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THE COLBORNE EXPRESS, COLBORNE, ONT., THURSDAY, SEPT. 22, 1927 THE MENACE OF THE AIR Air Tragedy Strikes Home Recene Air Manoeuvres Proved That Enemy Attack Could Destroy Principal British Cities DEFENCES INADEQUATE By Lt.-Commander the Hon. J. M. Kenv,-orthy, R.N., M.P. Formerly cf Admiralty War Staff, London, and Asst. Chief of Staff, Gibraltar Last month great manoeuvres were carried out by the Royal Air Force. They were the first large scale manoeuvres in the air that have been attempted in the history of flying. The idea of the manoeuvres was that Britain was fighting a Continental Power, and heavy air attacks on London had decided the Government to move the capital to Manchester. The attacking forces had to continue their air attacks so that the evacuation would be impeded. These manoeuvres, carried out with great efficiency by the airmen concerned and with remarkably few failures of engines, showed once more the extreme difficulty of defence against well organized air attacks. Great Britain is no Longer an Island Man's conquest of the air, though it will ultimately ring great benefits to humanity, has removed our great bar- the British Navy was efficient and powerful we could defend our country against invasion. Now we are in the same boat with the other Continental Powers. True, we are not open to attack by i:.vading armies, but a more terrible form of attack from the air can be made upon us. Since the end of the Great War, great advances have been made in the technique of flying. Aeroplanes more reliable, they can fly higher farther, and at greater speeds. And the machines have been enormously Improved. The Americans have carried out experiments with an aeroplane bomb weighing 4,000 pounds In its explosion it displaces 1,000 cubic yards of hard sand. Such a bomb dropped ii Princes Street, Edinburgh, or in Pic cadilly, London, would wipe out tin whole street. Marshal Foch, that great master o . modern warfare, writing three year; ago, used these words: -- "The potentialities of aircraft attack on a large scale are almost in culable. but it is clear that such owing to its crushing moral aticn, may impress public i point of disarming the and thus become deci- What Marshal Foch means, is that sustained air attacks will, in the first place, inflict great damage on crowded cities by blowing up buildings, starting numerous fires and, worst of all, by dropping bombs loaded with poison gases. Another method of gas attack from the air is by carrying the gas in cylinders in the form of a liquid to be discharged in a fine spray into the air and forming a poisonous vapour. Experiments have been successfully carried out and this is a perfectly feasible method of attack. It would be a big task to serve out gas masks ot the whole population of Only 33 German aeroplanes took part in the attack. The defence consisted of 800 anti-aircraft guns, placid around London, aided by 400 searchlights. In addition there were 100 British fighting aeroplanes which took the air in a very gallant manner and attacked the enemy in the darkness wherever they could find him. We had moored balloons, carrying nets " of pi; The s the n opinior Goverr in try; sible there are gases known ti to penetrate ; if it vi t- least two poisonous ciouce which are able f gas masks yet in- Some relief would be found by taking refuge in underground tunnels, cellars, vaults, etc., but the whole popula-t;on could not live there day and night and carry on its war-works as well. Furthermore, if the attacks are concentrated on the railway centres the whole transport of a country could be disorganized. Such pressure, therefore, could be brought to bear as to eubdue a population by continuous air attack as the Field-Marshal fortells. Now let us consider the strength of the three leading Air Forces in the world. France maintains on a war footing 1,400 fighting aeroplanes, and she has nearly 4,000 reserve aeroplanes. She lias pilots, mechanics, and the other personnel required for this huge force. Italy has 700 aeroplanes and 600 in reserve, and she is adding enormously to her Air Force. Britain has 650 aeroplanes in the regular Air Force,and 350*reserves. But of our regular Air Force some of the squadrons have to be maintain ed in Mesopotamia, others are in India. Egypt, China, or earmarked for service with the Navy. The Russians are building up a formidable air fleet; and although Germany is forbidden to have fighting aeroplanes under the Peace Treaty she has a very large civil Air Force, and passenger aeroplanes can be converted to bombers In a few hours. Japan and America are both devoting great attention to ing we experienced during the war, but only six of the 33 attacking aeroplanes were brought down. Three were shot down by the British aircraft and three by the anti-aircraft At the end of the raid most cf the anti-aircraft guns were red hot and had fired off nearly all their ammunition, and the defending aeroplanes had nearly all used up their petro'. If the enemy had had another twenty or thirty aeroplanes to follow up with, far more damage would have be done. Yet if we should have to face the tragedy of another war on the large scale in which we could be attacked from the Continent, the attacking air-craft would not come in scores; they would come in hundreds. It Is difficult to exaggerate the seriousness of the position, and all the countries of Europe are in a similar difficulty. During the Geneva Naval Conference we heard a great deal of our dependence on overseas supplies and the need of more warships. We could fill the English Channel and the North Sea with cruisers, and they would be as useless as barrels of butter so far as protecting the country against air attack was concerned. If we were completely blockaded by sea, W'e could b9 starved out in seven weeks. But if we were attacked by a strong nation cn the Continent, well equipped with a rlage Air Force, we should be bombed out In seven days. It would, in fact, be a competition in frightfulnc3s between the enemy and ourselves. Yet we spend over £60,000,000 on the Navy and only £16,000,000 on the Air Force. The Army costs us over £50,000,000 a year. The first necessity here is for a Ministry of Defence, which will .allocate, the., available money to meet the greatest necessities of defence. But something more is required. Many disarmament conferences have been held since the war, but they have resulted in very little. Tho reason is that every nation insists on providing what it considers necessary defence forces so long as war is looked upon as a possibility. The only real way to solve the matter Is to outlaw war, just as we have outlawed the duel, feudal armies, and slavery. I believe the civilized peoples are prepared to take this step. When that step is taken we shall lose the habit of war and the fear of war, and the questian of armaments will solve itself. Carr j On. Captain Terence B. Tully piloted the plane "Sir John Carling" into that mysterious mid-Atlantic region which holds the fate of a mounting list of missing flyers, and left "young Ter- | ence," nine years old, to look after his I mother and his younger brother. "Love to you and the boys" was the last message Mrs. Tully received from the father, husband and daring air pilot. Young Terence is shown in the picture above, beside that of his Now is that there Hack. All against matter except do is to carry out reprisals against In fact our official policy, i by successive British Governments, is to provide a Home Defence Force in the air of such strength that no Continental Power will venture to attack us, the reason being that we could hit back in the same way, or harder. This will be poor consolation for the inhabitants of our cities. And it must be remembered that cities as far north as Glasgow and as far west as Cardiff, as well as London, will bear the burnt of air attacks in the event of war with a Continental Power. To show the difficulty of defence I will give some figures of the last great air attack on London in the war. This was at Whitsun, 1918. Prince George Favors Rajah by Cello Solo London.--Prince George has earned a name as an "entertainer." It was at one of the "Do-Something" parties popularizod by Mrs. Vernon Lewis, a New York hostess, In the hotel suite of the Maharajah of Rajplpla. After dinner the Maharajah announced that, Instead of the usual musical entertainment before the dancing began, every one of his guests would have to contribute something ! toward the fete. The King's third son borrowed a cello and played a solo, then changed to a clarinet and did the same. TYPHOON IN JJtPm- KILLS 1,000-E)AMAGE HEAVY Storm and Tidal Wave Caused by Submarine Earthquake Cause Havoc in Devastated Region WORLD TOUR OFF Mexico also Hard Hit by Similar Storm at Same Time Speeding the Mails, The postal authorities directed Major Tudhope to meet the Empress of France last week at Father Point, pick up the mail bags and fly back to Montreal. The first attempt proved a failure, but in the future the department hopes to save fourteen hours' on overseas mail for Toronto. Belgium and Portugal Exchange Africa Land Brussels--A convention has been signed between Belgium an! Portugal whereby the two powers agree to exchange certain colonial districts in Africa situated on the frontiers of the Belgian Congo and Angola, respectively. The exchange is being carried out inorder to facilitate the linking up of the railways now in process of construction from the rich mining district of Katanga to the coast, part of which lies in Belgian and part in Portuguese territory. Katanga is the district which is at present supplying the world's radium requirements. Tokio.--One of the typhoons that sweep through these eastern seas periodically, combined with a tidal wave thrown up by an earthquake under the ocean, served to lay waste several towns and damage others on the Island of Kiushiu, of which Nagasaki is the chief city. The stricken district is almost completely isolated, but the meagre reports received indicate that over 1,000, have been killed, many more are miss-' ing, thousands are injured and the damage will run into the millions of dollars. An official report from the Kumamoto prefecture places the dead ' that section alone at 270, the injured at 1,000, and 780 homes washed RICH REGION. The region devastated by the typhoon and tidal wave combined rich in rice growing, of which the city of Kumamoto was a centra with a population estimated at 75,000. Nagasaki's population of 110,000 includes a large number of foreigners. Before communications failed from Nagasaki many houses were reported to have collapsed and the streets were strewn with telegraph and telephone wires and toppled poles. Train service ceased. The round-the-world flyers, Brock and Schlee, were held up by storm and on solicitation of friends definitely abandoned their intended Pacific hop. They are shipping the Pride of Detroit home by steamer. MEXICO SUFFERS TOO. Nogales, Ariz.--A storm of intense severity, which whipped up a tidal wave believed to have extended over a thousand miles along the Pacific Ocean, has spread death and destruction over the west coast of Mexico. First news of the disaster, occurring last Wednesday, reached this broder Meagre reports to the Nogales Herald over badly crippled communication lines said the death toll might reach into hundreds, while other hundreds, perhaps thousands, were left homeless, and shipping suffered severely. Three of Mexico's greatest seaports --Guaymas, Salina Cruz ai zanillo--are reported to have suffered heavy property loss, while two ves>-sels of the National Line, the Jalisco and the Navajoa, are missing. Mazat-lan, fourth important west coast port, also felt the lash of the storm, but not j so severely as the other towns, j The storm, described as one of the , worst hurricanes in the history of I West Mexico, headed up the coast from ~the Gulf of Tehuantepic, Oax-' aca, and swept northward as far as Guaymas, Sonora, within 300 miles of the United States border. Territory several hundred miles inland reported affected. Polo Cup Remains in United State* Great Britain's Team Losefi Second Match and Series > at Meadowbrook Westbury, N.Y., Sept. 14.--The'Vl^ ited States "big four" again reigned supreme in the world of polo, but only after the most spirited challenge they. have ever had. In a close and fiercely fought battW this afternoon on the green turf of the Meadowbrook Club the United; States' four horsemen checked Great' Britain's thrilling come-back to win1 the second and deciding match of the International Cup series by a score of 8 to 5. The margin of triumph, was gainer! in the first period when the brilliant young United States forward, Tommy Hitchcock, scored three sensational goals in succession, but it took all of the defensive skill of the Yankees to hold this margin against the spirited attack of the reorganized British Throughout the last seven periods the Britons, Immeasurably strength- * ened by the addition of the hard-riding Captains George and Dening to the forward lin-e, fought the Americans to a standstill in a battle that contrasted sharply with their route in the opening game last Saturday. HITCHCOCK LEADING SCORER.Hitchcock, as he was in the first game, scintillated in the attack, scoring five goals altogether, but except for his flashing spurt in the opening period, Tommy rose to his customary heights. only at intervals thereafter. His work in the first six minutes of the game, however, was enough to decide the battle. Two of his three goals in that chukker were tallied in less than a minute of actual play. Three years ago the came combini." tion swamped the British 16 to 5 ami 14 to 5, while they had a 10-goal margin last Saturday. Tropical Rains , Halt Harvesting Severe Electrical Storm* Sweeps Over Winnipeg --Nobody Hurt WTanr/.pcig.--Harvesting operations in several western districts, partcu-larly in Manitoba were halted following heavy rain storms over the weekend. After a day of stfling heat, wii J the mercury climbing well above the 80 mark, Winnipeg and district experienced one of the worst electrical storms of the season, accompanied by a torrential downpour. A heavy wind preceded the rain, but no re-port.? of damage have been received. Rural districts reported heavy rain and wind, but no crop damage was reported. Heavy rainfall was fairly general over the Saskatoon district. Thresh-| ing will be probably delayed in parts of that province. Believed a storm casualty, the body of William Bohn, aged 21, was fo-unl lying on the road near Brcadview, | Saslc. It is thought he was struck by lightning. LUNATIC GIVES CRACOW A NIGHT OF TERROR Warsaw, Poland--The city of Cra-cow lived through a night of terror. For twelve hours it was in danger every moment of being blown up by an insano man. A gunner named Ker- uick ii Accord the Literary Digest, afe drawn to the surface only ical sounds which annoy them, passed on as a suggestion to ■ly birds.--El Paso Times. nia who had r balow threatened t mous quantity of explosives stored The lunatic, who had been left alone at the post, communicated his intention to the commander in a letter demanding that the President of the Republic and Premier Pilsudski come to Cracow and ask him for the keys to the fortress. All night the demented man ran around the buildings with a ■lighted torch, threatening to throw it into the powder towers. Officers sent by the commander' finally succeeded, after parleys lasting many hours, in persuading the maniae to surrender by showing him a false telegram announcing that his request had been granted by the President and the Prime Minister. As soon as he opened the door, soldiers overpowered him and transported him to an insane asylum. FARM ERETS PROVE TO BE GOOD JUDGES iry Anderson, Peel County; Wilma Boucher, Peel County; Evelyn Young, Cheltenham; Ida Galbraith, Glen Valley, who proved their ability as prize stock judges at the C.N.E. ^e opening of Duchess of York to Go on Air; King May Address Jhe Emoire London.--The King's daughter-iiu law, the Duchess of York, will make her first essay in broadcasting Sept. 21. It is probable that the King himself, before the end of the year, will attempt the experiment of speaking by wireless to his 450,000,000 subje'ets throughout the world. The Duchess will speak into the microphone on the occasion of the presentation of the freedom of the city to her at Glasgow. Before the King is invited to address by wireless the whole population of the British Empire, however, there are many difficulties of transmission to be overcome. Further ex-, periments will be attempted in October and upon the results will depend i Empire service.