The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1908-08-28
WILSON Fly.

1t appears that the worIu Is on the
eve Of another wonderful forward
step in its progress, like those that
came from steam, the telegraph, the
telephone and other manifold uses
of electricity. The new era will be
based on aerial navigation, regard
ing which such rema rkable progress
has been made in the last few years
more than in all the previous his
tory of the world-that it is not
unreasonable to expect that the
solution of the problem is practical
ly within the grasp of the several
groups of ardent inventors who are
dsvoting their lives to the task. In
fact, aerial navigation has rlready
passed beyond the experimental
stage, so far as Its use for military
purposes is concerned. The United
States, England, France and Ger.
many have set the stamp of gov
ornamental approval upon the work
of several inventors by accepting
military airshIps designed under
government contracts and subjected
10 exhaustive tests as to speed,
safety and their capacity to travel
n any direction and to remain in
the air several hours. Captain
Baldwln's airship. which was re-
Gently accepted by the United States
government, maintained an average
speed of between fifteen and twenty
miles an hour with and against the
wind, and it had no difficulty in
reaching any desired height and in
staying up in the air for periods Of
two hours and more. The air ship
designed for the English government
has demonstrated similar qualities,
and the two German dirigible bal
looms, the Perseval and the Gross,
have been delighting vast crowds
OF spectators along The Inter den
Linden, the principal street Of
Berlin, for the past week by per
forming all sorts of intricate evo
lutions, sailing against a twenty.
five an hour wind and remain
ing in the air for hours at time.
The principal achievement, how
ever, in aeronautics so far was
the spectacular voyage of Count
Zeppelin down the Rhine in his
huge airship, $50 feet long by go
feet in diameter. After numerous
successful ascensions from his
boat platform on Lake Con
staLce, carrying as many as
sixteen passengers in some OF
his flights and returning without diff
ficulty to the starting place after
spending day in the air, Count Yep
pelin took party on his airship for
journey down the Rhine, over noun
tain ranges, rivers and many cities
and towns, continuing his flight with
out any mishap for period of eleven
and one-half hours and at length at
IL O clock at night landing with per-
feet ease on an island In the Rhine
the enormous airship closing its wings
and alighting on the spot chosen for
the landing, as lightly and gracefully
Is a bird. After such flight as this
it can hardly be denied that the pro-
olem Of aerial navigation has been
solved, although not suf-
iciently as yet for commercial pur-
poses. The next step, however, will
De but short one compared with the
enormous advances that have been
made within the past year or two.
Count Zeppelin's voyage would have
been perfect success, and he would
doubtless have returned to his start
ng point as easily as he came, but for
jhe fact that in order to avoid storm
n the mountain range over which he
crossed he was compelled to take his
ship some 5000 feet high and the ex-
,essive exhaustion of gas caused by
,he high altitude forced him to land
before the homeward voyage was COM
pleted.
A Fable.