The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-05-04
ANOTHER NEW ONE.

The latest experimenter, or expert
nasntaiist. to ny into the limeiight with
wings 10 M. Santos Dumont. the young
brazilian scientist. weNdo not mean
that he has just commenced the flying
business. but that he claims to have
Invented and tried the best machine
yet tried. and has been astonishing
Paris--which is saying good deal
with his feats Of aviation The most
notable feature about II is the small
ness Of his machine. as compared with
others. It lie only twenty feet long
and fifteen broad. and with himself on
board the entire weight IL but $50
pounds.
Evidently" remarks The Kansas
City journal, "this IL the dying ma
chine the world has so long and eager
iy awaited. Count zoppelin's mon
strous airship. $50 feet long with a
carrying capacity Of twenty-five to
nifty passengers, paies into insignil-
canoe beside this monoplane which Is
ready for use At q moments notice
and can almost be carried in ones
vest pocket. Every man his own aero
naut 10 the thing. and when III. santos
Dumont's little Invention comes into
popular use--which will probably be
about the time Mr.. Maxim's $40 auto
mobile and Edison's cement house,
built while you wait. are on the mar
ket--we can all go flying whenever
and as often as the mood strikes U.S."
Our contemporary Is inclined to be a
bit ironical. but 1t needn't get funny.
No one can say that this new candle
date for aviatory fame win not prove
a success, and IL 1t proves a success In
actual use II must inevitably become
popular. One Of the great objections
to most. or all. the machines that have
been made IL that they are too large
and unwieidy for common use. to say
nothing Of the dificuity Of controlling
them. Another objection is their great
cost, which places them out Of reach
OF ordinary mortais, who would like
to try flying. II the Dumont machine
can be depended on its size and cost
will both recommend IT to popular ia
vor. as matter Of course. Wonder
who win be next to come forward with
new one?
While on the subject some figures
and comments of The Boston Traveller
win be found interesting. 1t says:
A ship Of the Zeppelin type, a huge
affair capable of carrying a score OF
people, costs to build about s150,000,
dents, to last about five years. The
cost Of gas crew of seven men. land
ing charges. depreciation. etc. are es-
timated to amount to about $1,000 s;s %, a
about one day In three, this means
about 100 days q year available for
airsfip trips. and under the conditions
4 trip for q twelve hours Journey to
be divided among the fifteen passen-
gers such an afrship 10 capable of car
rying. This would make the actual
cost Of q twelve-hour trip about $50,
to which must be added whatever prof
It the company would deem It neces-
sary to make. ss,Sf
THIS would seem 10 De expensive
Transportation, but if such a service
were established between Boston and
New York there are thousands of per-
sons in each city willing to spend SEQ
to 500 for this novel experience, and
once such a service was started 1t
would not be long before improve
ments and competition would bring the
price OF trip down within the reach
OF the ordinary purse.
The commercial use OF the air 10
more or less Of dream. of course but
wilder dreams than this have come
true In the last ten years, and there is
passenger travel are not within, the
possibilities.