astern counties of
Great Britain were undertaken far more with the idea of gaining as
clear an idea as possible of the distribution of British naval units
in the North Sea than with the desire of hurling destruction from the
sky upon sleeping villages, towns, and, of course, harbors and
factories which might be of value to the British military forces. And
there also can be no doubt that for this purpose of reconnoitering
over immense areas the Zeppelin airship stands to-day unchallenged by
any other single means at the disposal of the army leaders.

The German Zeppelin airship carries at present a powerful
wireless-sending apparatus, the electric current for which is
furnished by one of the motors. These motors, five in number, are of
the six-cylinder Mercedes type, furnishing a total of 1,200
horsepower. Four of the motors are usually in service, the fifth being
held in reserve, and used in the meantime for furnishing the required
electric current. The wireless equipment is stated to have an
effective range of about 300 miles, due mainly to the great height of
the "sending station." It was this wireless equipment which is now
known to have precipitated the great naval battle off the Jutland
coast, and to have sent the German fleet to its home base before the
full force of the much superior British fleet had a chance to exercise
its crushing power.

According to the report of the captain of one of the German battle
cruisers, the Zeppelins, of which there were two in the early hours of
the battle, sighted a strong British naval force in the North Sea,
about two-thirds of the way from the British coast to Helgoland. The
information was flashed to Helgoland by the leading Zeppelin, which
was hovering more than two miles in the air, commanding an immense
area of the North Sea. The approach of the German fleet was unknown to
the British, although the Zeppelins could distinguish both fleets from
their great height.

As the battle developed and the British battle cruiser squadron became
sorely pressed by the superior forces opposed to them, calls for
assistance were flashed from them to the main fleet. The Zeppelins, of
course, caught the calls and set off at high speed northward with the
intention of giving timely warning to the German squadron battling
several thousand feet below them against the gradually increasing
British force.

The mist which hung over the North Sea made it difficult for the
Zeppelin commanders to