The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-01-21
'THEHASKINLETTER
"A PACK OF BALD EAGLES"
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2l.--High up in
the western mountain ranges, far from
railroads, wagon roads and even trails,
there Is great wealth in gold, silver and
other precious metals. Much of 1t is
undiscovered, because no prospector
would waste his time hunting for gold
mines In situations from which the gold
could never be brought out. But some
of these deposits are well known and
some Of them miners have tried again
and again to reach. Recently in the
Olympic mountains dozens of horses
were killed in a vain attempt to carry a
hydraulic outfit to one of these mac
cesslble bonanzas. The horses slipped
and fell into deep canyon. killing and
machinery with which they were load
ed. Old prospectors, discussing these
lodes of unattainable wealth, are wont
to remark:
THE stuff is there all right, but
you would need pack of bald eagles to
bring it out"
Well. the pack Of eight-carryng
eagles, of which the old timers used
longngly to dream, has become real
ity Man has made himself mechanical
birds that fly faster and higher and
hit more weight than the lustiest eagle
that ever flew. Why can not airplanes
or dirigibes fly to these inaccessible de.
posts Of wealth, carrying the machinery
in. bit by Bit and the metal out?
This idea is not merely the pipe dream
of a reporter, 1t originated with a min
ing expert Of high scientific attain
ments, who holds an important govern
ment position. He knows a great deal
about gold mines and something about
airplanes. He expressed the opinion
that In all probability some man who
combines imagination with practical
pGtnniSh World n
act one more great industrial romance
by bringing gold and silver and pos
sibfy radium down from the mountain
tops IN flying machines.
When this mining expert was con-
fronted by a newspaper reporter who
had heard Of his idea, he was immedi-
ately seized with that acute panic which
SO often afflicts the scientific man when
he encounters a representative of the
press. The average scientist is just as
spontaneously afraid of newspaper
| man as cat is afraid OF a bulldog. The
minute his natural enemy comes In
sight he gets flustered. and usually goes
up a high tree Of noncommittal Ian
guage, where he remains until the brute
goes away. 1t may be that the scientist,
like the cat, is partly justified in his
conduct by experience.
At any rate, this scientist was gen.
timely and deeply alarmed at the idea
that his reputation for conservatism, or
that of the government department with
which he Is connected, should be eX-
posed to injury by the publication OF a
| sensational story to the effect that min
| ing by airplane is a practicable thing.
| Nevertheless, when he had been prom
ised that his name would not be used
he admitted that it did look practicable
| to him.
The possibilities of the airplane as a
means of carrying freight have been
pretty well canvassed 1t has been said
| that It costs about as much to carry a
| pound by airpiane as 1t does to carry
ton the same distance by rail. In a
word, the cost is prohibitive. That is
why, so far, the airplane has been used
| for carrying nothing heavier than mail
In the second place, an alrplane must
| have a safe and adequate landing field
| before it can operate at all, AT present
when the United States air service Is
asked to land plane anywhere It slip
ulates that there must be level field
at least 500 feet square Now 1t might
be hard to clear a field that large or
| some of the mountain tops where this
service officials have also officially pre-
dicted that within a year or two they
win be able to land on a field zoe feet
! square with comparative safety. They
| are learning more about the landing
| business every day. 1t Is understood
that the development OF a reversible
propeller has much to do with this Of
fetal optimism about the landing bust
ness. And 1t would seem that a land
| ing field 200 feet square could be ar
ranged on most mountain tops.
| or course an airplane can carry only
a few hundred pounds Of freight, j
would hardly be practicable to ship on
crude ore by sirplane. But gold snC
silver are usually reduced at the mine
The procedure would presumably be Il
carry to the mountain top all the ma
chinerv for a STAMP mill and reduc
Htion plant bv airrlane, piece by piece
This would be expensive. but II woult
onlv have to be done once. Then tn
metal IN bars worth thousands of dol
lars each would be carried out by air
plane, and they would be far safer from
| robbery than most gold in transpor
away from railroads Is nowadays.
So much for gold mining by airplane
The idea is offered without royalt,
charge To anyone who wants to try II
Meantime. the bureau Of mines ha
devised a use for tho alrplane which
promises to be imm ediatelv useful ]
proposes to carry aid to the scenes O
mine disa sters by airplane. The idea 4
that of Mr. Bailey. assistant chief o
the bureau, He wrote to the chief o
the air service. asking II that depart
ment WAS willing 70 cooperate In tn
use Of planes for the purpose. He pro
| rneed that ~ case NJ disaster. a Man
FROM tho nearest CTR service stltini
! should 60 70 the headquarters Of tn
district engineer Of the bureau o
L,ninee and rush to the disaster with tina
pndividual and with as many oxygei
tanks as II could carE- An exyge1