The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-24
THE AERORLANE OF TODAY AND
 WHAT IT IS DOING FOR WORLD
Interesting and Instructive Interview With J. s. Berger of the Berger Aviation Company Who Conducts the Aviation Meet Automobile Show and Races At Alabama State
 Fair Grounds Week of April 15
BY WALTER HENRY


 military success. So far as reports~Show the damage done by bomb dropping has not been very great and 1t has been made clear that rifle bullets can injure aircraft and airmen, even at long range.
 At the close of the year 1911 the avia- ton forces of France numbered ITO ma chimes, not counting machines ordered and under consS~uction. The performances of the aeroplanes at the French maneuvers last year caused something of q sensa- ton among the military authorities. In France 10 machines were used and proved highly efficient, showing great speed and precision, which is naturally looked upon as invaluabl in military tactics
 "Three aeroplanes flew over the fortress of Toulon on August 31, 1911, the day be- fore the opening of the maneuvers, with instructions to observe how far the new Qualifications had progressed toward com plcton. Observers with special photo graphic apparatus took photos, while the aeroplanes were travelling 60 miles an hour at an altitude of 400 feet. They returned after theoretically escaping fire with the photographs and the observations. These were compared with the report of the commander of the fortress and found to tally in every detail.
 "All over the world the aeroplane is forging to the front. To the surprise of many Switzerland has now gotten into the game and 1t has filed its entry for the 1912 Gordon Bennett aviation cup race. Edmond Audemars, the ex-f1er of the Demoisele. who for a year has been flying 9 Bleriot for Moissant, will repre- sent Switzerland.
 "Six countries will take part in this years race. Switzerland will have one representative. France three. Belgium three, England two, Holland one, and the United States three. There is a possibility that Germany. Austria and Russia have mailed their entries and that they will be received in time.
 Both Germany and the United States are now training military officers how to use the aeroplane.
 Women Take Keen Interest
 Tn several cities the women are not only taking a keen interest in aviation. but they are forming societies. A short time ago, in New York, there was well attended meeting of the Aeronautcal So- ciety of Women. Several prominent aero nautical speakers gave interesting lec- lures. Wilbur R. Kimball, the aviator and inventor. spoke and A. Lee Stevens re- lated some of his experiences. Ralph Elm erson gave an interesting account of the exhibits at the recent Paris Salon. while Charles de Zafra chose as the title for his talk 'The Progress of Aeronautics." The lectures were well illgstrated with both lantern slides and moving pictures. The Aeronautical Society of Women meets twice monthly. One of the meetings is more or less social affair, while the other Is devoted to practical study in avi- alton. practical instructor being in at tendance. Tt is a subsidiary organization of the Aeronautical society.
 Earnest efforts are being each day to make the aeroplane more practical and safer. A. F. Berriman, the English aeronautical authority is now figuring on an aeroplane which is attended to afford safe travel across the Atlantic. This has long been a dream of those who fly m the air, to cross the Atlantic ocean, and now this dream bids fair to come true, at least steps nearer to 1t are being made every day.
 'To make one continuous flight across the Atlantic, says MT Berriman, it will be necessary to have an aeroplane capanle of carrying a useful load of about 150o0 pounds, and be able to travel at 60 miles per hour continuously. The shortest dis tance between the two coasts is 1700 miles, I dare say that some of these days this great feat will be accomplished The quest of the north pole and the south pole was the aim and ambition of man kind for centuries. and we in our day have lived to see it accomplished. We will also in the near future see or hear about an aviator crossing the turbulent wastes of the Atlantic and also regular lines of aeroplanes carrying freight and passengers.
 '"The aeropane now receives and sends wireless telephone messages, and by a unique method. H. E. Morn. chief elac- trician, United States navy, has conducted successful experiments and the tests are to be renewed this spring. He does not use dangling and awkward wire antennae, but the guy wires of the aeroplane.
 ''To show you how practical the aero plane is becoming. and how useful fac tor in present day life Henri Salmet, one of the pilots attached to the Bleriot aero plane school at Tendon. near London, England. recently used his aeroplane to make flight to Paris, on account of .he great strike in the coal fields which tied up several steamship lines. He left Hen don at o'clock on the morning of March II, in his Bleriot monoplane and arrived at Issy-les- Moulineaux, near Paris, at II a. m.. having covered the distance of 222 miles between the two great cities in two hours and 57 minutes. Having completed his business Salmet started on the return journey. If Ii had not been for his mono plane Mir. Salmet's important business would have had to walt