NEW TERROR IN WAR.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3377, 18 November 1911, Page 10

NEW TERROR IN WAR.

AN INVISIBLE SHIP OF THE SKIES. REMARKABLE INVENTION. Extraordinary though it may seem, patent rights have been granted _in England for ami “improved airship which will be invisible. Though the improved airship is to be much longer than the'leviathan liner Olympic, yet at a height of 1500 ft it will be detected with the greatest difficulty, and at 3000 feet it will be absolutely invisible, though less than a mile away. When an aeroplane is a mile away, it must be remembered, the buzz of the engines can be heard, so that were no attention devoted to the .motors .the whereabouts of the novel airship might be detected even when. the.vessel itself was invisible. But silencing devices, now common with the best motor-cars, will 'be .utilised for the engines, thus assisting the designer in his scheme for the production of an airship capable of complete self-obliteration. The inventor is Baron Adam Ro-enne, well-known in England as an, airship and naval engineer. The main principle upon which the invention is based is the equalisation of light and shade. The cover or envelope of the airship is made of chromium, a metal possessing a highly-polished surface which is perpetually retained by a covering of transparent varnish. Therefore, the metal is equivalent to a mirror, and it is by reflection- that the invisibility is obtained. The surface and sides of the polished envelope naturally must reflect the same color —bright or murky, according to the weather —as its environment, and thus be invisible. It is with the lower part of the polished balloon, which reflects the earth, in its mirror, that the main difficulty of the invention was encountered. Being darker than the sky the reflected earth must cause this part of the huge envelope to stand out prominently in the lighter atmosphere. This difficulty is overcome by making the sides of the keel, which to be as long as the balloon, also reflecting mirrors, and by placing on the keel triangular longitudinal ribs. THE DREAM OF INVENTORS. With the aid of these ribs the keel reflects the shades of. the air on to .the lower part of the balloon above, and thus obliterates the reflected darkness of the earth. . In other words, it equalises light and shade. So that there will be no recurring shade shown on the bottom, pf the keel, this will taper to a point. By this means the airship will always take the color of its surrounding elements, and be invisible. The device has been submitted by the inventor to the officials at the Greenwich Royal Observatory, who declare that it is thoroughly scientific and certainly practicable. Invisible airships, like invisible battleships, have been the dream of inventors for a long time, though the idea of successfully designing such vessels has been dismissed by most as impossible. But it has been found less difficult to design an invisible airship than an undisooverable battleship. Warships are painted a dark ominous grey to make them practically invisible, and yet, without special telescopes or binoculars, stationary vessels, not even emitting smoke, can be discovered at a distance of about six miles. . And battleships are much less fonnidable than the future invisible war-airship, for the latter, it is claimed, will be able to traved over sea and land and create destruction everywhere without being observed. It could hover over an army encamped, observe the whereabouts of ammunition and stores, the tents of the commander and his generals, and hurl deadly explosives with minute accuracy from a height of one mile. Floating across the encampment from one principal point to another it could continue its destructive crusade, be responsible for the etxermination of many thousands, the destruction of all explosive stores, and then fit away even without having been observed by the overwhelmed enemy below. POSSIBILITIES OF DESTRUCTION-

Upon a modern war fleet, representing, say 30 millions of money, to say nothing of the thousands of men on board, it could also operate with equally disastrous effect. From its attack the vessels would be entirely unprotected. To bombard the air at random would be the only means of retaliation, but only by luck could the airship be destroyed, and directly shots were fired the air-vessel would mount up another mile, when it would be practically out of range, yet still able to continue its onslaught upon the defenceless war fleet.

Through the extraordinary strength and lightness of the metal which the inventor proposes to use for the envelope, the airship will be able to ascend to an enormons height. This metal has a breaking strain of 25 tons to the square inch, which is more than half the strength of best steel,.,the strongest metal in nse. It possesses greater resistance against oxidation than any other base metal, and the secret of its production is; rigidly preserved. Though almost as strong as steel it is only onefourth its weight. It is an alloy of several metals. . Another important circumstance which makes it compare favorably with the present and more popular' fabric cover, is its absolute im~ pexviousness to hydrogen. No gas whatever can escape, and consequently the danger of fire disappears. The success of the improved airship, so far as invisibility is concerned, will be mainly due ho idle discovery of this remarkable composition.