PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3102, 27 August 1913, Page 72

PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

THE PANAMA CANAL AND SHIPPING DISTANCES. We hear the Japanese spoken of as the British of the East, and in some respects they are, —even more so than we are the British of the South Pacific. Japan extends through degrees of latitude much the same as the British Isles da, and so have a considerable range of climate; the Japanese Islands are liable to invasion much as the British Isles are; the insularity of the two groups of islands and their proximity to a densely -populated continental area are in general correspondence ; and just as the British Isles led Europe in introducing the modern manufacturing system, so Japan is doing the same for Asia. And so on. A recent phase of the commercial activity of the Japanese is the issue, by the Yokohama Chamber of Commerce, of “a very interesting and comprehensive map, showing the present sailing routes and distances to various ports of the world, and a comparison of distances, via the Panama route/’ In quoting from this map, a trade journal says; “Japan is ever alive to the development of her over-sea commerce, and anticipated that the canal will be a most important factor in the extension

of her trade.” The following are some of the figures showing how this great engineering work is another of those modern developments annihilating time and space;—

From these figure out roughly difference between Liverpool and New York on the one side, and Wellington on the other, by each of the three routes. For instance, Liverpool to Wellington will be, say, 600 miles more than Liverpool to Melbourne, via Suez, by the above table; but, via Magellan or Panama, it will be about 500 miles lets than to Melbourne.

THE NEXT WAR IN THE AIR. “It is impossible to carry on warfare unless we have mastery of the air,” says Lieutenant-general Sir J. M. Grierson, the distinguished soldier, who holds the Eastern command, and who would be Chief of Staff in the event of war. These are the opening words of an article, “The Next War in the Air,” in Pearson’s Magazine for July; and similar expressions apoear in recent issues of “The Navy.” It is opeqjy said, too, that the amphitheatre is now being prepared for the next great war; indeed, this week’s —or, was it last week’s?—Witness tells us that, according to the Loudon Times, war has been imminent several times in recent years.

It is known that the great Continental Powers are massing large fleets of aircraft. “Mammoth airships are being constructed, each carrying 20 or 30 men, and armed with quick-firing guns, searchlights, and bomb-dropping apparatus. Exact figures are almost impossible to ascertain, but Germany by this time has at least 20 such vessels —and probably more—capable of a speed of 40 and 50 miles an hour, and with a radius extending over 1500 miles. Some 22 airship depots bristle round the German frontiers, and at Heligoland, Kiel, Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven,. Dusseldorf, Frankfort, and Cologne are airships capable of journeying to this country at a few hours’ notice, without warning. There is no doubt that they could swoop down upon us over the North Sea; there is little doubt that one at least has already done so. What would have happened to Sheerness if that notorious nocturnal ■ visitor had come with warlike intent. These big dreadnoughts of the air could hover over our big cities under cover of darkness; they could smash up our arsenals, our docks, our shipping, our railway lines of communication, our public buildings. They could cripple our defences irretrievably in a single night.” ,

It has been proved that a light cannon showering down comparatively small shells can do more deadly work than batteries of big guns on the ground line. Again, with the statoscope, “an instrument of as much importance to the airship navigator as the compass is to the mariner, indicates to a nicety the slightest change in height above the sea-level.” With the aid of this and the compass the steersman can steer in a circle, and as aerial gunners can sight with the same scientific precision that would be theirs if their battery were located on a mountain side,” shells can he rained down on any point, while terrestrial gunners would find it difficult to get the range of the aerial craft.

It is interesting to know how the nations are specialising in aircraft. Germany for a long time put forth her efforts towards constructing fleets of dirigible lighter-than-air dreadnoughts; France pinned her faith Upon aeroplanes—heavier than air; but now Germany is aiming at perfecting the aeroplane, and France the dirigible lighter-than-air dreadnoughts. But what is Britain doing? According to some accounts she is occupying a rear—very rear—position in both classes of ships, in spite of what Colonel Seely says. But there is another class she is specialising in—the hydroplane, which can rise from, and settle upon water, and maintain its position in the air. This is what the article says upon the hydroplane : —“The tendency in England is to place our reliance on neither one type nor the other, but to develop to the greatest possible extent the waterflyer. Progress is constantly being made in the making and management of the last-named machine, which may roughly be defined as nsi aeroplane able to alight on and start from water. The advocates of the waterflyer hold that a fleet armed with a number of waterflyer scouts could successfully seek out and destroy a fleet of airships. “It is an accepted fact that the waterflyer has a great future before it, and it is” expected that before the end of the year we will have 75 craft available for service with trained, pilots. The waterflyer will serve to extend the present patrol services of destroyers a.nd submarines on our coast. A series of stations from the Island of Prain right bp the East Coast to the far north is being arranged. There will eventually be a long chain of these stations on what the First Lord recently described as ‘our new frontier.’

An important step forward in the development of this naval aerial service was taken last May by the commissioning of the cruiser Hermes, which is to be a seagoing parent ship attached to the naval wing of the Royal Flying Corps, and is to ho employed in ascertaining the boat arrangements for providing a fleet with aerial scouts The plan generally favoured by naval airmen is that each squadron

should have attached to it a vessel specially designed for carrying waterflyers. A flight could then be sent up at any moment desired without the progress of the battle-fleet being interrupted.” But Germany is bent on having hydroplanes too, and has evidently been experimenting with success, for the German Emperor says:—“Our waterflyers are not yet perfect, but I am conviced that our technique of aviation is on right lines, and that in a little while we shall have waterflyer types capable of satisfying the greatest demands on them. I am amazed at the security with which they manoeuvre, and I am particularly pleased that the German navy is able to* meet its requirements with home products and is not obliged to look abroad.”

What are advantages connected with each class of machine? Airships can take much longer voyages and carry heavier weights, but they are more vulnerable, take much longer and are more expensive to build, and must bo returned to special landing places and carefully housed. The aeroplane can fly higher and swifter, presents a smaller target to the enemy, can descend without losing ascending power—airships cannot, —can stand more riddling, and costs much less, for 35 can be built for the price of one airship. One dreadnought airship can carry four or five tons of explosive, but 35 aeroplanes can carry much more. As I have much more I should like to give you. I’ll stop here arid give the conclusion next week.

Miles. San Francisco to Liverpool— \ ia Panama 7,836 Viji Magellan 13,886 San Francisco to Xew York— Via Panama 5,262 Via Magellan 13,520 Yokohama to Yen - York— Via Panama 9.798 Via Magellan 18.056 Throe routes, Liverpool to Melbourne— Via Suez 11,389 Via Panama 12,661 Via Magellan 13,424 Three routes, Mw York to MelbourneVia Panama 9,987 Via Magellan. 13,058 Via Suez 12,302