e formation of the battle
line has been decided upon it is, in a measure, a fixture. It may be
subject to rearrangement, but this is when the force of battle demands,
or for strategic purposes, but such an arrangement requires a great deal
of time and much work. The battle fronts on the borders of France and
Belgium have ranged from 100 to nearly 300 miles in length, with nearly
3,000,000 strung out in opposing lines along the entire distance.

LIKE AN IMMENSE GRIDIRON.

The ground has been dug up and trenched until the surface of the earth
looks like an immense gridiron. The soldiers almost live within the
trenches and dugouts beneath the ground. Telephone and telegraph wires
run through the trenches and even railroad tracks are laid so that small
engines go whirring through the ditches like "dinky" locomotives in a
coal mine.

And the "eyes in the skies" make it possible for the commanders to know
each other's strength and the disposition of the forces at all times.

Particularly has the air scout proved valuable in enabling commanders to
execute their final orders without grievous error. There is danger of
possible misjudgment because of the great length of the firing lines.
The airmen verify positions and make last minute reports, taking minutes
to perform services that cavalry forces or other scouting parties would
have taken hours or days to render.

Operated in conjunction with cavalry scouts, and motor and cycle squads,
the airplane is a destruction-directing and defensive force. And it was
the large fleet of aircraft that aided Germany in making such rapid
advance in its drive toward Paris in the early days of the war. The
scouts reconnoitering in the early dawn were able to report the
situation and give the commanders time to move their forces before the
Belgians and French were aware of what was being done.

Germany had probably the largest fleet of airplanes at the beginning of
the conflict and is said to have possessed upward of 500, of various
sorts, and this does not include the famous Zeppelins or dirigible
balloons. She also had something like two dozen factories which could
turn out flying machines, and had been at work on the development of her
aircraft long enough to have her patterns and methods of manufacture
somewhat, if not entirely standardized. During the third year of the war
it was estimated that she had more than quadrupled her force of flying
machines.

GERMANY'S PREPAREDNESS.