AIRSHIPS AND AIRPLANES 



3 OI 



miles) , which is made by the fastest trains in 2 1 hours, is 

 made by the airplanes in 9 hours. Plans are being made to 

 extend this service to other cities. 



It has been suggested that further application of airplanes 

 may be made by using hydroplanes along lakes and rivers to 

 patrol forests so as to enable the foresters to more efficiently 

 control forest fires. 



Let us notice the early attempts that were made to navi- 

 gate the air and see what progress has been made up to the 



FIG. 120. One of Uncle Sam's new aerial postmen, Lieut. Culver, who started 

 from Washington during the summer of 1918 in the first aerial mail flight. 



present time, especially the very remarkable progress within 

 the last ten years. 



Early history of balloons. The first experiments with 

 balloons were carried on in France. The first man to 

 ascend in a balloon was M. de Rozier, who in 1783 rose to a 

 height of about 84 feet, the balloon being held captive with 

 ropes. This was made to rise by building a fire on a grate 

 situated at the bottom of the balloon, and as the air became 

 heated the balloon rose bearing with it M. de Rozier, who 



