New Britain herald., 1919-05-30
AIRSHIPS ID MAKE WORLD NEIGHBORS
UndeVeloped Regions Brought Near Civilization and Progress
(By Richard Spillare.)


 age, the most vivid, tragic and adven- turous of all time. Now a new marvel unfolds in the conquest of the Atlantic by ship of the air, synchronizing with the conquest of the same sea by ] steam exactly one hundred years ago ] when the Savannah made the epoch making journey.
 Today the airship's flight thrills. A little later it will not An oft-told story does not carry it's first rich | charm. Within a year or two to fly the Atlantic will not be the globe ap- ] palllng act it is today.
 Soon, very soon the interest will be commercial, almost wholly. Will the alrshlp develop into a big industry? Will it play a large part is transporta- ton? What may we expect in reason 1 and how soon? Will America lead in this field or is she destined to be out stripped by one of the Europeans?
 These are some of the questions likely to be asked. It is difficult to plot a course for or speak with assur- ance of an industry that is new. One thing certain, however, is that those best informed regarding the airship consider it's field much narrower than is imagined generally. Also, it is evil dent that what large development there is in the field will be due most ly to American enterprise. This is odd in view of the fact that the Brit ish, French and Germans have strain ed to the utmost for the last four years in airship production. Immediately with the close of the l war there practically was an abandon ment of airship development in Eu- rope. In England Lord Weir advised all firms having any connection with airplane making to get out of it as quietly as possible. His advice was followed despite the fact that many manufacturers thought aviation had large commercial possibilities. They could not afford to wait, however, so they turned their plants to other work.
 The same general statement applies to France and Italy. As to Germany, she is out of consideration.
 Passenger Airships Sure to Come.
 It is certain the airship will become a regular vehicle for passenger and high-clas freight across the Atlantic. This may be within a year or two, but the passenger traffic will be limited by
 
 ards. We are likely to have many tragedies to mark the way, just as there were in the early days of the railroad and the automobile with the kerosene lamp.
 Anyone who has dreams of flying to and from business in the city and his home in the suburbs, say, 25 or 30 miles out-traveling in the air he does now, in auto-is in for disillu- sionment. The use of the airship for a short journey is too costly. It's realm is distance.
 Flying will become just as safe as railroad travel some time. Today it is not so hazardous as supposed. As in- dicated by insurance rates and statis- tics as to flights it is safe enough. As suredly it is fast enough, but the time it saves on anything but long journeys is offset by the many and long delays at the starting and landing points. Aircraft Not For Short Distances. Where the airship is likely to play a really great part is in fields where now it is not considered commercial ly-Asia, Africa, South America, Aus tralia. Today it is a journey of three to four weeks from New York to Rio San Paulo and Buenos Aires or Mont eVlQeO. By a1fpldne It would De only a few days and there is no such ex- panse of sea to cross as in spanning the Atlantic, for the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea is dotted with islands.
 Tn the vast stretches of South Amer ! ica Africa Asia the aircraft have a l clear field and infinitely greater scope 1 than in crowded places like France, Great Britain Germany and the east l ern part of the United States. Tn the l development of overseas potentialities l it will do much, but far greater will l be it's part in drawing all the world 1 closer together. That is it's big func- l ton.
 l It is not in drawing the crowded 2 nations closer-they are too close for l comfort now in many cases-but in l drawing the vast undeveloped regions ! of the earth so near as to make them ] real to all the world. Distance is 1 nothing but time. If South Africa is ] made only four days from America or | Asia three, or the Argentine three, l they inevitably will come as much in l communion with New York, London, | St. Louis, San Francisco and Paris | as New York and London are today. | What this means in the field of trade, the development of industries now unthought of, the progress of mankind is something to fire the imagination.