THE ZEPPELIN MENACE.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5357, 15 February 1916, Page 7

THE ZEPPELIN MENACE.

The public were misled by ignorant pacifists into the belief that Zeppelins were useless, even as agents ol outrage, and now they cannot understand how it is that the enemy’s vessels have been able to do so much indiscriminate damage. The truth is (declares -Mr liuist, who is a recognised authority on aeronautics) the Zeppelin is a formidable weapon; it is a weapon of destruction and murder—that, and nothing more. When it is remembered that, according to the l>est available information, the Germans possess fifteen or sixteen large air-cruisers, capable of carrying two tons of explosives, and which have a speed of fifty or sixty miles an hour, it must bo realised that the enemy’s power of doing us damage' is considerable. The difficulty of dealing with Zeppelins lies in their ability to fly high ; there are no other airships which ran attain anything like as great an altitude. These considerations convey some idea of the difficulty of evolving adequate defensive measures against these swift, highflying airships. This on tho one hand. On the other there is complete confidence on the part of those best informed that the problem will he solved to the discomfiture of the enemy; but the matter is not one to he hurried, and tho public must exhibit patience.