ship Hansa was present. The Hansa
made the run from Hamburg to Copenhagen, a distance of 198 miles, in
seven hours, and Count Zeppelin was on board her. Supposing an airship
left Cuxhaven at noon on some day when the conditions were favorable and
traveled to London, she could not get back again by noon next day if she
traveled at the half-power speed which the vessels on Tuesday appear to
have used. But if she did the run at full speed--that is to say, at
about fifty miles an hour--she could reach London by 9 o'clock the same
evening, have an hour to manoeuvre over the capital, and return by 7
o'clock next morning. With a favorable wind for her return journey, she
might make an even longer stay. Given suitable conditions, therefore, as
on Tuesday, there appears to be no reason why, as far as speed and fuel
endurance are concerned, these vessels should not reach London from
Cuxhaven.

With regard also to the amount of ammunition a Zeppelin can carry, this
depends, of course, on the lifting power of the airship and the way in
which it is distributed. The later Zeppelins are said to be able to
carry a load of about 15,000 pounds, which is available for the crew,
fuel for the engines, ballast, provisions, and spare stores, a wireless
installation, and armament or ammunition. With engines of 500 horse
power, something like 360 pounds of fuel is used per hour to drive them
at full speed. Thus for a journey of twenty hours the vessel would need
at least 7200 pounds of fuel. The necessary crew would absorb 2000
pounds more, and probably another 1500 pounds would be taken up for
ballast and stores. Allowing a weight of 250 pounds for the wireless
equipment, there would remain about 4000 pounds for bombs, or something
less than two tons of explosives, for use against a target 458 miles
from the base. This amount of ammunition could be increased
proportionately as the conditions were altered by using a nearer base,
or by proceeding at a slower and therefore more economical speed, &c.

It is noteworthy that although the German airships were expected to act
as scouts in the North Sea they do not appear to have accomplished
anything in this direction. Possibly this has been due to the fear of
attack by our men-of-war or aircraft if the movements were made in
daytime, when alone they would be useful for this purpose. What happened
during the Christmas Day affair, when, as the official report said, "a
novel combat" ensued between the