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Chronicle Chicag. Ill. 17 Mai - 1907. BALLOONS FOR ARMY Noted Aeronaut Will Teach Soldiers Use of Airships. Lieutenant Lahm Goes to Fort Leavenworth as Instructor. Steps Taken to Develop New and Needed Art of Warfare. All European Nations Using Air Vehicles Extensively. Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm, Sixth cavalry, U. S. A., has been detailed instructor of ballooning at Fort Leavenworth and will soon [[take?]] up his duties in the Kansas stronghold, where he will instruct soldiers in the art of using balloons in times of war. Lieutenant Lahm is a distinguished aeronaut, he having won the Bennett cup in the international balloon race less than a year ago. The winning of the cup by a representative of the American club places the responsibility on that club for organizing that race next year, and already plans are being [[?]]ld. Interest in ballooning has received an impetus which has already carried it to the front, and now the practical side is appearing. It is interesting to note that six of the sixteen balloons in this year's contest carried regular army officers, either as pilots or as assistants. The balloon holds an important place in warfare. Steps which are now being taken to develop ballooning in the army show that Americans are taking the matter seriously and are beginning to appreciate that they are behind other nations along this line. Practically all European armies have their balloon corps. Troops are regularly incorporated for this service, and by constant practice and experimenting they have brought the military balloon to such a point of perfection that its usefulness can not be doubted. History has already demonstrated its value in the past. Thirty-six years ago the besieged city of Paris was able to defy the German besiegers and to maintain constant communication with the troops outside, thanks to balloons. More than seventy were sent out, carrying dozens of passengers, tons of mail and hundreds of carrier pigeons, which were sent back into the city with valuable messages. The big balloon America made an ascension in Washington, D. C., Feb. 23, which was witnessed by numerous prominent soldiers and members of the different diplomatic corps of the capital. Among those present on the occasion were Captain Chandler, U. S. A.; Admiral Chickering, U. S. N.; Sir Chentung Liang Cheng, Chinese ambassador, and J. C. [[?]]eCoy and August Post of the New York [[?]]ero club. This balloon will probably be used in army service. Lieutenant Lahm is an ardent advocate of the use of balloons in the army, and his agitation in this country has done much to arouse an interest in the matter. He has made a close study of the way in which European nations use balloons and he will probably introduce some of those methods to this country, although he has some ideas of his own that he will put in force. Lieutenant Lahm's work will be watched closely by army men in all parts of the country and it is quite possible that if he meets with success balloon corps will be added to a great many army posts in the near future. New Art of Warfare. The balloon became a factor in battles when the five-year prohibition of The Hague peace conference expired. The prohibition did not relate to the employment of the balloon in mere reconnoissances [[sic]], as was effectively done in the Spanish-American and several preceding wars, but to a possible species of offensive tactics which would enable one man or at most a few men to inflict death in a horrible form upon thousands without the latter having more than a remote or very slender chance of defense or retaliation. The one man in a balloon, which could be maneuvered directly over the enemy's head, while he himself, far out of range, could let fall upon the latter bombs of such tremendous explosive power that he alone might decide a mighty conflict in which hundreds of thousands of soldiers were arrayed against one another. In the western American phrase, "getting the drop" on a foe would then have a terribly intensified and terribly literal meaning. This novel instrument has already been used by each belligerent, both armies having used balloons for purposes of observation during the great battle of Liaoyang, which closed in disaster to Russia. The Japanese early in the battle sent up a balloon southeast of Liaoyang and the location of the Russian defenses by keen-eyed observers high above the battlefield may have doomed Russia to defeat through the resulting accuracy of fire from the Japanese batteries. General Kuropatkin as well received assistance by the same means. His defensive positions, however, were fixed and once their range had been determined the Japanese had them at the mercy of their relentless guns. The Russians, on the other hand, faced an ever-shifting foe, seeking this eminence, that hidden vantage point, anywhere within range. The balloon, therefore, served the Japanese relatively far more effectively than the Russians. Its use by both armies, new pages to a fairly new BALLOONS BEING PUT TO USE IN WAR. [[image]] Attaching the basket [[image]] Ascension Made Feb 23 [[image]] Lt Frank P various campaigns. Lowe installed a telegraph office in the basket of his balloon and communicated with officers below through a wire 1,00 feet or more in length. McClellan found the possession of an observation balloon of great value in the peninsula campaign. The confederates imitated the federals to some extent in this respect. Commodore Wilkes in August, 1862, introduced the [[?]] [[?]] the naval operations in the James river. In the France-German war, which began in 1870, the French in besieged strongholds employed free balloons to carry news to their forces outside. Paris while beleaguered sent out millions of letters by balloon, together with large numbers of carrier pigeons, which served as return couriers, and thus an almost regular postal service was maintained. Gambetta, who was later to become dictator, escaped from Paris in a balloon to establish the provisional government at Tours. Of seventy-three balloons that were dispatched from Paris only one was brought down by the Prussian fire. Then the French army was reorganized ballooning was included in its tactics and an experimental balloon station and school were established at Chalais-Meudon, near Paris. Captains Renard and Krebs produced [[theremostats?]] that could be steered against moderate wind. General De Calliffet, afterward minister of war, demonstrated the m[[?]]tance of balloon scouting in the army maneuvers of 1891, in which 100,000 men were opposed to one another in mimic warfare. The [[?]]h derived enormous service from capt[[?]] balloons in their war in Tonkin and th[[?]] [[?]]tish in the Sudan in 1885. Blu[[?]] in Cuba. In the Spanish-American war a captive balloon aided [[General?]] Shafter, in front of Santiago de [[Cuba?]] obtaining a correct idea of the enemy's position. But owing to improper management it also needlessly drew the Spanish fl[[?]] [[?]]on our lines and was the cause of many casualties that could have been avoided. The British have carefully trained balloon corps in their [[army?]] as have the French, and captive balloon[[?]] are used by the former to considerable advantage in the boer war. The German [[army? are?]] also provided with balloons, some of [[them?]] of the more recent dragon or kite type. The achievement of the Brazilian, Santos-Dumont, in [[imagining?]] the dirigible balloon are a continuation of the work of Renard and Krebs at Chalais-Meudon. Augusto Severo has built a [[?]] shaped aerostat, broader and shorter [[than the?]] Santos-Dumont type, and propelled [[?]]pered upon a somewhat different pr[[?]] The American public is familiar with [[the?]] unsuccessful attempts of Professor [[?]] Washington to make a ship of his c[[?]]ion navigate the air. Great results [[have?]] been attained in apparatus for pho[[tographs?]] the surface of the earth and ob[[tained]] it from balloons and kites. An im[[?]] [[?]]med Caillelet produced in France im[[?]] so called photographic which on a continuous film [[image]] The "America" at fantry, taking up a position on a commanding hilltop, if one can be found. The ordinary height to which the balloon goes is 1,000 feet, but cable enough is attached to it to admit of it going twice that distance. If a change of location is desire one or two men stand up in the base wagon to keep the cable from becoming entangled with anything along the route, and the horses go at a trot across the country, up and down hill, perhaps for miles. When it is desired to lower the balloon for a brief interval a peculiar device is used. A stout pole is provided at the middle with a grooved wheel. Half a dozen men seize the pole, three at each end, and press the face of the wheel against the cable, moving steadily in a horizontal direction far enough to bring the balloon down, perhaps quite to the ground. When the balloon is again to be allowed to ascend they [[retrace?]] their steps, releasing
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