AN ALUMINIUM SALE 



romance had anticipated. Aerial navigation was at 

 last possible. There was nothing shoddy : it was not 

 necessary to spare expense. The whole thing was 

 solid ; alas, too solid ! 



It seemed absurd to leave that enormous shed and 

 walk to the station. I felt almost inclined to wait 

 there with him. With two glasses of absinthe I trod 

 on air with him. I am certain that my enthusiasm 

 was infectious, and I am afraid that I have a lot to 

 answer for in making him more optimistic than ever. 

 The fate of it I was not there to see. I believe there 

 was a great day. Whatever its success might have been, 

 it was, like most of the others, a ton too heavy. What 

 happened to it ? Well, aluminium fetches more by 

 the pound than iron does. The inventor had come to 

 the end of his tether as regards finance. Was he 

 daunted ? not a bit of it. The day after his failure 

 he discovered everything which was wrong, but there 

 was no more money to continue experiments with. 

 He was on the right tack, probably as near as Count 

 Zeppelin. The latter was fortunate in having the 

 assistance of the King of Wiirtemberg, and other 

 inventors have had considerable private means or 

 backing. W^ell, we all dream occasionally, although 

 the awakening can be pathetic. I was stupid, however, 

 in my disbelief of what could be done in the air. 

 I was one of the first at seeing all there was to be seen. 

 It was more in the spirit of writing a good newspaper 

 story than anything which caused me to pretend belief 

 in the future of flying. We can all be absurdly behind 

 the times and incredulous at times. Nevertheless, I 

 do not think even such an authority as Santos 

 Dumont ever believed we should have accomplished 

 so much in this way by 1914. This chapter may be 

 read with special interest in fifty years' time. 



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