Bold Words

If the Army Air Service feels that it has a hard task to convince conservative admirals that there is something to the aeroplane after all, Rear Admiral William S. Sims, retired, needs no convincing. The Admiral closed a recent statement by saying that our great commercial ports, our navy yards and other vital positions will be rendered safe from attack only if we can concentrate more planes at the threatened point than the enemy fleet can bring from across the sea. He declared air defense would be successful " provided the defense is not messed up by the presence of our battleships within a couple of hundred miles of the scene of action, diminishing our air power by the number of planes required to protect them. The best position for the battleships would be as far up the Mississippi as they can go! "