Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-02
Practical
Problem

u
sport. 1t matters little
PRACTICAL whether the aeroplane or
n,>ll> the dirieible shall be the
ultimate model OF aerial
navigation. The recent exploits of lie
Blanc and Auburn, who accomplished in
aeroplanes the Circuit Of the east" on a
time table itinerary; Pauihan. Bleriot.
the Wright brothers and just now the
daring flight Of George Chavez over the
Alps, mark new era in aerial naviga-
ton. This extraordinary achievement
was attended by a frightful accident,
which occurred when the danger point
had been passed apparently, for within
fifteen feet Of earth the monoplane turned
turtle" and aviator and machine were
buried in a mass OF debris. The accident.
at this writing, is said to be due to a
slight shift in the rudder during high
rate OF speed. 1t Ia a reminder that the
evolution and perfection of the aeroplane
is not yet complete. So also with the
dlrigible, which, since Santos Dumont and
LebaHdy. who employed 1t with success,
mas been adopted by Germany as a pros
pective instrument OF war The loss OF
the Patrie of Paris. and the accidents TO
the metallic dirigibles of Count Zeppelin
leave these models. we'll as the aero
pane. SuDJeCtS OF 1urtncr study.
Nevertheless. aerial navigation has ac-
ouired a situation where it becomes a seri-
Gus question in the domain of interna-
tional politics. And this fact was mani
tested in the kaiser's speech at Koenigs-
berg. when he spoke OF the powerful
progress made by France. and the i'm
perative necessity of reposing confidence
and hope in the German army.
* *
The Post of Strasbourg as we'll as
other journals, strikes the keynote when
IN a series of articles on avi-
German alton. provoked by articles In
A., the French press lauding the
success of French aviation,
counseled "the shooting of aviators who
dared to cross German frontiers French
aviators are manfesty meant i'm these
violent utteranccs. for one Of these. NJ
Legaguent. did direct his aeroplane above
German territory. But the French press
claiming that the aviator might have ali
stained from such excursions. recalls that
German aviators have many times crossed
the French frontier without provoking
any hostile criticism. And they ask, not
without reason, 'In the circuit Of the
east race was there not "a, German con-
admitted with perfect courtesy, and the
public was disposed to acclaim him IL he
had succeeded in his object They would
have seen in him champion Of rivili-
cation and progress and not representa-
tive of a hostile nation. There is little
doubt that these criticisms of the Ger
man press are adjudsed as untimely and
Ill advised in Germany. but they mani
fest clearly that aviation has entered
upon phase which henceforth requires
q Of ~n ,f<
their diplomats and legislators
The present state of public feeling as
we'll of government circles in Germany
is very sensitive If not alarmed over the
disasters to the dirigible balloons con
structed by Count Zeppelin. This feel
ing is all the more marked that the
French aeroplane has been making such
rapid progress. The accident to Chavez
and for the assigned reasons may equal
ize the situation. OF course the imme-
date interest in aviation in Germany
and in France consists in it's employ
ment in war. Other countries are in
tereSted in aerOnautics for various rea-
sons, among which the remote posi-
bility of its employment as means of
rapid transit.
A recent article on the subject Of avia-
ton by Lieut.. Gen. Miles, U. s. A., re-
tired, fails to mention the
Pioneer name of Commandment Re-
n:-;;L,. nard, who is a great au-
Dlrlsiple. thority on aviation, and
was the first to construct a dirigible
aerostat. To be precise. Lieuts. Renard
and Krebs Of the French army, August
8. 1854, sailed from The workshops at
Chalais near Meudon in a dirigible, and
after course of seven Kilometres, &C
Itch
turned to their point of departure. The
secret of aviation had been solved.
The captive balloon was first used by
Gen. Hoche when commanding the
army Of the Mozelle, but it's limited
point OF view being necessarily removed
from vertical observation of the field
of battle caused it to be discarded
Napoleon I abandoned it's use for the
above reasons and because of the difficult
ties of manipulation and transportation.
Besides they hindered the rapid move
ments of the army. These objections no
by compressed gas carried in tubes.
Cables of light but solid steel confine
them and they may be stationed a kilo-
meter or more in air with telephone COM
munications with the army headquarters.
But the captive balloon is open to many
objections. one of many being sufficient,
its immobility making its quick destruc-
ton easy.
The new aerostats therefore have enor-.
NOUS capacity when employed in observ-
ing the movements OF the enemy. The
great difficulty for a general-in-chlef to
learn or divine the intentions OF his
enemy this is and has always been, the
test Of generalship. To anticipate those
intentions. means almost certain victory.
All the ancient and clumsy process OF eX-
ploration, reconnaissance of cavalry, spies,
prisoners. intercepted dispatches, are
necesSa rily incomplete and unsatisfactory.
What is behind the curtain? Where is
the important mass held i'm reserve and
with which the enemy proposes to hurl at
us at the crisis of the battle? Our cav
airy in the greater number of cases has
not been able to discover the secret, and
thus the battle is uncertain. The new
aerostats have solved that question for
us, for those who are equipped with the
best system of aerial navigation. 1T is
no longer the cavalry that Is the eyes
of the army; that post has passed to the
aerostat, to the dirigibe balloon or the
aeroplane. Governments thus may be
wise to organize a serious service for
each model. employing both systems I'M
til such moment as 1t may adopt finally
the one which may appear the most prac-
teal Aerial navigation, either by light
er-than-air or heavier-than-afr, Is no
longer dream. but reality.
After 1872 Lieut.. Renard had experiment
ed with the former systems, and with such
success that commission was created in
1873 by the ministry of war to study the
question Lieut.. Renard, promoted to be
ca plain, was designated as the secretary of
the commission. Gambetta accorded his
support to the movement and caused a
credit to be voted. with which Renard
i'm 1854, the first dirigible
had