The morning journal-courier., 1908-08-06

AUGUST 4, 1908.

July 4th. 177s. has come to mean
much In the long history OF the strug-
gle OF man for political independence
1t would not be amiss did August 4th,
1908, come to mean much as date
connected with the long struggle OF
man for physical independence from
the laws Of gravity. The remarkable
flight Of Count Zeppelin, starting
from Lake Constance early in the
morning OF that day. to try to mako
q record for twenty-four hours CON
secutive flying. is scarcely less won
derful because of the fact that he did
not succeed In that endeavor. To
map out Figure s" course in the
air. as he did. and to plan to go to
town after town with quito as much
accuracy as an automobile on the
ground, is significant To be able
to take eight passengers along aad
to attain such a high rate Of speed
that even the fastest OF pursuers on
the earth were soon left hopelessly in
the rear. sounds really like flying. AS
a correspondent aptly puts It: 1.-The
verdict Of persons who saw the flight
was that the automobile has found its
master. The airship can outdistance
It easily. The air finds no hills, bad
highways, or distractions In the road.
and the new vehicle goes smoothly
and without hindrance, where the
land car struggles and finally comes
to a halt against unconquerable con-
ditions. Aloft there Is no dust to
blind the pilot and the ship sails Sc
renely, without arousing the air Of
the peasants" Evidently the
count has not had similar exper-
fence to that Of some aeronauts in
this country who were fred upon
while in the air by some Vermont
farmers.
It was not wholly matter OF
chance that men who would conquer
the air are having such uniform and
remarkable success in their endeav-
ors this year, both hero and abroad
and even in far-off China. That
these successes are simultaneous
should only he taken as significant,
prophetic Of the near coming of the
practical flying machine for com
merce and pleasure, which, the inven-
tors tell us. will be far superior to
any means of transportation man has
ever known, combining all the desir-
able qualities Of speed, safety, practi-
cability and economy.
But August 4th, 1908, as a red let
ter day in the history of aeronautics,
need not depend entirely upon the
efforts Of Count Zeppelin. On the
same day our own Captain Baldwin at
Fort Meyer had his fun making
figure 8s," too. It was the initial
flight Of HIS big new war balloon, and
Mt was marked with every success 1t
isto be hoped that the success of his
endeavors will mako certain for him
whatever government appropriations
are necessary and wise. On the same
flights by Henry Farman at Brighton,
Beach, Of final preparations Of the
Wright brothers at lie Mans, France,
for the continuation OF the Carolina
coast experiments there with added
secrecy, and of plans just perfected by
Walter Wellman, who once planned to
seek the north pole In an airship, to
bring his ship, the America, to New
York next year.
But, II there was good reason TO
watch the fated airship of Count
Zeppelin, which met such an end
there Is more reason to watch Henry
Farmans and the Wright brothers
experiments with aeroplanes. Heav-
ier- than-air machines, such as the lat
ter are trying out, are newer de-
velopment and promise even q roster
future. As the New York Times says
speaking Of the counts airship: Ills
machine Is q Brobdingnagian creation
as manageable in q gale as floating
haymow 1t needs a barn as big as q
house, and is liable to wreck In either
entering or leaving 1t. 1t would be
surer and, perhaps, easier to take al
army to the balloon than to take the
balloon to an army Zeppelin has
done great things but he has not con
uuered the air in the sense that Is true
of the machines which fly by power
rather than by specific levlty."