CONQUEST OF THE AIR.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 10 August 1908, Page 4

CONQUEST OF THE AIR.

1 b .txusunan The* passage of groat ships across the ocaan 1 , carrying precious lives ajnd valuable fn light, is now a. coramonr placa Wo are no longer start lad by the thought that man's dominion has been ecxtanded to the sea whish now offers loss danger and difficulty to travel and transport than the land ilsedf With Iho air it is different We aro as yet only, touching ,tlie threshold of conquest so far as spacemailer—with its atmospheric and | gravitation perils — is concerned. From tha time tluit tbo kite first' suggested the principle of tho aeroplauei — arising through the swift pressure on the air by an inclined piano, rapidly propeilled — a great advance has been made 1 . And yeti th& elemisniti remains uncontquered. A vast expenditure of time fjid money, and the sacrifice of ncxii a few lives, haive shoiwni the perilous possibilities of atrial navigation. The Zeppf «Jin airship, destroyed last week, was the biggest and most successful that has yob bern made. Its trial trip was acclaimed throughout Germany aa the beginning, of a new era. Yet, while the vessel wae at anchor, a mere sifcroka from the eflemem/ts if was designed to defy, caused its aur nihiliation.. It, is curious that the> triumphs of three great countries should havei boeai destroyed almost in the very hour of '-their success. The French * hopes for the immediate aocomplishment of successful aeronautics were dashed to the ground when "La Patrie" was torn away from ira attendants by a gale, and the British 'Nxtlli Sflcundus'* (Second to Nobody; was split to> pieces by ai storm. When, .Zeippolin first annouueefd his intentions, this is what he, said: 'I intend to build a.vessel which will be able to traveiC to places which cannot be approached—or only with great diffi-culty—-by other means of transport. To undiscovered coasts or interiors; in ] a straight line acrosa land and water where ships awto'be ewught for; from

on© fleet station, or army to another; carrying persons and despatches; for observations of the movements of hostile fleets or annies 1 - -no<b -for active p&rticipationi in actual warfaret My balloon must be able to travel several days without renewing provisions, fuel, x or gas. It must travel quickly enough to reach a certain goal in a given number of days, and rmisb possess stifiioiemt rigidity and nont-in-flammability to ascend, travel, and descond under ordinary conditions." The trial and fate of "Number 4" show how far the Count succeeded. His eixpp«riments cost -£1 00,000. The day maycomia when success "'uikfeu' oidinr iiry -weather conditions" will be achieved, but travelling bj^ airships is not likely to becoma popular in tihia day and generation.