Riley E. Scott

“ Even the emplacements of the big guns would offer excellent targets—and who will say that five hundred pounds of high explosive, placed on or near a disappearing gun carriage, would not do serious harm? But why continue? We may rest assured that the enemy would make the destruction as complete as possible, under the circumstances. If it should take a whole day to batter down a single lock and if all the machines should be lost in the fight, would not the results justify the price paid? ”

“ While other nations are straining every resource in developing military aeronautics; while secret experiments are being made in dropping bombs and firing at aerial targets; while aeroplanes are being armored and equipped with rapid-fire guns; while the latest dreadnaughts are being designed to carry aeroplanes and have their stacks and other vulnerable parts screened from aerial attack; in short, while millions are being spent in developing what a noted tactician has called the greatest military invention since gunpowder, we, the United States, are doing practically nothing. ”

“ For example, if we should have a preponderating air fleet of fast machines on the Isthmus, lightly armored underneath as a protection against rifle fire and armed with rapid-fire guns, it would be possible to meet and fly above the heavier, more slowly moving bomb-carriers and pick them off, one by one. The aerial battle of the future is not an improbability, and the writer ventures to predict that many a deed of heroism and daring will take place in the blue above contending armies. ”

“ Granting that the fortifications in process of construction are sufficient to keep any probable combination of fleets at bay, we will suppose that the enemy decides to bombard the Canal from the air. Maneuvering just outside of the range of the big guns of the forts, the bomb-carrying aeroplanes are assembled and launched, each machine carrying, say, five hundred pounds of high explosive. Each aviator is given a particular target, whose location and elevation above sea-level are known. ”

“ In addition to troops to man the fortifications, it will undoubtedly be necessary to maintain a large force of troops there on a war footing, in order to police the Canal Zone and to provide against attacks by land, for modern warfare strikes quickly and it might be difficult or impossible to transport troops from the United States, after the breaking out of hostilities. Our neighbors to the north and south of the Canal are none too friendly and, if the Zone were not thoroughly policed, partisans of the enemy might produce havoc to locks and dams with dynamite. ”

“ The main fortifications are being placed on islands near the Pacific entrance to the Canal and on a headland near the Atlantic entrance, in order that an enemy's fleet may not approach the shore within bombarding distance of the locks and dams. These fortifications are among the strongest in the world, and comprise batteries of 14-inch mortars and disappearing guns, supplemented with a 16-inch gun, the most powerful weapon of any army. Auxiliary batteries of light rapid-fire guns probably will be located on the hills near the locks and dams, as a precaution against land attacks. ”

“ The distance from the fleet to the locks would be some thirty miles, a half hour's flight. Circling around the fleet until a height of a mile or over is reached, each aviator, in turn, speeds toward the locks and places his charge more or less accurately upon the target. Assuming that half of the bombs are accurately placed, is it not reasonable to suppose that two and one-half tons of high explosive would play havoc with the double gates, emergency dams and floating caissons, not to speak of the outer and middle walls of the locks? ”

“ At this writing, the duration record is over sixteen hours without landing, a height of three and eight-tenths miles has been attained, a speed record of 126 miles per hour has been made, continents have been crossed, seas have been traversed, mountain ranges and deserts have been flown over and the number of machines is legion. France alone has over 800 military aeroplanes ready for service and is making a desperate effort to maintain the mastery of the air; while Germany, Russia, Great Britain, Austria, Italy and Japan are training aviators and providing machines as fast as possible. ”

“ In 1912, in competition with the crack military aviators of France, under the auspices of the French army, he won all prizes offered for dropping bombs from aeroplanes. In Europe he is considered an authority as well as a pioneer in this field. At this time he is conducting experiments at San Diego for the War Department, dropping explosives from an aeroplane under war conditions. Mr. Scott believes that the United States, having fortified the Canal against attack by land and sea, must eventually protect it from attack by an aerial foe. ”

“ Warships at temporary rest in the most secluded harbor of the world, or dry-docked for emergency repairs along the Sequestered shores of inland waters, may face unequal and hopeless battle with aerial enemies unless both ships and shores are provided with adequate fleets of aerial destroyers, armed to repel invasion from the air and swifter in flight than the ammunition-laden emissaries from hostile ships off-shore and take several weeks, or even months, to remove. ”

“ He does not wish to say that the danger is imminent, but considers it his duty to warn his countrymen that, in his opinion, a real menace does exist and that little has been done, so far, to meet it. Last year, six great powers spent nearly $25,000,ooo on military aeronautics, France leading with nearly eight millions and Japan forming the sixth with a million, while our beggarly appropriation was $140,000. Is it to be supposed that those nations, already overburdened with taxation, are spending this money foolishly? Nations, as well as individuals, may be "penny wise and pound foolish." ”

“ Below the aeroplane from which the picture was taken lie the Naos islands, in the bay of Panama, on which the United States Government is now mounting batteries of the heaviest artillery in the world, to protect the Pacific approach to the Panama Canal. On the island almost directly under the aeroplane can be seen the emplacement for the most powerful weapon ever constructed, the first 16-inch disappearing gun, which has an effective range of about twelve miles. ”

“ Wireless messages have been sent and received by aeroplane at distances greater than the range of land batteries minute. During these experiments, a weight of 225 pounds was dropped at a single time from a light machine, and, at the present time, aeroplanes exist that are capable of carrying and dropping bombs of five hundred pounds without difficulty. It is safe to predict that the next year or two will develop machines capable of carrying one thousand pounds of high explosives. ”

“ But, you ask, is it not possible to bring down an aeroplane from a height of a mile by artillery or rifle fire? Opinion is divided on that point, but many authorities be lieve that it would be extremely difficult. The latest high-powered, small-winged ma chine offers a very elusive target when fly ing at a height of a mile at speeds of over a mile a minute. Moreover, recent experiments with transparent wing-coverings indicate that machines may be made almost invisible at even moderate heights. ”