will be absolutely invisible, though less than a mile away.

When an aeroplane is a mile away, it must be remembered, the buzz of the engines can be heard, so that were no attention devoted to the motors the whereabouts of the novel airship might be detected even when the vessel itself was invisible. But silencing devices, now common with the best motor-cars, will be utilised for the engines, thus assisting the designer in his scheme for the production of an airship capable of complete eelfobliteration.

The inventor is Baron Adam Roenne, well-known in England as an airship and naval engineer. The main principle upon which the invention is based is the equalisation of light and shade. The cover or envelope of the airship is made of chromium, a metal possessing a highly-polished surface which is perpetually retained by a covering of transparent varnish. Therefore, the metal is equivalent to a mirror, and it is by reflection that the invisibility is obtained. The surface and sides of the polished envelope naturally must reflect the same colour— or murky, according to the weatheras its environment, and thus bo invisible. It is with tho lower part of the polished balloon, which reflects the earth in its mirror, that the main difficulty of the invention was encountered. Being darker than the sky tho reflected earth must cause this part of the huge envelope to stand out prominently in the lighter atmosphere. This difficulty is overcome by making the sides of the keel, which is to bo as long as the balloon, also reflecting mirrors, and by placing on the keel triangular longitudinal ribs. The Dream of Inventors.

With the cid of these ribs tho keel reflects the shades of the air on to the lower part of the balloon above, and thus obliterates the reflected darkness of the earth. In other words, it equalises light and shade. So that there will be no recurring shade shown on the bottom of the keel, this will taper to a point. By this means the _ airship will always take the colour of its surrounding elements, and be invisible. The device has been submitted by the inventor to the officials at the Greenwich Royal Obsrvatory, who declare that it is thoroughly scientific and certainly practicable. Invisible airships, like invisible battleships, have been the dream of inventors for a long time, though the idea of successfully designing such vessels has been dismissed by most as impossible. But it has boon found less difficult to design an invisible airship than an undiscoverablo battleship. Warships are painted a dark ominous grey to make them practically invisible, and yet, without special telescopes or binoculars, stationary vessels, not oven emitting smoke, can be discovered! at a distance of about six miles. And battleships are much less formidable than the future invisible war-airship, for the latter, it is claimed, will be able to travel over sea and land and create destruction everywhere without being observed. It could hover over an army encamped, observe the whereabouts of ammunition and stores, the tents of the commander and his generals, and hurl deadly explosives with minute accuracy from a height of one mile. Floating across the encampment from one principal point to another it could continue its destructive crusade, be responsible for the extermination of many thousands, the destruction of all explosive stores, and then flit away even without having been observed by the everwhelmed enemy below. Possibilities ol Destruction.

Upon a modem war fleet, representing, say, 30 millions of money, to say nothing of the thousands of men on board, it could also operate with equally disastrous effect. From its attack the vessels would be entirely unprotected. To bombard the air at random would bo the only means of retaliation, but only by luck could the airship bo destroyed, and directly shots were fired the air-vessel would mount up another mile, when it would bo practically out of range, yet still able to continue its onslaught upon the defenceless war fleet. Through tho extraordinary strength and lightness of the metal which the inventor proposes to use for the envelope, the airchip will be able to ascend to an enormous height. This metal has a breaking strain of 25 tons per square inch, which is more than half the strength of best steel, the strongest metal in use. It. possesses greater resistance against oxidation than any other base metal, and the secret of its production is rigidly preserved. Though almost as strong as seel it is only one-fourth its weight. It is an alloy of several metals. Another important circumstance which makes it compare favourably with the present and more popular fabric cover is its absolute imperviousness to hydrogen. No gas whatever can escape, and consequently the danger of fire disappears. The success of the improved airship, so far as invisibility is concerned, will be mainly due to the discovery of this remarkable composition.