The Ordway new era., 1911-09-29
e He navigation of the air. now
the very idea OF II thrills! To

from city to city and from con-
tincnt to continent, To travel
free and untrammcled as do the birds!
This has been the dream OF mankind
for ages.
Impossibie OF accomplishment? DO
not he too sure. Tremendous strides
toward this splendid. this alluring
goal have been made within the past
three years. Already have daring
men o. the air pierced the blue vault
OF heaven to astonishing attitudes. al
ready have they dashed from metrop-
oils to metropolis with a speed rival
Ing the fastest express train. already
have they iearcd over mountain
ranges and crossed bodies OF water
which separate nations. II the prog
ress is to be as great during the next
three years. then. indeed. Will marEeis
have been accomplished beyond any.
thing OF which today We permit our
selves TO dream.
Much depends upon the attitude and
activity OF those daring and Ingenious
men who already have elevated the
science OF aviation from the purely
experimental and speculative to some
ticul II their talents and the talents
OF such scientific men as now are or
hereafter may be attracted to the
problem OF aerial flight re devoted
10 the making Of aviation more nearly
safe and therefore more useful.
rather than toward outdoing the mar.
velous records already made In alti-
tude. distance. speed and duration.
then will the world be the gamer and
travel and commerce be helped
through this new means OF communi-
cation
Safety! That is now the thing to be
aimed at Not till full measure OF
It Is reached can the conquest Of the
air really be claimed or aviation be
lifted from the spectacular to the
utilitarian.
Considering what has already been
accomplished In aerial navigation. Is
1t too much to say that even greater
discoveries will be made and applied
In the near future? Where shall We
place the limit upon an age which
has produced machine that talks
and sings. which propels loaded cars
up and down hill by means Of an In
visible huid. which takes Photographs
through solid substances. which has
instant communication by wire be
tween the most widely separated con
tinents, which has made conversati tior
possible between New York and
Chicago and which thinks nothing OF
sending wireless messages from LAND
to vessels hundreds of miles away al
oil 4, ptr 4 .,
passenger and freight service through
the air more improbable to our neal
future than was the automobile ant
the electric express train to the future
of the man Of the ox-cart and tn,
pole propelled fatboat?
The Drifting Balloon.
The balloon is the elder brothhe
OF the aeroplane and its discovery wa.
the cause of fully az great sensation
Compared. however. with the later al
craft. 1t Is very simple and Its posi-
bilities are limited
To Stephen and Joseph Montgolfle
belong the distinction OF making tn
first balloon. They were papermaker
of Annonay France. and they exper
mented for years before they succeed
81 III Causing oAh oas " iise u III
ceiling OF their workshop. The frs
men to make balloon ascension wer
Pilatre des Rosters and the Marqui
d'Arlandes. They went up from Pari
on November 21. 1883 .and RENAME
aIoft rs minutes.
The efforts to construct an airshi
subject to control has been long an
persistent one. but the necessaril
enormous bulk OF gas balloons ha