WAR AND THE AEROPLANE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14453, 27 May 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

WAR AND THE AEROPLANE.

(Bj Tiburec Beaugoai-d.)

If ovor men presented a spectacle of siheer inanity it- is now, when buying at la.vt triumphed in tlk*:r struggle to subordinate to Uic : r welfare tlu* \m;.'onqui 4 red element, they have straightway commenced to defile that f 1 jiiient, .so heroically mastered, by filling it v.* it It -ou<j:iii :;s of d.'struct.on.—.Mr. Galsworthy in "The Timey." Ulotjuent and forcible ;ts is Mr. Galsworthy's protect against the devilry of p:ostitut:ng the conouesb of the air to th-o -ends of warfare, there is inaniiestly no hope that it will arrest, oven for one moment, ihe format- on and development of aerial ikeU, now cn pregi in practically every country in iCurop'fr and America. iTrancc, wljo jjr.saO.-Bes at the time the hi-it-maimed and equipped "flying squadrons"oori r aeroplanes for military w<;rk and an adequate number oi dirigib'cs, is naturally anxious to retain her lead. Germany i.s following .suit closely, <lsvoting her (nergy to nerteeting not only,h-er Xo p pel ill v and Pa rivals, hut to comp?tiiig w-;ih her rival across the Ithino in the budding of fast aerial cruisers of the Jieavioi*tlian-air tyoe. Kussia. Aiolgimii. Italy, Japan, £uo "Tn-'ted States, and we'ourselvcs in T-ngUiud, hi our own .small way. are busy in tho saznb direction. It i.s therefore evident that the note of warning has com© too Into, and. lie who hopes to stay this Cyclopean activity in forging tho "new arm'' must indeed he- an incurable optimist. THE Vi'All VULTUItES. There is perhaps, however, .no reason to despair, for there is a little group of m«gn in Franco, earnest. 4 'pacifists," like Mr. Galsworthy, who count on the very horror and fiendishncss of the re-cently-discovered means of destruction to g;vc rise in the minds of men to &o strong a f-cciing of repulsion that it will send the pendulum on a long swing back, and that -as a eoiis-equeiies tlic war party will be defeated with their own wcaiwns. In a- word, it is •hoped that tho war-god. like the scorpion, will die of his own sting. Baron d'Estournelles de Constant, among the foremost of th-e world's peace-makers, has hailed th«. coming of aviation a.s the verv herald of peace and goodwill on earth. And Haron d' Kstournelles has ths support of M. F. A[a Mot, a member of the Club Aeronautique d<? France, who sneaks in th-e .same enthus : astie. strain of'the ad- <>£ the aeroplane. In hi<i book, "lhe Conquest of the Air and 'Universal IVjiee," V-ic author brings out the fact that once flving mac-hiiif? are transformed, as thev wi'll 1 x>, into tho deadliest and most diabolical engines of destruction, tho whole of the present system of military-and naval'organization-? will Income absolute]v worthless. M. Mallet -analyses th? various changes science has brought into n'arfaro, and points out that though the •moT-G nrimitivo w/?aj;ons ha\v. hoeiigiadunfly renlaced by rifle and cannon, tho field c£ battle has hitherto remained the same. Aviation has, however, changed ajl this, and thus conmlfUdv rfvoiiit:on»ses military science. All the time; labour, and the' nionsy swnfc in fort.'fymcj frontiers is now uWi!c^ , = For no n-urohorof troom behind fho ramp-arfs will any longer ho ablo 'to arrest th e flight of the iirnr warbirds. ltnjs tile whole of tine milifcarv edifice winch man and nation ? iaro given of tli-r tsst to In,ild falfe Ift* a Lus* of card?, and the rducat'on of t;i«a modern warrior rmisfc begin nil over The conquest of th? nir has baleen the throne of Mars to .its very foundation. UXDEKGIH)UXD CITIES. In addition to instructive comments on the wanton waste of niijlions spout •»u weapons and Dreadnoughts, which the living machine will render ohs:;Ieto. the autlior gives its a weird picture of a battle m thy'air,. Bcforo it tho iiaag.n.it.on recoils in hoi'ror. AV© sr-c t-old tliat in order to esca'N? certain death th e people of vast"citi«s like .Loiidani Pans, and New York, which w dl mcyitably be- t]:-s ohjectivo of the aer:«n! mvaccTS, will Jiaro to seek shelter underground. Life mider sucli conditions vrould he ciut'.roly chnrv'xl. I'Jic. whole race world Ire transformed and havir t<» adapt iWif to snht-er-ranean cities, where ovcrvdnv existence would be tiie living deach oi th Q tomb. Such a contingency the writer disniir,.»;es as utterly .impossible at i*ic point ot progress and culture to whi-h humanity has irached. H ( , cannot bcl:i\e that a civd zcd petmle, wliose xr.ump.ii, *mt progress Ims hcen reared on th-e grave of tyranny, should allow themselves to b 3 in,.-arcer„locl in a livjhs tomh at tho wave of tie doadlv st-ep'ro < ; this now and awful dcswit." Jl. JLalltit finally roc-alls that Jia.li" a pentnry ajjo, in a n:o:nent of propliot : u vis-on, the groat ixot, Victor Uu-o, wrote of tins Vulture of War that threatens to swoon down or: the nconics or the oartli and destroy them "at'the simple hx'.dniy of a ijandhu oi military f.mati;s. "Id Mtiiro alio I'm- discorery "'Sht was a STmbol of re'goneratior.. Ihs' boundaries are hurst.'' <ti j <s the poet, the Gordian Iniot is nifci'The old despotism has im more Arm:es and wars djsapn»ar an 1 melt away with a!j that lioVi fa to tlnu—then hatru.. t/je'r and 1 'ze'r scrvitiKte. I'esoe diwns s-i<UU-n]y oa tlw t-r«i world, the iron bar/ are hi olwii, tho door of tho c.iga is open, nvvs" £lanity freel " ~ " Dail y Stranpr—-1 say, my lad., what is cons <ieica a good score- on those inks. Caddie—'• Well, sir, most of 1 +r u tr:es to , c!<> it !n fsw t'd-ov V S e nera,lly takes a lew more. Tlic curly-haired little sprite of tea house came running to l H 'r father in ,h.'„? r y a ' K ' tll r°"''«K W arms * 11* 1 ■ \ ,!> . eonfidentiy,,,u '"JJ ear: "Oh. nana; it's rain- • h.' ii . U " JIS wrifng on n sub-•lli-io:. ,a '. oco "V;«' l»s miiid to the rxJi , of '""ttera Bsidsy, so he sa-d rather sharply. "Well, iet it rain -;Cs, papa ; I was c oinc to." was her ca-.ek response. SOME Of.D THIN'GS AKE J"*"ST AFTER ALL. 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