Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-02-23
THE ART OF FLYING.
Major Baden Powell Presents Some
Questions For Solution.

Every judicious politician must look
to the future rather than to the pres
ent. Changes in the laws Of the coun-
try cannot be carried into effect in a
moment, and what has to be considered
is the state of affairs which will exist
when such new laws become effective.
So, too, in contemplating what the fu-
ture may bring, it is desirable that
legislators should devise laws applica-
BILE to the impending situation.
We are now confronted with most
intricate and difficult question of in
ternational politics, one which in the
future is bound to lead to complications
and controversies. Already, it is said,
the French government is considering
the matter.
It has been clearly demonstrated
that apparatus can now be made
whether dependent on displacement or
dynamic power-which can carry men
through the air in a practical manner;
and there seems to be every probability
that within the next few years many
machines will be constructed capable
of travelling hundreds Of miles through
the air, swiftly, surely and safely.
Such vessels, moving Independently of
fixed tracks and regardless Of boun-
daries such as we respect today, must
be of great military value; they will
certainly be much used for sport and
pastime, and will in all probability soon
be employed for such purpose as postal
delivery, transport of light goods and
conveyance of express passengers.
If, then, such machines are to become
at all common, it Is very evident that
laws must be made and modified to
meet the new circumstances.
The first and one Of the most import
ant questions calling for solution Is
that regarding international frontiers,
seeing that neither walls nor fences,
mountains nor rivers, not even seas,
offer insurmountable barriers. Are
these airships to be allowed to traverse
frontiers freely, regardless OF pass
ports, independent Of custom duties,
defiant of bans of exile and laws of
immigration? Are they at liberty to
hover over fortifications, arsenals and
dockyards?
Secondly, there is the very serious
question of private boundaries. Are
these "air-hogs" Gas they are sure to
be dubbed to be allowed to pass over
our private property? May they glide
over our chimney tops or skim close
above our lawns and flower beds? The
law of trespass Is intricate as 1t Is,
and If proof Of damage to property Is
it's mainstay it seems wholly inappli-
cable to aircraft. Damages due to ac-
cidental landings, as we'll as from ar
ticles dropped from above, is another
matter. Then there must be consider
alton for Enclosures where sporting
and other events take place, and where
entrance money is collected. In a few
years we shall have the course at Ep-
som darkened by vast flock of hu-
man vultures vying for places over the
winning post! Even If flyers are to be
allowed to cross high up in the sky,
how can we limit the exact height at
which they may travel?
If definite laws are adopted control-
ing such matters we then get to the
still more perplexing problem of how
to police these realms Of blue. 1t is all
very we'll to dictate regulations for ae-
rial traffic, but how is the law to be
maintained? Machines travelling at a
speed of 80 or 40 yards second get
such a start that they cannot easily be
followed, and, unconfined to definite
tracks, the transgressors cannot be
detained on arrival at their destination.
If all machines are to bear registered
numbers or means Of Identification,
there must be some international un-
derstanding about it, for in time we
may have, for instance, thousands of
Germans migrating over our heads to
America.
All this may read as huge joke, but
who can deny that such problems may
demand our most earnest attention In
the near future? And they must be
considered while there is yet time.
One of the first matters to decide
upon is as to who is to be considered
the responsible head in such affairs.
Are these questions for the home Of
flee, or is the board of trade to have
control? The foreign office and the
defense committee will also want to
have their say Then how are such
difficult issues to be decided when we
have no experts with any experience
of aerial navigation (beyond a few
trials in very primitive apparatus) q
The council of the Aeronautical Socie-
ty of Great Britain is now considering
the various points of Importance and
may be able to lay valuable sugges-
tions before such body as is finally
appointed to control those going up in
the air in ships. Probably the Aero
club, too, and other bodies may be able
to offer good advice. But such insti-
tutions cannot make the laws.
In this connection it may be added
that an international meeting Of aero
nauts is to be held this week in London,
but this is only assembled with the OBJ
ject of settling certain points in con-
nection with balloon races and other
sporting events, and cannot Of course,
deal with these vast questions of leg
islative control-Major B. Baden-Pow-
ell in the London Times.