War in the Air | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Apr 14, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 15.

War in the Air.

—Mr. Garret P. Serviss, scientific publicist, emphatically assures us that the war of the air is certain to come. The tremendous advance that has been made in air-ships and aeroplanes, and the loads these sky vessels are now carrying, clearly demonstrate that they will be used in a war of the future. One of the objects now is to devise guns which are effective in bringing down the air-ships. We are told that the Krupps have already designed a sky-pointing gun. By a system of levers and mirrors, the gunner can sight his overhead mark and aim his gun with great facility, while the projectile is designed not merely to pierce the envelope of a balloon but to fire the gas in it. Some of these dirigible air-ships have several or many gas-bags and one shot might not disable it at all, but a burning shell would put an end to its flight instantly; and yet Mr. Serviss thinks that it would be much more difficult to hit a ship in the air than it will one on the water.