Gilpin observer., 1913-08-07
MEN IN SECOND PLACE:
FRENCH ARMY OFFICIALS RELY
ON WOMEN AviAToRe.
Have Many Points Of Superiority
Which Must Be Taken Into Ac-
count When the Trumpets Of
War Are Sounded.


The French army department has
determined to have as many women
aviators in its air battalions as 1t pos
sibly can. says an English paper. For
this purpose special law will have to
be passed making women eligible for
army service.
The fact is that the leaders of avia-
tion in France have come to the con-
clusion that women make better avi-
ators than men. and they are dete--
mined to encourage women fiiers In
every possible way.
Their first step has been to make
Mile. Helene Dutrieu chevalier Of the
Legion of Honor, decoration that has
been given to very few women.
Among the experiments undertaken
by the French authorities were num-
ber dealing with the effects of height.
speed, quickness of thought and ac-
ton, and other essentials of flying. In
these experiments both men and wo-
men took part, and, to the amazement
of every one, it was found that the wo-
men were far better air pilots than
their male competitors.
First of all, women are more primi-
tive than men. They are far less well
developed mentally; and. though the
man in the street may not think 1t.
women are not SO nervous as men.
A woman is less liable. say the
French scientists. to collapse In the
higher attitudes of the air than man.
Her greater capacity for bearing pain,
or ,a thor bor ipcopcibiIifv to main on
ables her to Withstand the cold of the
upper regions of the atmosphere-cold
SO intense that more than one aviator
has lost control of his machine
through 1t and been dashed to death.
Another cause which makes a wo-
man better at high attitudes is the
fact that she needs less oxygen for
breathing than men. She is, in conse-
quence. less affected by the rarified
air, further proof of which fact is
that quite large number Of women
have earned the highest regulations
for mountain climbing.
The fifth statement in the report
says: 1.-THE arc Of woman's vision Is
nearly twice that of man." Put in
ordinary language. this means that
while man only sees what is direct
ly in front Of him. a woman sees
things at the side as well. A mans
vision is concentrated, while a wo-
mans is spread
This ability to see all round. as 1t
were, is Of the greatest possible i'm
portance in aviation The airman does
not want to see Just ahead 30 much as
each side and above him. The general
look Of things tells him the state Of the
atmosphere, and enables him to steer
clear Of dangerous eddies, currents.
and so on.
A woman. also. is not SO concen-
trated in her thought as a man. The
latter thinks of only one thing at
time. while a woman thinks of sew
eral things, and is able to deal with
them all successfully. This faculty is
called "diffused attention" by scien-
lists, and is valuable in the air.
Finally, the report to the French
war Office states that the woman's spe-
cific gravity is less.
The highly-developed modern wo-
man. however. is useless for driving
an aeroplane. according to the scien-
lists. 1t Is her home-loving sister,
who is not 80 highly concentrated.
who has the power OF "diffused atten-
tion." who will make the air-woman
Of the future.