Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 1911. PERILS OF THE AIR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 28 June 1911, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 1911. PERILS OF THE AIR.

TH'E MARTYRS OF AVIATION. ALL ,"-reat discoveries and' inventions, those which- release, en- -seek to direct or comtrol the forces of nature, have had their victims, tlhe ma<rtyns of scii&nce. B>ufc tperhaps no research into the untenown has taken suich heavy toll of !nmi;i,n life as the endm-vour toi conau<e.r t-h® air and 1 wire-st from it the secret of the 'bird's flight. The tragus roll of the martyrs of the aerojpliain.e and dirigible balloon is already large, a.nd l'ast month acid cd to the dea.th roll thirteen valuable human 'lives ta/ken. In fact May was -tlio most <lisastro.us on record. The mimibei' of fatalities among Fipectators. of aviation iiig-lit® also was ah.no ranail. There s ' was iirst it he terrible disaster at Issy at the •c.'omimeineem.'eint of the Par.is-Madirid race —when one of t.lto bystanders, M. Ber teams, Freiioh Minister for War, was. kilted, and M. M'.nis. the Fiwh Premier, tfiustained severe injuries, leading eventually to his loss of .political! office. There wc« alls® a police-man. sum! 'two woineim kilted ait Lyonis, in 'co'iiinie-ction with the Pair i-s-Ikmie-Tunin flight; while ait lvu.ivsk, in Russia. owing tv am aeroplkuie rumming amok. Aevera.l spectators were imjimxl, live of them with a,nlici,parfed fatal result.?. There- have been, further serious casualties 111 is mo/nth, till' a-t last & of caution is being exorcised. An .amiJyms- uf the causes aissigncd for the various -mi sodve returns shows ! t.lrat in only one insWvncei (that at. Cannier.i'lio, which caused ihtv death o>f the noted Italian Signor Cirro Cirri. whose motor exploited ait a height of GOO feet, tho ill-starred airman 'being killed <indtai»Uy hv t.hs fail!) cnni thiere be any reason sni,Lrge,itc.d f(»r the. fatalities other than Jack of skill, recklessness, v.r errors of judgment on the part of ho pilots.

An interest :;nji; study in inemla! J physiology is furnished by a perusal of the official lists- o>f the eer'tiififated y.vki-tio-n pilots of PYanr-*\ a.ud' of tha gaps made in then* i-a-nks by fatal accidents whi;«> flying, or collapse of their nerveVigKjU'r. O-f the 354 certificates issnied up to the end of January last -t-n pilots who had graduated in Fra.nee, the first, batch of eight W'Hi-e granted on Jainuary 7, 1909, to BWiut, Delngrange, Robert Ksnanilt-Pel'terie, Henry Farniari, Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Santos D.umont and Ca.ptai>A Fefbcr. The, .nim'th an the Vr&- is Hubert Latham, and the tenth '.Louis Paulhan. Of this number De.lagrange and Ferber were killed, a»d all the rest •'have retired from active competition*, having most of them become proprietors of aviation schools, where they m.ake omly •occasional demo-nistra-thorns themselves, or devote their entire attention to the manufacture of aeroplanes, amd the imiprovcmant. oif t>be meciliaaiism of their own creations. The nerve-wracking strain engendered by the continuous haza.rd.ing of their lives in the "ethereal vault" has found them out, and they have wisely withdrawn from active •participation in the •hazardous though exhilarating pastime. Obviously, while these cotndu lions last, aviation will not be, for the million.

As a matter of fact, a,t present, 'aviation, like battle, is for the Strang alone. No one with a. weak heairt or a weaik he aid oa- lungs may indulge- sa.fely in flying. Tlio -rapid decrease of oxygen :m the air in the speedy transition from the dense atmosphere of "the .sea level of th* ear.th to- the reified atmosphere of great altitudes, ha& as an effect a shock to the heart, and to the respiratory organs. It often causes hemorrhage, palpitation, and other ill effects, which, with repetition, tend to become chronic. The ordinary symptoms of tliis "mountain sickness-,", as it is called in the highlands, are lassitude, cna-usea, and headaches. In aggravated cases, however, there are irresistible dirowsi•mesisi and embarrassed' mental activity, which may overcome the subject at the very moment when he has the greatest need for his faculties to be at their clearest and ibest. This is of supreme importance to the success, nay, to the very life, of the aviator, and therefore it has to be carefully studied by each individual. Faiku'e to regard these premonitory symptoms—the warnings of Nature —probably has been responsible for more than one of the otherwise inexplicable fatalities. *****

But. although the pioneers of aviation have, been compelled to withdraw from actual flight, there are thousands of pupils qualifying, eager to win the great prizes that are to be won by the successful aviator. These will have the advantage of the- discoveries—the mistakes—of their predecessors, and' thus a future generation, the heirs of the ages in this -as in other things, may be able to fly as safely as they take their train or ship or motor. The prizes for the various point-to-point contests in. Europe and America are alluring enough to induce men to risk their lives for a competency to be gained in, a few vivid hours. Compared with thorn even Tattersall's sweeps oai -horse races sink into insignificance. For the forthcoming European Circuit alone, the .prizes offered total £18,000: there is tlhe "Daily Mail" £IO,OOO crosscountry flight of 1000 miles in England and- Scot-land'; the Gordon.-Bennett Cup ; the Michelin prize : the recent Paris to Madrid and Paris-Rome-Turin prizes - ? the German £SOOO prize; and ainiimerous smaller sums offered by Continental clubs or syndicates,

Finally, there 'is hope that ere the present generation has passed away aviation will have been made a comparatively safe means of travel. But be the machine and the conditions ever so perfect, th-e human element must remain a factor against which infallible provision, cannot bo made. It is claimed that the neau-est approach to absolute security is embodied in a device on which Mr Law Ha.rgravo is working in Aitstralia. This, it is hoped, will enable the aviator to iretain his balance, no matter at what angle the .planes may be driven by sudden gusts of wind. It is expected that when, this balancing contrivance is perfected, and non-rigid connection between the planes and the body of the aeroplane is made to work successfully, the machine will automatically right itself after a dip. It is owing to the ordinany rigid .connection that a. very violent and sudden dip leads so often to breakage cr capsize.