The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-05

|
Prima donnas guard their voices from
the cold and temperamental pianists
insure their fingers, but Michigan has
the only shepherd dog whose feet are
of such value to his owner, Romeyn G.
Parsons, Of Grand Ledge, that he keeps
them shod always in the finest OF
leather to keep them from bruises in
the stone streets the dog must often
traverse.
Mr.. Parsons feels he can afford this,
as the dog, Shep, is rated at an earn
ing capacity of S. day.
When his work calls him to other
towns Shep is carefully housed and
meals are sent from the leading restau-
rants
Shops mind is as nimble as his feet,
and as for executive" ability Mr.. Par
sons will place him on level with any
man in his employ. Shep demonstrated
this by herding large flock of sheep
in the main street the {
ss.s...ssssss...ssss......
than 1900 feet. He was not given rec
| ord. however, as the Mexican capital il
| situated at ain elevation of 700 feet.
| Returning to Europe, he prepared fo'
| the great cross country races which were
| held in the spring and summer of last
| year, and took 4 prominent part in all OF
them, winning second place in the Paris
Rome contest, after leading his rival
| Beaumont, for the greater part of thf
ia a
height record, and in September reached
an altitude of nearly 1900 feet. Not long
afterward he attained a height of three
miles, after which he lost for a time the
| premier mark to Legagneux. Going tc
Tunis this month, however. Garros re-
| gained his laurels with a splendid flight
| reaching UP to 1a,203 feet above sea level,
or but little short of four miles.
| The mind is hardly able to realiza the
| significance of journeying at this alti-
| tude. 1t is very different matter from
ballooning, where the pilot can sit still
and is not forced to aggravate the diff
Guilty of breathing by physical exertion.
In the case of the aviator, however, The
problem has been solved by providing
Him with a tank of oxygen, wnich he uses
after he has reached an elevation where
/ easy breathing has become difficult.
| One of the factors which has made pos
.sible the carrying of enough of the gas is
the Improvement OF the aeroplane engine,
furnishing reliable power up to such
| heights ard the increase in speed which
allows these attitudes to be reached in
much shorter time than used to be the
case.
A couple of years ago, even in the fast
nonoplanes it took fully an hour to reach
an elevation of 10000 feet. In the Tunis
flight of Garros he was in the air but
one hour and eleven minutes, which
means that his Journey to his highest
point took not more than an hour.
Flying Over waters
His flight over the Mediterranean, how
ever, was an even more daring piece of
work than the making of His altitude
record, for in the machine he used there
was no possibility of his being accom-
panied by marine craft If he had been
forced to come down it would have been
nothing more than chance if he had
| been picked up. The fate suffered by
the French officer, Lieutenant Bague,
who perished year ago last May, serves
as warning. Bague, who already had
| the over seas mark to his credit, started
out from Nice for SARDINIA, intending
| TO complete his journey by flying across
| the Mediterranean. but in the opposite
direction from that just taken by Gar
| ros.
Bague left Nice one morning, and moth
| ing has been seen or heard of him since
that time. Undoubtedly he perished. Ma
| chimes, however, are much more reliable