Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-01-13

WoU01oBSOxIp ~ ~ SeAAs ~Ss 100
up in western mountain ranges, far
from railroads, wagon roads and
even trails, there IL . great wealth
in gold. silver and other precious
metals. Much Of It Ii undiscover-
cd, because no prospector would
waste his time hunting for gold
mines in situations from which the
xold 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 =
vain attempt to carry q hydraulic
outfit to one Of these inaccessible
bonanzas. The horses slipped and
fell into a deep canyon. killing and
manning themselves and smashing
the machinery with which they
we're loaded. Old prospectors. dis
cussing these lodes Of unattainable
wealth, are wont to remark:
THE stuff is there all right, but
you would need q pack OF bald
eagles to bring it out"
Well. the pack Of freight-carry-
ing eagles, of which the old-timers
used longingly to dream, has be-
come a reality. Man has made
himself mechanical birds that fly
faster and higher and lift more
weight than the lustiest eagle that
ever new. Why cannot airplanes
or dirigibles fly to these inaccessi-
BILE deposits 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 . mining expert of high scien-
tific attainments, who holds an i'm
portant government position. He
knows a great deal about gold
mines and something about air
planes. He expressed the opinion
that in all probability some man
who combines imagination with
practical ability will astonish the
world and enact one more great in
dustrial romance by bringing gold
and silver and possibly radium
down from the mountain tops in
flying machines.
When this mining expert was
confronted by q newspaper report
er who had heard Of his idea, he
was Immediately seized with that
acute panic which SO often atflicts
the scientific man when he encoun-
tiers a representative of the press.
The average scientist is just as
spontaneously afraid Of newspa-
per man as q cat is afraid of a
bull dog. The minute his natural
enemy comes in sight he gets flus-
tered and usually. goes up a high
tree of non-committal language,
where he remains until the brute
goes away. 1t may be that the sci
enlist, like the cat. is partly justi-
fed in his conduct by experience.
At any rate, this scientist was
genuinely and deeply alarmed at
the idea that his reputation for
conservatism, or that Of the gov
eminent department with which he
is connected, should be exposed to
injury by the publication Of SEN
sational story to the effect that
mining by airplane is practicable
thing. Nevertheless, when he had
been promised 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 airplane
as it does to carry a 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 airplane
must have a safe and adequate
landing field before it can operate
at all. At present, when the Unit
ed States air service is asked to
land a plane anywhere. it stipu-
lates that there must be a level
field at least 1900 feet square.
Now, it might be hard to clear a
field that large on some of the
mountain tops where the rich
mines are located. But the air SER
vice officials have also officially
predicted that within a year or two
they will be able to land on a field
200 feet square with comparative
safety. They are learning more
about the landing business every
day. 1t Is understood that the de-
velopment Of a reversible propel-
lor has much to do with this Off
cial optimism about the landing
business. And it would seem that
a landing field 200 feet square
could be arranged on most noun
tain tops.
OF course, an airplane can carry
only a few hundred pounds OF
| freight II would hardly he nrac,