The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-14
CONQUERING THE AIR
Mistress of the Air" Is Magic Title Which Is Inflaming Patriotic Spirit of Every Frenchman.
 New Epoch in Militarism
Fly PAUL yILLIERs

there Is not no question that the influence
 of the country of Napoleon was com paratively small. She never did quite sink into the second class of pow rs, but at times was peri1ously near the dividing line. This has all changed now. however, and with this new spirit of confidence France must be recognized ns the peer of Germany, Russia and Eng
 land.
 Experts declare that man for man the French army today Is equal, if not SUI perlor of the famed German military force. Her navy is b-ing regenerated and in the new branch of warfare the aeroplane. she is away In the lead.
 The recent imbroglio over Morocco has instilled a feeling of confidence which up to that time had not been in evidence.
 | No nation Is more Industrious than
 the French. who bring to bear upon
 everything they attempt skill and intel lligence of the first order In manu-
 factures of all kinds ney are In the
 front rank. The construction of aero
 planes and the equally important solu-
 tion of making engines suitable for
 flying machines represent an achieve
 ment for which France can claim near | ly all the credit But the skilled me
 chanics who made the aeroplanes did
 not stop there. They became airmen, whose trepidity was and Is a new mani | festation of the French spirit, which loves danger but which is combined with
 the sureness of touch that avoids dis aster. Bleriot and Verdines, original | lr.. l..
 | of the air whose exploits have klndled
 the imagination Of the whole world
 But even more typical of the modern Frenchman Is Beaumont Beaumont be- gan with the thoroughly scientific tram. | Ing of the modern naval man. and to | this he added the ca.ln courage of a born fighter. Tn the ,.rmy. the navy, and in the ranks of the French work l ing men there are hundreds and thou
 sands of other men just as well able to serve their country as Bleriot and Beau-
 mont In the determination to make
 France the Mistress or the Air,' "The Mistress of the esAirl" The ma gic
 of the words has appealed 10 the whole
 nation, and the generous treatment ac-
 corded the airmanship by the govern nent Is now being surpassed by a pa tri- otic fervor with which the whole nation l Is subscribing funds To provide aero planes for the army. Already the na- ltional subscription exceeds $360. .00u. Even school girls are sending in their pennies. Nedrines. as -n election can
 didate, standing flor France" and de- string to enter the chamber of deputies as an expert adviser on airmanship has just been defeated after polling 1000 votes. On April 2S. when a grand gaia performance is to be given at the opera for the fund, there will be still another of those patriotic demonstrations with NVh VhfrI, Fro ie fbrfI1fno
 IL is this new spirit which has brought the French army back to its old popu- larity, which has made republicans and royalists sink their petty quarrels in the common cause of national welfare Never was such a scene witnessed as
 when the troops. taking part in tattoo the other night in Paris, passed through the streets There were cheering and cries of Tive rArmee" all the way, and when the soldiers passed through the fashionable streets the people in the houses. where dinner parties and dances were in progress, stripped the tables and emptied the vases of the flowers 10 strew them on the soldiers
 The spirit of the new France again animates her naval policy. Not only arc the people determined that France Is to be the Mistress of the Air, but Mistress of the Mediterranean" also. With Delcasse as minister of marine and with the consciousness that Germany has been forced to leave Morocco alone 1t is no idle boast that France will maintain her position on the waters of the Mediterranean In athletic sports, too France has taken rema rk able forward step. Rugby football and box ing are now as popular in France as In England. The other day we saw Car pentier, a Frenchman. beat Sullivan, representing England, for the middle ypaipbf al, nm, fl In pGb nf In, rugoy football France HOW plays in in ternational contests with England Scot land, Ireland and Wles, and though so far without much success--the victory over Scotland last season, indeed is her only victory so far-the pros poets are that before long the French players will be difficult oppo- nents for our best teams. In lawn ten his France Is already to be reckoned with.
 The spirit of new France Is the spirit that means to maintain the posi- ton of France in all departments of life by concentrating every ounce Of energy and intelligence on single pur- pos.
 The recent review at yincennes marks a new epoch in militarism. All the pomp and circumstance that turn the heads of nursery maids and romantic youth had disappeared. No feathers, no g1lded toggery. no helmets were to be seen. All meant bushes. the grim, stern business of war. The cavalry, now an aristocratic arm from top to bottom, was thrown into the shade by the air armada, which excited universal enthusiasm, and played it's part in its evolutions to perfection. The march past of the Isongcamp reviews were re- placed by the rapid trot forward in loose order of the infantry with bayonets fixed and the repeating rifles held Iike tight rope dancers pole ready for instantaneous use
 M. Effel. the architect of the tower which. bears his nam, presided the other day over a series of experiments for testing the resistance of aeroplanes to the wind in his laboratory at Auteuil A modern aeroplane on an accurately reduced scale was exposed to a cur rent of wind, the force of which can be raised to the strength of a gale, and a mathematical statement of the resist ance of the model or of It's several parts was obtained A small group of persons interested in aviation followed NJ Eiffel's experiments with close atten- tion.
 Theatrical people generally, and Prrssan actors and actresses in partfc- ular. all have superstltution of some kind MT. Hertz never has bill print l