| Show SAFTERUSES A WAR AllOO AMEBICA2IS LOOK DOWN ON THE ENEMY t i I First Time It Has Been TJesd By Our i Army Connected t the 9round By Telephone I I Washington July 1 General Miles from I received a dispatch this morning Shafters headquarters saying that the big military balloon was now high in the air and was giving opportunity for observation over a great sweep of I country This in itself was of Incalculable Incal-culable value to our troops Brave r I connoissances had been made but these were of little value compared to what could be seen from a e on a mile or more In the air commanding a radius of observation ot from 20 to 40 miles with powerful telescopes General Miles had seen these war balloons in successful operation at Aldershot and again during the French maneuvers when a sixhorse wagon to which the great air ship was anchor cd followed a squadron of cavalry On the dead run He says German ships going at eight knots have hauled these balloons along with them At St Petersburg he also saw them operated during maneuvers This was the first actual use by the American army in the present war and the commanding general set much store on the information they would give as to the exact location of all the Spanish forces their points of concentration con-centration the definite location of Cerveras warships in the harbor and possibly the progress of the Spanish I reinforcements Chicago July IThe balloon that is now in active use and sailing over the beleaguered city ot Santiago and in I plain view of 25000 Spaniards land 17 000 Americans was shipped from Tampa with Shafters forces together with the submarine cables and other field telegraph equipment nov being used by the signal corps of the regular army in Cuba Mr J W Lloyd assistant j as-sistant district superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph company says I is probably one of the finest and most improved equipments used in warfare This balloon was shipped from Paris early in May and Is being charged with oxygen gas from tubular reser I j volrs which have been In use by the i army for experimental purposes at i I Fort Riley I The balloon is first charged and then allowed to ascend by weans of wire cables from a large reel made fast to a field wagon The cable is used as a telegraph and telephone conductor and the occupants of the balloon transmit ito i-to the ground their observations There j is little danger of the balloon being I pierced by a rifle shot on account of its constantly swaying condition and the extreme difficulty of hitting anything any-thing at an elevation of say 2500 feet 1 which is the usual limit of the cable I reelThe j I The French claim to have a rifle that will pierce the balloon but it is claimed I there are none in use In either the Spanish or American army Had the baliocn been aboard Sampsons fleet much anxiety would have been prevented i pre-vented during the final discovery of Admiral Cervera Santiago harbor I |
