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Two small planes crashed into the dirigibles, one into each, and exploded them. They fell to the sea, burning, men tumbling out upon all sides. A form struck the water close to where Jack, miraculously uninjured, swam. The latter stretched out an arm, and grasped the body by the shoulder, as it reappeared upon the surface. Then a cry of amazement burst from his lips.
It has been proved to be effective in eliminating 75 per cent. of the accidents which have characterized all of Germany's adventures in dirigibles and heavier-than-air machines. These statistics are known only by the German General Staff office. Let us go into this further.
The great airship remains perfectly stable while the missiles, of which there are a variety for different missions, are being hurled. All the military Zeppelins of Germany are armed and there are a large number of unarmed dirigibles in reserve. It is estimated that there are 100 aeroplanes with the British forces on the continent. The French army has hundreds of aeroplanes of various kinds.
A bombardment of Zeebrugge by the British fleet caused much damage, the Germans losing forty dead and some hundred wounded. Here the submarine port, with two submersibles and two guns on the harbor wall were destroyed, while the central airship shed, containing at the time two dirigibles, was also severely damaged. The semaphore tower was shot to pieces and some sluices crippled.
For the fraction of a second the dirigibles seemed prisms and the planes still-winged dragon-flies hung on a blue wall. With the next fraction the prisms were seen to be growing and the stretch of the plane wings broadening. "They are racing ours against theirs!" exclaimed Mrs. Galland. "Look, look!" Still the gardener bent to his work, unconcerned. "I forgot!
During the period of mobilisation a further 450 machines were added to the fleet, drawn for the most part from private owners. So far as the dirigibles were concerned 14 Zeppelins were ready for duty, while others were under construction or undergoing overhaul and repair.
Two years had elapsed since Santos-Dumont, turning from dirigibles to 'planes, had made a flight of 238 yards. This the Wrights had at the time excelled at home but without attracting attention. France on the contrary went mad with enthusiasm, and claimed for the Brazilian the honour of first demonstrating the possibility of flight in a heavier-than-air machine.
Various trials were made to demonstrate the extreme efficiency of the parachute in modern form, one of them being a descent from the upper ways of the Tower Bridge to the waters of the Thames, in which short distance the 'Guardian Angel' type of parachute opened and cushioned the descent for its user. For dirigibles, balloons, and kite balloons the parachute is an essential.
The grand idea began to crystallise rapidly, with the result that when a public company was formed in 1898, sufficient funds were rendered available to enable the first craft to be constructed. It aroused considerable attention, as well it might, seeing that it eclipsed anything which had previously been attempted in connection with dirigibles.
Although Germany, as compared with France, was relatively slow to recognise the immense possibilities of aircraft, particularly dirigibles, in the military sense, once the Zeppelin had received the well-wishes of the Emperor William, Teuton activities were so pronounced as to enable the leeway to be made up within a very short while.
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