The Bee August 14, 1914

Air Fleets In a Death Grapple. German, French, British and Russian Aeroplanes and Dirigibles Battling Among the Clouds. BATTLES In the air! Aeroplanes darting at dirigible balloons, piercing their thin envelopes and exploding their gasoline tanks until attacker and attacked fall to death! Maddened with the war fury, the aviator is glad to die, if so be can but take with him the enemy who disputes with him the mastery of the atmosphere. War in the air is a reality. Long the dream of the poet and novelist who "saw red" in the glare of the sun, It has in the present European war fulfilled nil the dread prophecies that have been made about It. The military aviator, , circling ever upward and outward lii his search for his foe, has come upon him In the upper reaches of the air. There have been sharp, short skirmishes for position, each man Intent upon guiding his own machine aright and seeking to deal a deathblow to tho other's aeroplane. Speed up the propeller, feed the engine to tho last ounce of power! There he is, circling around and look ing for you. And then, in the last fatal dash, drive the nose 'of your machluo into him! Your planes lock and tangle in a mortal embrace you fall, thou sands and thousands of feet but before you land you huvo the fierce conscious ness of having dragged your foe witli you to death! Already we have had such cases. And wo have had, too, tho stories of the gun and tho rifle on laud tilted until they pointed almost to the zenith, sending shell or bullet Into aeroplanes and the dirigible balloons and bringing them down to tho ground with their occupants in n helpless, shapeless mnss. Men are fighting with guns on land and sea ami lu the air. Tho last uudo flled element has been made to serve the purposes of slaughter. Aeroplanes, and dlrlgilles carry guns especially dcslgued for waging aerial battles and bombs for dropping from the heights on armies and cities. All the great lighting powers of Europe are playing ut the dreadful, deadly aerial fighting game. Great Britain, France ami Uussla soud their hopes aloft in aeroplanes. Germany and Austria spread their faith abroad on tho heavens in monster dirigible balloons. Of the heavier than air flying machines Great Britain lias 400, Franco 1.100 and Itussla 800. To Germany is credited tho ownership of 1,000, nnd Austria-Hungary has about -100. In dlrlgiblos Gormauy Is richer than any other country, thanks to the efforts of Zeppolln, Pursovnl and others. Sho lias thirty "battle airships," while France has only twenty nnd Great Britain seven. Austria-Hungary plauued to build six, but that was before the great war began. Just how far they are toward completion uo one knows but the Austrian general stuff. And its members will not tell.