THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10963, 4 May 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR.

BALLOON WHICH. WENT 16 MILES HIGH. -

"Very Utile remains to be done before it can be said tliat man has conquered the air," said Major Baden-Powell m addressing the members of the Royal Meteorological Society on the "Exploration Of the

"Twenty-five years ago the French Covernment made the first dirigible airship," he said, "and now. they possess one. if not more, that seem Tto be really practical air vessels of war. ; T : . T

"Count Zeppelin has also produced m Germany h. rinacliine wliich m point of size as well as m speed has beaten all records.

; "Small balloons capable Of attaining the greatest heights and carrying " self-re.ord-ing instruments have recently ascended to Uie enormous altitude . of 82,000 feet, or nearly sixteen miles above the. •urfacp tf the , earth. -. . - Meteorological kites have been much improved m recent years, i-nd instruriients lifted by kites! -etahed by 'steel wires; have actually asc.il*d to li height of four miles.

• "Afc ,Alden_.ho£; kites have been regularly introduced ;into the service. Men were first lifted by tin's Tmeans in -1895. In tlut.year Trriyself "made a number of ascents up to 100 feet liigh, but improvements have gradually followed, until now men have actually gorte up to a height of 3000 feet— an elevation practically!.^ yond the reach of rifle bullets, and so high as to render tlie aeronaut almost invisible. ■■■'■'■

"Tlie flying machine has come . stay. Years ago people argued that it "was impossible to lift m; the air tliat J_hi.ii w.is far heavier than the air, but th© : advocates of the cause pointed to the birtfei, and there was no gainsaying that the thing was possible. "Then pessimists cried that it would not be possible to; balance the apparatus without the intelligence of a bird, but models were made, finally so good as to fly for three-quarters of a mile, J while men have also taken to gliding ori wings' arid sailing on the wind. ' ; - . "Great! machines have beeh constructed with very light engines, and during the last two or three yehi.e not only have men been successfully raised off the ground, but they liave been able to sustain themselves m the air for half! an hour at a time." - . ' ;-