Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-07-16

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possibilities not only of new, pleas
urable and swift method of travel, but
of world peace and world brotherhood.
Future of the Aeroplane.
1t is not given TO the pioneer to see
the multitudes that will follow in his
footsteps nor to the discoverer TO fore
tell the nations that will be reared
upon his new found domains. Neither
is II vouchsafed the inventor to know
the future uses or development Of the
contrjvance which he fashions. Gu
tenberg had no vision of the modern
Sunday newspaper. the best seller or
the undertaking magazine. Fulton had
no prophetic bunch of a Maureta-
MIA or a Dreadnought a century after
the Clermont padded her way down
the Hudson George Stephenson had
no advance notice of the Twentieth
Century limited or the rate bill. Mel
Their is the inventor of the aeroplane
gifted with knowledge of what will be
made of the toy he has created
Wilbur Wright. who is perhaps the
man entitled to that badge of immor-
tality, is most modest in his predic-
tions and says he believes the chief
use of the aeroplane will be for military
observations. Glenn II. Curtiss takes
an opposite slant and thinks it will be
the means of ending war. Who knows
what it viii be? The wonder is that
it has been invented at all. but, having
been invented. who shall set limits
to what improvements the future man
may give to it? Why may it not be
as radically and swiftly developed
and advanced as the ship. the rail-
road train or the automobile? In the
days of Columbus and his toy sail
ing vessels the crossing of the Allan
tic was a perilous undertaking. To-
day 1t is weeks outing with hotel
accomplishments. The modern ocean
liner defies the waves by its very bulk
Why may not a giant aeroplane find
equal stability amid the currents and
eddies of the air?
Beginnings of Mighty Things.
The inventor is not necessarily
prophet. nor is it essential that he
should be one. 1t is enough for him to
do the trick and let the future take care
Of itself. The idea is his, but the mo-
ment he gives utterance to that idea,
whether that expression be in the form
of a word or of a machine, it belongs
to mankind, and if it be good mankind
Will use it and improve it to the utter
most. The aeroplane now belongs to
the human race, and that the human
race is about to do marvellous things
with it is attested by this very fever
of prize giving for cross country
flights. With all due respect, it is not
for Mr. Wilbur Wright to deny the
future greatness of his own invention
Imagination is a necessary part of the
worlds mental equipment. While It
may go beyond the mark, it as often
falls lamentably short Of it. AS no
one in Franklin's day could even guess
the coming wonders of electricity, so
no one now living perhaps has the
faintest conception of what the inven-
ton of the aeroplane means to the fu-
ture of humanity. Leave US our imagi-
nations, for few things in this matter
of fact world have so appealed to them
as the feats of these man birds. We
have a right to feel that we are In the
beginnings of mighty things.
America saw Franklin fly his kite,
Hudson navigate his first steamboat,
Morse send his first message and Edi-
son light HIS first electric bulb. Amer
lea likewise is to see these aeroplane
contests ON courses that spread out
like a spiders web from her metropo-
lis. They cannot be less than epoch |
making. The inventive genius of the
country was never more alive than
now. Stimulated as these races must |
stimulate 1t, the improvements 1t will |
give to the aeroplane should be as re- |
markable as the invention itself. The |
first forms of all machines are crude. |
With the start that has been made
and with the whole country-and the |
whole world as well-at work solving |
the problem of aerial travel, the revo-
luton should be accomplished in q
Even If Wilbur Wright will
not dream day dreams, there is moth
ing to prevent the rest Of us from
doing it.
Three Big Races Assured.
August has been suggested for some
of these races. and all Of them that
materialize probably will take place
during the present summer or autumn.
The one now most talked of Is that