The citizen., 1920-02-19

United states government. with one
OF the Wright brothers on the scene
made It's preliminary test of nirplnnes
in this city before adopting them for
the service Of the United states.
To the Wright br Iers Genera,
Menoher has given the credit for the
development Of the alrplane to the
s'hndards Of practical use. The
Wrighfs themselves. however. always
gave credit TO the pioneers In the field
Work Of the Pioneers.
In the Smithsonian institution In
this city Is tablet to the memory of
Samuel Pierpont Langley. who com
pieted The first henvier.thnn-air mn.
chine which actually few. Not long
ago scientists came to Washington
from all over the country 10 pny trib
ute 10 the memory Of this scientist.
Langley, who through the years with
stood the ihes and the jeers ~ men
who cnll'1 him n crank and worse he
cruise he was convinced that one day
mer would fly. Langley Kept ut his
work. and today ne Is acknowledged
NJ having been the first man to make
u heavler-than-air machine actually
| Nv
Twenty years ago and more there
lived In Chicago an engineer named
Octave Chanute. man Of French ex.
traction, who also firmly believed that
one dny mnn would fly and would not
need lighier-than-air apparatus to on.
able him to do So. II was Octave Cha.
mute who developed the plane idea. II
T. known that the Wright brothers. ~
youths. were pupils Of Chanute, and
that they witnessed some Of his exper
IN ents.
Octave Chanute WIS pioneer In re-
search; Langley was pioneer In pre-.
liminary accomplishment. and the
Wright brothers were the accom-
pllshers. The entire development of
| the airplane has occupied only ahuu'
n score Of years. In Europe Lillenthal
and others were experimenting. their
work In n measure following the lines
of those Of Chanute who was In CORE
sl,ondence with his European col
Leagues in the experimental field.
Relief in the Embassies.
In the embassies Of the allied nations
IN Washington there are signs of relief
and something as near approaching
happiness as ambassadorlal faces are
allowed TO show. Victory for the ar
mics Of the United States and Of the
allies had its reIuvenating effect on
everybody in the embassies from the
ambassadors down to the messenger
boys.
What wonder? For years there WIS
stress. anxiety and labors unto midi
night In all of the embassies. Men
wore themselves down to what peopi,
| like to call frnzzle In the hard work
OF Keeping up with the situation.
| The heart anxieties were deep-deep
er. of course before the United States
afterward. but deep always up to tn,
signing srmistice in November
last.
Prior to the entrance of the United
States into the war the German and
| Austrian ambassadors were engaged
In propaganda work. trying 10 keep
sympathy for the Germans alive In the
United States. and trying also TO Grip
| pie the industries Of this country so
that they could not produce along law
| full lines. The embassies OF the allies
were not supplied with funds even for
proper propaganda work. except In
small measure. and II Is understood
that the French embassy had no funds
for this purpose.
The work Of the allied embassies IN
trying TO offset the German propagan-
da was difficult because of this lack
| of funds and because the United
States was networked with a system
| OF German espionage. President VII
son. Immediately after our entry into
| the war. made public the results Of
Investigations into the German viola
tions OF the neutrality Of the United
States. and Of their attempts at de-
| structlon of our Industries.
Jusserand Is ReJuvensted.
The other afternoon ! spent an hour
or two at the French embassy, talking
with Ambassador Jusserand who had
| Just returned to this country. Like
other representatives Of the allied
powers he is different man today 10
what he was year ago. A burden
heavier than lead seems to have lifted
| from his shoulders. He Is buoyunt
and hopeful for the future. He al
ways was hopeful, for that matter,
even In the darkest days, but now he
seems like man who rejoices that
something besides war can claim his
attention. Ambassador Jusserand Is
a writer Of note among the writer's Of
the world
| He told me how the French appre-
clated the unfailing humor and wit of
the American soldiers. He went 10
France with President Wilson and re-
turned with him. and consequently
was In his home country for about six
months. He said that he was talking
10 a French general now In command
| of the forces I'm Paris but who last