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Show '. .v .-::'-.!-! ! . ' Glenn H. Curtiss Says the Sky Will Be Full of Flying Machines Going 109 Miles an HourCities Could Be Wrecked by the Use of Bombs New York. May 31. The Curtiss night from Albany to New York has started anew the discussion as to the possible availability of the aeroplane as a means of offense In time of warfare. war-fare. Glenn II. Curtiss is an enthusiastic enthusi-astic believer in the "aeroplane warship." war-ship." armed with dynamite and picric acid bombs, for tJie destruction of hos- I tile fleets, fortifications and cities. "All the great battles or the future will be fought In the air." declared Curtiss. Army men are not so certain as to the usefulness of the aeroplane in time of war. Most of tho ofllcera stationed sta-tioned at Governor's Island, while willing to admit that the aeroplane would be Invaluable for scouting purposes, pur-poses, are skeptical as io U3 value In offensive warfare. In the opinion of Brigadier General AYaber Howe, commanding tbe department depart-ment of tho east, the aeioplano could ' not be a dangerous factor In a hostile attack on New York. Flying low, shrapnel would get It," he said, "while I flving high Its bombs could do no harm. "We have made some experiments with balloons, and have found that shrapnel can wreck them at certain ranges. What results would bo obtained ob-tained were aeroplanes used is another an-other question. If they were operated as high and as fast as Cu." ss flew, it Is proba-blo that nothing at all would happen to the aeroplane, and if the aeroplane tried to hurt us at Us dizzy altitude, we would probably escape es-cape unhurt, too." Curtiss, In a long statement given out here today, pictures the aeroplane as a war menare, and discusses the posrtbllltv of the des'.ruruon of Now York City or West Point by a bombardment bom-bardment from a fleet of aeroplanes. "It would be perfectly practical." hi said, ' lo drop enough dypnmlle or picric pic-ric tic Id on a city like New York to destroy de-stroy it utterly Of course the speed of a' flying machine cannot be reduced below 15 or .V miles an bour, a speed nc-cessarv to keep it aloft. So to Mover over a city or fortifications you must ilrcle around or swoop down from a great height and Urns get near enough to the objective point to discuurge vour 9tore.s of explosives. ' "Great execution could be done by low flights and stealthy approches. With muffled motors, there would be practically nothing beard. Half a doen machines could sneak up. skimming skim-ming low down at nigh--, anc drop explosives ex-plosives with time fuses attached Just long enough to allow you to get away. The result would be iudescrlbable. "Then suppose we were attacking warships." We com- dynamite their decks blow them in. even If we mlst-ed dropping the charges Into smokestacks smoke-stacks and furnaces. Take my won for II. the days of tho big warships are numbered. , , -The fearful speed of the airship makes it something you can t reckon with at present. It tsonly a question of a verv short time wlie.i the bk will be full of flvInK machines making an -ivoraso rpred of 1 miles an hour. |