The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-10
OFFERS DARING PLAN
FOR PLANE LANDING
Engineer Suggests That Bat
terry Be Extended Four
Miles Into Bay.
BIG NEW YORK TERMINAL
Project Would Cost 800, 000,'
600 and Take About Five
Years Time.

A proposal to extend the Battery
down the bay four miles beyond its
present line in order to provide a great
landing field for the aircraft which will
blacken the skies Of the city in the fu
ture was proposed yesterday afternoon
in an address at the Aeronautical EX-
position in Madison Square Garden by
T. Kennard Thomson. consulting en-
gineer and aerial expert
Mr.. Thomson's suggestion was that
a Golfer dam be built four miles long
and one mile wide extending out into
the upper bay. This. when nlled in.
could be used for buildings of uni
form height, and on top of these build
ings would be hangar covering the
entire strip.
THE building OF the wall. erection Of
the buildings and hangar would cost
perhaps slOo.oo0.ooo and would take
from three to five years" said Mr..
Thomson. 1.-THE work would give en-
ployment to at least $4,000 men and
IN various ways furnish employment TO
perhaps a million people In one way or
another throughout the country.
Clearing House for Railways.
The compilation OF the extension
would open up tunnel communication
with Staten Island easily and make New
York a clearing house for all the rail-
way lines now terminating at the va
rious points OF the New Jersey shore,
including all southern, western and
northwestern lines. The project would
be eelf-supporting and repay the origi-
nal investment in incredibly short time
Mr.. Thomson emphasized the fact that
airplanes,- whose principal merit Is time
saving, are Handicapped by the fact
that there Is no field In which they
can land anywhere near the heart or
the city. Aviators and passengers
waste a great deal Of time In coming
IN from the Long Island fields This
Is true in many other cities.
THE lawmakers of the United States
Will soon have TO face seriously the
many problems involved in the air travel
development that Is sure to ensue with
sensational strides within the immediate
future. I have considered, l think.
about every phase Of the subject. the
kinds of craft, the attitudes of travel.
the insurance Of safety, the economy of
Transportation. the convenience OF get
ting off and landing and. in a general
way, the laws that must soon or late be
written in our books to govern the rights
Of way and others matters that are In
volved In the evolution"
Roofing Plan Impractical.
Mr.. Thomson said he had considered
roofing over certain sections Of the city,
but this proved impractical upon fur
Their consideration because OF the diff
fcuity of getting private cooperation
and the ugly appearance of the section
which would have the sunlight cut Oft
THE roofing plan adapted in some in
stances 10 buildings already up and in
others to specially built buildings OF uni
form size must eventually be the an
swer TO the problem of hangers In other
cities. For New York. however, be-
lieve my plan TO extend the lower tip
Of Manhattan four miles out into the
bay. with a width at some parts OF
possibly a mile. and on this extended
strip to build a hangar is the logical
plan for accommodating the flying craft
that sooner than most OF US expect VIII
he Tapping their wings at our door ask
'ng for harborage. This is not mere
theory. In an amazing degree the
visitors are Tapping their wings to-day
Scarcely a day passes but some score
or more flying machines land al one or
another of the outlying flying fields
planes that come from the South or the
West We had number of such visit
o-s the past week whose objective was
New York city hut whose landing had
to be made at points SO far outside the
city that il required railroad journey
10 get in. II took one of the visitors,
Mator-Gen W. L. Kenly OF the air ser
vice, last Thursday longer to come from
Hazelhurst Field at Mineola to the city
than it had taken him to fly from Wash
+: gton. d. c."
Enrico Caruso and Mrs. Caru.o were
-
d'Annunzio at the air show. Capt.
dAnrunzio. who is the representative of
the italian Government, invited the tenor
and his bride 10 see what both Italy
and the United States were doing in
the way OF high flying.
Caruso's Highest Note.
The highest note ever hi, in my
life" Caruso said gazing respectfully at
a huge biplane. was in London just be-
fore the war. when I made a fight with
Claude Grahame- White. 1t was 50 high I
asked Grahame-White to come down"
Carusos voice travelled further YES
terday without the aid of wires or sound
ing board than ever II had travelled be-
fore. He talked into the receiver OF the
wireless telephone at the Garden and
his voice aided by sound amplifers,
scared through the Sxty-ninth Regiment
Armory. Hello, hello. This is Caruso.
How are you?"
Sing a few notes" promptly re-
sponded the radio man Al the other end
~ the air line. But Caruso was not
singing yesterday, he was sightseeing,
Tenar's wifr Not Adventurous.
eC I the Sixty.k,ati Regiment .Avr?or,,
the tenor recommended his wife to try a
few loops. tail spins and whirls in DR.
Ruggles's ORIGINATOR. which turns out
indoor aviators who know all controls OF
the plane In few minutes apiece
Mrs Caruso, however, preferred to
watch. The huse Capronl triplane, the
principal feature of the Italian Gov.
eminent exhibit. also greatly interested
them. In the party was p, NJ. Mara
ioti of the Metropolitan STAFF and Z
Giambrocno.
sweden is looking TO America for
aeronautical design and material for air.
planes, according to Postnla ster- Genera
Julian Juhin of Sweden, who visited tho
snow yesterday. While his country has
two srplane factories in operation, the
United States must be its tutor. he said
Mr.. Juhlin has already visited Eng
land. France and Italy 70 study tbs
operations of the aerial mail service He
will also request the construction OF 2
dirigible capable OF carrying five ton.