43° 



BELL 



self, indeed, while unwilling to define the limits of the possible, cer- 

 tainly do not expect such results very soon. But I have no hesitation 

 in asserting that the attainment of the ability to fly say three hundred 

 miles, — a degree of success now practically certain to be attained 

 within five years — will, at whatever risk of danger to the aeronaut, 

 have as important an effect on warfare as the advent of wireless teleg- 

 raphy, and a far greater one than the perfecting of the submarine boat 

 or the Whitehead torpedo, both of which even now are causes of the 

 greatest concern to the officers of even the last, and largest, and most 

 expensive battleship. 



It is interesting in this connection to learn, what I have just been 

 told on good authority, that a prominent admiral of the navy who 

 has just retired is planning to devote his time to a thorough study of 

 aerodromics, foreseeing as he probably does the early advent of the 

 flying war machine, which there seems ample ground for believing 

 will prove to be the most important single step in the progress of the 

 art of war. 



I am pleased to hear Dr. Bell state publicly his confidence in the 

 accuracy of the reports of the success of the Wright brothers, fori my- 

 self have had every confidence in them and have thoroughly appreciated 

 the motives which have prompted them to withhold a public demon- 

 stration of their machine until business arrangements can be completed 

 which will enable them to reap the financial profits which their suc- 

 cess so richly deserves. 



I trust that I shall be pardoned for emphasizing Dr. Bell's statement 

 as to the importance of the fact that the "Wright brothers have flown 

 not only once but many times. The fact that a machine has flown 

 successfully and carried a man not only a few hundred feet but some- 

 thing like twenty-five miles, will, when its significance is realized, have 

 the greatest effect on the future progress of the work. 



I have always wondered why it is that the more prominent polar 

 explorers have been able to secure very large sums of money for use in 

 their attempts to reach the north pole, yet no public benefactor has 

 seemed ready to render substantial financial assistance in the solution 

 of this problem of opening up for mankind the great aerial highway, 

 which to me at any rate, seems of such vast importance to the 

 world. The only reason I could assign for this has been, that while 

 the existence of such a point as the pole is capable of mathematical 

 demonstration, the possibility of a successful flying machine has seemed 

 a subject not for science but for dreams. 



It seems to me however, that the fact that success has already been 



