Show AIRSHIPS AND SUBMARINES 1 WASPS OF WAR both are getting their first real test in this conflict in europe MAY FIGHT ONE ANOTHER each invention now Is I 1 prepared to pull the others sting but their actual value la Is yet to be demonstrated every modern modem war has been ought fought with new weapons and for or the last century there have been countless inventions vent ions for or the carrying on of 0 warfare in a particularly destructive manner with the philanthropic intent that war was fast becoming so horrible and terrible that it must soon pass pasa away from the face of 0 the earth says the philadelphia public ledger but it happened that as soon as a particularly horrible contrivance was invented and introduced into armies and navies inventors immediately busied themselves by offsetting and discounting its probable effect consequently war not only has not passed away but we still have it with us thus it Is that each big war after being heralded as the worlds last conflagration fla Is found upon examination to be false and the end of war Is not yet arrived trying out inventions in the present war li in europe there are being tried under the conditions of actual hostilities many improvements and inventions that previously have be been e n tried only under laboratory conditions dit ions their real worth will only ve tte discovered at the close of the conflict N no 0 army or navy engaged in the present conflict in europe but what la Is possessed of nearly all of the modern improvements made since 1870 the submarine which was a dream in 1865 Is owned by the navy of the smallest power it Is true that single submarines are not expected to accomplish much in a real struggle so the larger navies of the great powers have fleets of submarines the aeroplane and the dirigible balloon are to be found la in the possession of all armies in europe today yet they too are only expected to be of 0 real service when they are possessed la in large numbers the airships and the submarines are 1 the h 0 wasps wasp of modern warfare like the little insect while they have a powerful sting they are very vulnerable and may be easily crushed and rendered powerless aeroplane and wireless in the recent smaller wars aero plans have been used to a limited extent and this use has been so much limited that their real effle efficiency lency is expected to be finally determined by the present war it Is much the same with the wireless telegraph while it was used in the russo japanese war of ten years ago the apparatus was still rudimentary and the installations too few while the range of the apparatus was too limited to show the greatest efficiency in the intervening decade however great advance has been made in wireless it is now possible and indeed Is a custom every day to send and receive messages from a distance ot of more than miles this then is a new and important factor iu in naval operations as was seen by the censorship put over the great sending stations on this side of the atlantic by the united states authorities wireless has also been successfully attached to aeroplanes aero planes the submarine was in existence in 1904 but it was a very different sea wasp to that which england france and germany are using today yet its real value is yet to be determined and it Is expected that this demonstration will come during the present conflict rapid increase of submarines at the time of the spanish american war there were only five submarines in all the navies of the world the latest edition of Bras naval annual for this year gives the number of submarines in the various navies and shows what interest is being taken in the wasp of the sea great britain has 76 built and is building 20 more germany v nho bo only began building a few years ago already has 27 and Is building 12 more france has 70 and Is building 23 additional ones russia has 25 and ta la bull building ding 18 while the united states has 29 and 1 la building 21 austria has 18 and has baa tour four under construction while italy owns 18 and Is building two yet the tha submarine Is still an unknown quantity in warfare submarine in war many of 0 the early submarines are small and probably ot of little efficiency and france has numerous types about which little Is known by the outside world the german submarines are said to be built along the holland lines while the russian submarines are said to follow one or more of the french types 3 th submarine from a romantic viewpoint should be a great factor in deciding a naval engagement but the tact fact remains that up to the present time it has done nothing to prove its value it was believed that the moral effect of the submarine would be almost as important as its physical effect upon an warship but this belief has baa not been justified up to the present moment there were notions actions that there would be terrific fights under the seas by submarine meeting submarine and destroying ying each other but it has been found that when submerged the submarine Is as blind as the traditional bat its crew cannot see any object under water and Is compelled to resort to thelise the use of the periscope which emerges uil unostentatiously ostentatiously above the water in order to see its own course it is known that the periscope Is the eye of the submarine and naturally attention has been paid to the best way of destroying this vital part of these boats submarine versus airships the designers of the suba submarine 11 no did riot not count upon it being seen it was believed that lt it would go upon its way dealing death without observation although its periscope does make a slight wake on the water and when submerged there are telltale bubbles but it has been discovered that from a certain height an observer may trace the course of a submerged submarine with as great accuracy as if it was running on the surface the dirigible balloon and the acro aeroplane plane now can ferret out the sneaking submarine and they both are supposed to be armed to destroy the warship that moves like a fish |