The Washington herald., 1914-04-17
PUZZLE OFFERED
BY Water PLANE
Commerce Department Final
ly Puts Hydro-aeroplane
In Motor-Boat Class.
IT MUST SHOW LIGHTS
Navigation Laws May Present Diem
ma TO Captains and Difficulty
to Passengers.

On the surface there seems little con-
nection between the books which contain
Aesop's Fables and the statute books OF
:he United States. But Solicitor for the
Department of Commerce A. L. Thurman
and a certain company which contem-
plated establishing hydro-aerOpiane line
for the carrying of passengers between
Tampa and ST. Petersburg. Fla. have
discovered that in one point at least
parallel Is to be found.
Now. old Aesop recites. once upon a
time there was a war between the beasts
of the field and the birds Of the air.
Formerly they had mingled in all good
fellowship, the birds hopping about the
ground fraternizing with the beasts and
the lesser animals being on good terms
with the birds OF prey.
But when war was declared between
these two classes of life, il became neces-
sary for the line to he drawn sharply
The beasts convened and adopted
measures for their own protection and
drew up resolutions to the effect that
they should increasingly harry the deni-
zens OF the air whenever opportunity Of
fered. The birds took similar measures
and the war was on. Eagles swooped
out of the blue and carried on young
lambs and other beasts while cats and
dogs and other mammals lay in wait
and sprang upon the fowls whenever they
saw an opportunity
Bat Beats Gume.
But the bat caused complications When.
upon alightinG TO rest. IL was attacked
by beast. II folded its wings and ran
upon its four legs prOclaiming il was a
beast and therefore immune from mOlcs-
tatIOn by any animal OF the earth. And
when. while running upon the earth, a
bird Of prey swOOped down upon il, it
Srfr nd aPla hat
belonged to the bird family. bad faith
was exhibited when any bird sought to
Ge troy IT,
Now the hyGro-aeroplane is a vehicle
which is more than amphibious. II is
also aerial. IL might he described as
amphibaerial. IL. heretofore there had
been such a word Wherefore. when
certain enterprising persons sought to
transport passengers between the two
Florida cities mentioned by means of
hydro-acropIanes which. starting their
trips on land. navIgatCd both the air and
the water. and terminated them again
upon the eaTth's bosom. difficulties OF the
same ChaTa"ter as those presented in the
fable Of IN" bet arose. And they have
caused as much trouble.
But the hydTo-acroplane being an in
animate object and therefore incapable
OF making a decision for itself. has been
placed 10y tn" Department Of Commerce
in the category OF motor boats. There
is no particular reason for this decision.
il is frankly admitted. II might as well
he class"d rs a land vehicle. But thcT"
appeared 10 no moro room on the high
seas aud the docket Of the lnterstat"
Commerce CommsS ion Is OvcrCrOwded.
so Solicitor Thurman for the Depart
ment of Commerce has ruled that a
EydrO-a crOpiane IS a mOtorbolt.
nId VI ,.E,,e, n.~ar.
As such II comes under the navigation
law. which prove a serious embarrass-
ment Under these laws the hydro
acroplanc must carry life prcscrvers and
il it bc great enough size. must be
thorouEhiy provided with lisebpIts II
must be equipped with all tn" lights that
the navigation laws prcs"rih" for their
motorboats. When repo>.nS in its own
er's back ward AT night. the hydro-a-ro-
plane must carry riding light because
tho navigation laws prescribe that mo-
tOrbOat must show such beacon when
riding at anchor And in case OF aCCi-
dent the old law OF the sea that women
and children bc permitted to leave tho
vessel first must be observed sCruPu-
lousy.
Imagine. IL you can. serious accident
hc;allinS n hydro-acropIane some thou
sand feet in the air. The craft begins
10 lalI rapidly hurt!lNE DOWN toward tie
Garth. The captain jumps up and with
a heroic cry of Women and children
first" seiZes a tWO-yoaT-nld baby and
filings il into the air and then pushes a
feeble old woman over the side. Feeling
That there would bc chance OF the
craft riGhtinC before reaching the sea
tho captain would. Of course. out of re-
Spcct for the old law of the sea, be the
last to leave his rapidly sinking vessel
But YOU can get away from it. the
hydro-aeroplanc official has been wished
into the motOrboat category and that's
all there is to it,