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"The impossible has been passed in aerial navigation and I am proud of the fact that America leads the world in that matter," said Prof. Alexander Graham Bell to a World reporter. Prof. Bell had just returned from Boston, where he had delivered an address on the subject of aeronautics at the semiannual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences at Harvard College. "To the Wright brothers, of Ohio, belongs the credit of achieving the seemingly impossible, and I believe Santos Dumont has incorporated their ideas in his machine," said Prof. Bell.

"The fact that America leads is not very pleasing to France. They have been at it for years over there, and as in some other things wanted to lead the world - to be in the van of newer creations. They lead the world in motoring, you know. When Prof. Langley was successful in his flying machine in 1896 the Frenchmen were startled and surprised, for they had no idea that experiments were being made. They started in then and determined to take the laurels away from America. Within a year or two thereafter France again was in first place.

"Now it is America's turn, and do what they may to claim the honor, or try to discredit what the Wright brothers have accomplished, the fact still remains plain to any one who has followed the subject of aerial navigation that France is again in second place.

"Santos-Dumont deserves a great deal of credit for what he has achieved and for risking his life in numerous ascents and showing the public that he was really doing something. But the Wright brothers have accomplished more by working quietly and without any flourish of trumpets, so that when they are ready to show the public what they really have done their success will be all the greater.
 
Day of Laughter Has Gone By.
    
"Naturally I am very much interested in the matter from a scientific standpoint. I have done some experimenting myself, because I believe that we are approaching a progressive era of aerial navigation. It is but a few years ago that talk of flying machines produced laughter. The man who advocated such a thing was considered mentally unbalanced. But the work went on under adverse conditions, and so to-day we have a real practicable flying machine in this country.

"I have not seen the Wright brothers' ship nor Santos-Dumont's, but the details of both are familiar to me. You see, the American inventors have gone along conducting their experiments in secret as much as possible, while Santos-Dumont has been before the public a great deal. So the latter is very well known, and he holds the centre of the stage as the flying machine star. But as a matter of fact the Wright brothers could displace him were they to show the world what they can do.

"Their creation is a flying machine pure and simple. There is no gas bag or balloon affair to it, which makes it all the more remarkable. That it has been a success there is now no question. I understand the machine has two long parallel surfaces. These are each about thirty feet in length with a width of six feet. They are five feet apart. The frames are slightly curved downward from front to back.

"There are rudders at front and back which serve to steady the machine. The toppling over of flying machines because of the varying weight has been one of the great results in perfecting skyships. As these rudders may be feathered like an oar it means that with good judgment they are excellent in an emergency. The forward one is horizontal so that by pointing it either up or down it acts as a lever to guide the machine in rising or dropping.

"The rear or steering rudder is of course vertical. I understand that the fall of a heavy weight from the top of machine to carry despatches [[?]] observations and drop explosives down in the enemy's camp. With a machine under control it will be a difficult matter for the sharpshooters to hit it and disable it, for it need never remain stationary. With a balloon the navigators were at the mercy of the air and it has always been doubtful whether their use in warfare was of any particular value.

"This Government recognized the value of the flying machine long ago. That was why Prof. Langley was allowed to go ahead and spend money in experiments. Had he been allowed to work in secret and do what he wanted the results would have been different.

"Ten years ago I was given a perfect realization of the feasibility of the flying machine. At that time Prof. Langley had constructed his first aeroplane and I was allowed to see it in operation. He had a steam engine in it and it flew about from one place to another and I managed to get a photograph of it. On two different occasions he was successful with it. That demonstrated that he was on the right track, having a steam-propelled airship.

"Later on he continued his studies, and the public through the newspapers may be blamed for what happened. The writers camped on his trail, and he was unable to make a move without its becoming known. He was a sensitive man and all this jarred upon him. Because his machine did not do wonders, when in fact a slight mishap disabled it, he was held up to ridicule and there is not doubt in my mind that it hastened his end. He died broken hearted when he might have been successful had he been left alone to perfect his machine.

More Encouragement in Europe.

"The incentive seems to be greater on the other side of the water. They take to it more over there, and big rewards are offered for a successful flying machine. Over here the country is more matter of fact, and after the machine is perfected it will be given approval. It is this sort of thing that sometimes retards the development of scientific inventions. All inventors are not wealthy, and their experiments are sometimes carried on at a cost of lots of time and what little money they have, and sometimes the needful things are not available because of lack of funds.

"No doubt Santos-Dumont could have done much better had there been no great crowds present when he made his ascent. The people are not educated to the fact that a flying machine is something heavy and substantial, and were one to hit you it would kill or seriously injure you. But the people regard them in the light of balloons, and so jeopardize their lives by crowding about preventing a man from picking out a suitable landing place. Of course Santos-Dumont is a victim of his own circumstances, for if he had not let it be so generally known what he was going to do, it would have been much different and his success would have been more pronounced.

"The fact that the Wright Brothers have been able to fly with a machine that weighs 1,925 pounds proves conclusively that the first stage has been passed. Their engine alone weighs more than 200 pounds and their car embodies a great many principles which are in the line of progress. The flexibility of the rudders in front and rear is something that seems to augus well for the future success. While I have not personally seen it yet, I can readily see how such rudders may be worked advantageously in controlling the machine.

It Is the Old Story of Evolution.

"Flying machines are simply coming into vogue now as they did many years ago. It is the same old story of evolution only we of this age are making greater progress. Years and years ago people were experimenting with all sorts o fdevices, but many of them sacrificed their lives in attempting to fly, so it died out. This present age, however, is one that does not admit defeat and the people are struggling along accomplishing something all the timee. They have the advantage of more knowledge gleaned from scientists and this they can turn to great advantage.

"With a number of us trying our hand at the flying machine theory some good is sure to result. What one man discovers may be of benefit to another when there is an exchange of ideas. in my theories I have tried to keep in mind the great chances of fatal injuries to the operator who, while travelling at great speeds meets with accidents which are inevitable in this work. The character of building material for such things is now known.

"My experiments have been first to get something that would sustain weight without the use of a balloon arrangement or needing gas. I have constructed something that easily held a man some distance above the ground and flew along through the air. That demonstrated that one theory had been solved. it was based upon the fact that in the flight of birds the small bird could not lift much weight while the large one could only begin to carry as much more proportionately to its increase in size.

"Now what I want is to perfect an engine that is powerful but at the same time light. The Wright brothers have gasoline engines in their flying machines and undoubtedly these have not been perfected as much as they might be. It will need a lot of more experimenting to get the engine problem solved to the satisfaction of the flying machine man. The gasoline engine in a motor car does not have to be considered in anything like the light it will have to be regarded for aerial navigation. Yet the engineers are striving to lighten the gasoline motors now and at the same time give them additional power and strength. All this will help the rest of us who are giving attention to flights in the air.

"The outlook for aerial navigation is growing brighter every day. Just what it will eventually amount to is problematical now. However, the hardest part of the difficulty has been overcome, that of really flying, and proving to the world that it is a reality. The next stage is the studying out of the proolem of weight that can be carried. If the Wright brothers are able to navigate the air, with their structure being nearly a ton, it seems possible that a greater weight can be carried successfully.

"The carrying of fuel and supplies will have to be solved. Timidity on the part of people might militate against the universal use of flying machines. Of course, it will have to be proven conclusively that they are safe and practicable before people will risk their lives in them. This will take a lot of time. I do not look for the establishment of an aerial navigation line across the country, or from here to Europe in a year or two," said Prof. Bell with a laugh. "But then again neither did the [[?]]

that if they should exhibit this machine the nation which is contracting with them would break off negotiations. 

The simple meaning of the foregoing despatches, supplemented by the known achievements of the Wright brothers, is tat the problem of the navigation of the air has been solved.

And coupled inseparably, and for all time with this, the greatest of scientific triumphs, is the fact that the honor of it belongs to America, the youngest of the world's civilizations.

The youthful inventors of Dayton have not fashioned merely a toy that surpasses all others in providing fun for those who would play in the air. They have produced a machine of serious practical value-one that is worthy of being associated with the idea of navigation, just as a steamship is associated with it.

For eight years they have been at work on it, never with the purpose of making a superior plaything but an airship in the true sense. They have succeeded so well that the hard-headed representatives of a great military nation want their aerial vessel for the uses of war.

Wrights Had the Idea Early.

Devices without number have been invented for doing away with the balloon attachment and making a machine heavier than air that would not only stay in the air but keep its equilibrium. The aeroplane, after years of experimentation, has been accepted by scientific men, as opposed to the aerial dreamers, as the most likely structure from which ti evolve a real airship. The Wright Brothers came to this conclusion many years before older-headed students of aeronautics did so. Upon the aeroplane model they centred their energies. In the early stage of their experimentation they saw the necessity of producing something which would preserve a perfect equilibrium so long as it was driven through the air. And it is believed that such an aeroplane is the one with which they have solved the problem. Other inventors have succeeded in doing the same with aeroplanes propelled by external force and even by self-motors, but they were incapable of carrying a weight such as that of the operator. They were incapable also of staying in the air for more than a few minutes.

But the Wright Brothers can make their machine rise at will and continue its flight so long as the gasoline in the engine holds out, and they are able to carry enough gasoline to supply their engine for about an hour.

That the Wright aeroplane has been made to stay in the air for about an hour, that it was under perfect control all the time and that it maintained a speed of at least twenty-five miles an hour are claims supported by strong evidence.

Why the Wrights Won't Race.

It is because of their established record that the Wrights refuse to take part in the English or any other contest. Such a course would be to place their invention in the class with airships that are in the experimental stage of development. They have other reasons, too, for standing upon the record of which they have ample testimony. One springs from a keen business instinct. Having produced an airship of commercial value, they intend to reap their commercial reward, which is money. They admit with the utmost frankness that they see larger possibilities for their flying machine, to develop which they need the independence which money supplies.

For more than a year the Wrights have made no move to establish their claims to supremacy in airship building. They have made no flights since October, 1905, and none is contemplated in the near future. They are building several other flyers more powerful than the one with which they have accomplished their great feats in aereal motoring.

Long Flight in 1905.

On Oct. 5, 1905, they claim to have made a flight of twenty-four miles at

reached France, the War Department of that nation became deeply interested. In a little while they sent to this country Arnold Fordyce, a student of aeronautics, to confer with the Wrights and ask them for a demonstration of their power to fly.

Fordyce spent some ten days at Dayton, but was not permitted to get even a peep at the airship. The Wrights informed him that they would not deal with any one except an accredited agent of the French Government. Confronted by this turn of affairs, Fordyce set about to find out for himself something about the reports that had reached Paris concerning the phenomenal flights the Wrights had taken in their airship. He visited the farmers and business men in the district where all of the tests have been made.

To a man they were enthusiastic about the airship. They told Fordyce that they had seen the strange invention in flight on several occasions, and that it sailed just like a bird. Their reports were so convincing that Fordyce renewed his negotiations with the Wrights, who finally consented to show him a series of photographs of their invention taken while in full flight.

What happened after that is not definitely known. It is certain, however, that in some way Mr. Fordyce was convinced that negotiations for the purchase of the Wrights' airship by France were warranted, and he communicated with his Government to that effect.

Rumors have varied as to the amount of many involved in these negotiations, one report having put the sum which Frnace agreed to pay for the option as high as $300,000.

From descriptions given by eye witnesses of various flights, it is apparent that the Wright brothers' aeroplane has two parallel surfaces about thirty feet long and six feet wide and separated from each other by a distance of about five feet. These surfaces consist of canvas stretched on wood, and the frames are very strongly supported by a series of trusses. They are slightly curved from front to back and downward, but throughout their length and breadth lie parallel to each other.

Secret to Machine's Stability.

In front of the machine is a rudder about six feet square, which consists of two parallel surfaces supported like the main structure, by wire trusses. This rudder may be tilted upward to direct the machine upward, and when it is tilted downward the machine necessarily slants toward the ground. It makes a big swing on its own axis, as an oar in a boat would be feathered, and therein lies the secret of the Wrights' success in maintaining the stability of their machine, as far as can be learned from witnesses of their flights.

When the machine, in rounding curves, has a tendency to turn too far, and even to turn completely over, it appears that they are able to restore it to equilibrium by means of this flexible rudder. They also appear to have used another smaller rudder at the rear to