Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1909-10-23
The Law
, and the
Airship
'eeS1 &c u u


NJ. Bleriot, who few across the
English Channel in his compact lit
tie monoplane. has put q price Of $2r
900 upon the machine Of his inven.
ton, and 1t Is said that he has sold
fifty.two aeroplanes for early deliv.
cry since the opening day OF the
Rheims meeting. It Is estimated that
the actual cost OF the machine ready
for flight and including the motor IL
not more than 5000. There will Of
course be sharp competition in the
manufacture OF aeroplanes, and as
both this country and Europe are
swarming with inventors-every town
has its genius toiling at the aviation
problem--the market must soon be
overstocked and prices cut. Second
hand aeroplanes should be within
the reach Of q modest purse. Assam.
Ing, then, that with q little instruc.
ton anybody will be able to ny-one
Of the aviators at Rheims declared
that manipulation Of the aeroplane
could be mastered more readily than
driving the automobile---we may soon
expect to see airships "anight" in
such numbers that their regulation
will become the urgent concern Of
the lawyers and the Legislatures.
which seem to be interchangeable
terms.
In its last issue Bench and Bar
speculates upon the adaptation Of the
law, common, statute and interna.
tional, to the evolution Of the aero.
plane and the dirigible. It deals with
the subject facetiously. but with .
SOLDERING sense Of its growing import.
ance. Trespass IL the first form OF
suit to occur to the lawyer when the
airship is mentioned. He thinks Of
the old maxim that the landowner
has a proprietary right "usque ad
coelum ct usque ad orcum," and won.
ders whether an aeronaut skimming
over field or a garden will be liable
in trespass. Waving that point, how
Is the aeronaut to be identified II he
Injuries o tenant physically or dam.
ages his house by dropping any Of
the furniture Of the flying car In Its
transit? Would the plaintiff recover
on the theory Of nuisance. or would
he have to prove negligence on the
part OF the aviator?
The service Of process often causes
q practitioner no little trouble. Ap'
parently q defendant owning an aero.
plane, or airship Of any kind, could
escape his creditors and his wife su.
Ing for divorce---not to speak Of the
police, which suggests a perplexinE
problem for the criminal c0urts--'by
taking to the air In the nick Of time.
This question Is complicated by the
necessity Of getting out requisition
papers when the defendant or the law
breaker crosses the State boundary.
Bench and Bar observes:
"Even II the creditor or his attor.
ney possesses air navigating appara.
tus 90 as to be able to pursue the
debtor, II Is dificult to see how one
could get near enough to the other
to effect service without danger OF
Q disastrous collision"
Just 30. No court onicer would
care to take the risk Of boarding the
defendants conveyance In midair By
q flying leap. Provided the fugitive
had gasolene or petrol to keep going
long enough to fit from State to
State, he would be immune from ar
rest, or at least his apprehension
would become very pretty problem
In process. The question raised by
this legal luminary that concerns
rules OF the road and the lights to
be carried after dark does not appear
to be much OF a poser. It will be q
long, long time before the air Is con-
gested with aerial travellers, and at
present there IL no prospect that tho
aeroplane will become a nightbird.
Bench and Bar does not consider the
customs problem. which seems to
US tho most bafiling q all. How IL
the smuggler to be restrained. un'
less by frontier guard with q ride
or in the case OF o dirigiDle by q COM
pany OF artillery with q long range
gun? Moreover. It might cost ma
ton with a far flung boundary Nnc
more to keep !. patrolled than the
amount of revenue derivable from
honest entry Of all goods imported
Even the punishment OF death. OF
any other severe penalty, would not
deter smugglers II the customs
meshes were wide enough to SILT
through. Then there is the oppor
tunity that the airship would anord
to the "underworld"-a term that
would give way to "overworld' when
aeroplanes were as thick as black
berries. We absolutely refuse to dis
cuss the crime phase OF the sub
ject; it is altogether illimitable and
shadowy and had better be left to the
masters of detective flction.--NeW