Evening star., 1915-04-10
VALUE Of THE A|RSH|P
TOEXPLORER OF FUTURE
FLYING Machine Third Most In
portant Discovery in Behalf Of
Geographic Development.
O. P. Austin, Expert Statistician,
Delivers Lecture on Opportunities
for Detailed Study Of Earth.

O. P Austin, secretary OF the Ma
tional Geographic Society. delivered an
address before the members of the or
ganization Yesterday afternoon, which
was repeated last night at the New
Masonic Temple, in which he declareu
that the aeroplane will bse OF the great
est use of the explorer OF the future
Mr. Austin, an expert in statistics ana
a former government official. is no"
connected with one OF the largest OF
the banks of New York city. He has
made study of aeronautlcs, ana told
his auditors he believes the flying ma
chine to be the third most important
discovery in behalf of geographic ex-
pIoratfon and development, the compass
and the steam engine being the first
two
Growth in Population.
After pointing out that the popula-
IIon OF the earth has doubled in the
last century and the necessity for cul-
tivating the great unoccupied spaces
of the earth. and telling something OF
the unexplored regions. Mr.. Austin said
there still remain great opportunities
for the explorer, especially for those
For this work." he said, the flying
machine offers new and hitherto un-
dreamed-of facilities-facilities which
will give us for the unexplored regions
on land the detailed Information which
the steamship gave for the distant cor
ners of the oceans. Who would have
believed a decade ago that by the year
1915 the heavier-than-afr flying ma
chine. the biplane or monoplane, wouio
fly over all the mountain ranges OF
Europe. that it would travel from Lon
don . Paris and return in half the time
of the fastest express train; that IL
would cross the Mediterranean in an
afternoo. and that 1t would be carry
ing mails and light freights across the
Sahara desert? Who would have be-
lieved that an aeroplane could be de-
vised which would carry not merely
two or three but eight or ten and
even sixteen passenge>s; that machine
would be so adjusted that it could
start from either land ~ water, con-
tinue its flight for twentS-four hours
and travel more than 1,000 miles before
again touching terra firma: that could
rise to a height of more than five miles
above the earths surface and return
to the very spot whence 1T started, ana
that il could fly back and forth over
lines of great armies and navies, drop
ping instruments of death and destruc-
tion and. returning at speed of 12o
miles an hour, bring accurate reports
of conditions in the territory which 1t
covered?
Developments in the Year 1914.
yet, all these things were done in
the year 1914, and are being repeated
over and over again in 1915. AS for
the lighter air machines. the great
dirigible balloons. they have shown an
ability to travel in the face of adverse
winds, to make continuous flights of
hon irfv V
passengers in voyage of hundreds OF
miles, to commu municate during fight by
wireless telegraph with other flying
machines or distant stations on the
earths surface, and to obtain accurate
and detailed photographs of the area
over which they fly.
These are a few of the wonderful
things which the flying machine has
accomplished, and all in the twentieth
century.
when the war began in August each
of the governments gave every posi-
BILE attention to it's supply of machines.
and before the end OF 1914 the number
of flying machines in actual use by the
eight nations engaged in war was estf-
mated at over 5000, of which probably
nine-tenths were aeroplanes. OF these,
about 1,70O were French, while Eng
land, Russia and Germany had about
1000 each, and Austria $50.
Practical and Manageable.
"Of the work of these machines you
are reading daily. I need not quote
their exploits to prove what an entirely
practical and manageable thing the
aeroplane has become. When we read
of the recent flight of thirty-four aero
planes which few across the British
channel, bombarded the works Of the
Germans. and calmly returned to Eng
land; of the battles in the air between
representatives Of the warning nations
of the fleets of aeroplanes which con-
stantly patrol above the great cities
and the various army headquarters, we
need not doubt the practicability of the
flying machine for detailed studies in
peaceful areas. An illustration of the
high quality of the modern machine is
found in the fact that one aeroplane re-
Gently sent to the repair shop in the
European war zone showed that IT had
travelled 900 miles. had been struck
by 1870 rife balls. had 25 wires cut by
bullets 2 propellers shot away and
holes torn in both wings by shell ex-
plosions before yielding TO the shrapnel
burst which sent il to the earth and
thence to the hospital.
Photography is TO become an i'm
portant aid in geographic studies from
the flying machine. The explorer may.
IL he chooses, carry an ordinary camera
and take snap shots of such objects be-
meath him as he may desire III making
his flight over the country. II he wants
a continuous view of the area over
which he is passing he attaches to his
machine motion picture camera,
moving film a continuous picture Of
the earth below. Still another very
ingenious rethod is the photo