1,30 RECENT AERONAUTICAL PBOGRESS, 



of Asia and Africa could be traver.sed and ro-travert^ed, the mysteries 

 of Mecca and of Lassa laid at our feet. 



But over and above these most important and far-reaching possibili- 

 ties of aerial navigation, there is the likelihood of a revolution in our 

 ordinarv modes of travel by one intinitel}^ more rapid, cheap, and con- 

 venient. 1 have alread}^ given my reason for supposing that such ti 

 means of travel would be rapid. There is also good reason for sup- 

 posing it would be economical. No rails or permanent way need be 

 laid on the ])illows of the clouds. No roads need be constructed or 

 kept in order through the realms of blue. P^ven expensive har})ors, 

 dredged channels, light-houses, and beacons need not be maintained 

 by the owners of air ships. Going from place to place '' as the crow 

 flies" shortens the route and adds to the economy. The convenience of 

 the svstem is also evident. Already we are ))eginning to appreciate 

 the value of the motor car going from door to door instead of our 

 having to get to the train at a fixed moment. But when we can order 

 round our aerial motor to take us straight to our destination, passing 

 equally well. over land or water, towns or cornfields, independent of 

 traffic and roads, then only shall Ave realize what real convenience of 

 travel is. 



Speed, economy, and convenience are ])ig factors in a new mode of 

 travel. 



But there is one consideration which 1 ])elieve is greatly responsible 

 for the tardiness with Avhich this subject progresses. Perils and 

 dangers loom before us as a skeleton contaminating and haunting our 

 castle in the air. The mere idea of being poised high up in the sky. 

 and of falling from the machine through thousands of feet to mother 

 earth, is so terrible to contemplate. But the aeronaut of to-day soon 

 gets accustomed to being at a giddy height, and without doubt the 

 people of to-morrow will have no ([ualms. Imagine the feelings of 

 the savage who for the first time sees an express train rush through a 

 station at (>() miles an hour, ])anging and clattering with fiendish uproar, 

 shaking the very ground, and darting along at a speed incomparable 

 to anything he has ever seen before. Would he trust himself to travel 

 by that means ^ Though to Hit through the air with the speed of a 

 swallow may seem highly dangerous to our inexperienced minds, how 

 often do we see a l)ird fall headlong to the ground!' 



What we see, then, looming in the future, more or less near, accord- 

 ing to the energies of, and the encouragement we give to, those ])ush- 

 ingthe matter forward, is the introduction of a new invention forming 

 an invaluabh^ and all-|)owerful weapon ol' war. an important aid to 

 science and the ])ractical knowledge of our glob(\ and a speedy, eco- 

 nomical, and i)leasant mode of getting from place to place, such as 

 will pro}>ably complc^tely revolutionize our present methods of travel. 

 Is this to be hastened and (>ncouiag(Hl ^ If so, how can we help to 



