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1907. May 31, Friday at Baddock No 15 [[?]] [[?]] LETTERS BY AIRSHIP ____ Letters by airship is the latest novelty of the French postal system. A short time ago a party of military aeronauts ascended from Meudon and steered for the war office at Paris. When over the building the airship was brought to a halt, and a letter addressed to the minister of war, Gen. Picquart, dropped from the car. Through their glasses the aeronauts watched the missive in its descent, and as soon as it had been secured, [[?]] the aerostate and made their way back to Meudon. A very ingenious method is employed to facilitate the delivery of letters to the islands of the Tonga group in the Pacific. These islands, guarded as they are by dangerous rocks [[?]] breakers, are difficult and hazardous of [[?]] approach, and would often, were the ordinary routine of delivery employed, have to go [[?]]. To obviate this the steamer that carries the mails is supplied with sky-rockets, by means of which letters are projected across the danger zone on to the shore. During the winter, when St. Kilda had no direct communication with the main land, the inhabitants deposit their letters in small buoys of a peculiar shape. These are then thrown into the sea, and are by the currents carried to the mainland, where they are rescued from the waves and their contents taken to the nearest postoffice. A floating postoffice, consisting of painted cask, is attached by chains to the rocks at the extreme point of Terra del Fuego. to this strange office, which is under the joint protection of all nations, every passing ship sends a boat to post and collect letters. J.A. O'Shea, in his "Leaves from the Life of a Special Correspondent," related how Bazaine, during the siege of Metz, sent a message through the enemy's lines. A young Posener, who volunteered for the difficult task, had one of his teeth drawn and an artificial one, in which was a hollow, substituted. In this was placed a quill, within which was a dispatch in cipher, reduced by photography to microscopic minuteness. Then, disguised as a beggar, he left the town, the senties, to give color to the ruse, discharging blank cartridge at him as he fled. Taken prisoner by the Germans, he was brought before those in authority, to whom he told such a woeful tale of his sufferings at the hands of the French that he was released, with many expressions of condolence. He duly executed his mission. Herald, New York 10 Mar 1907 America Had First Dirigible Balloon Announcement of a Flight Half a Century Ago To Be Made at Aero Club Dinner. Surprise as well as interest will be caused by an announcement to be made at a dinner of the Aero Club of A'merica to be given on Thursday evening at the St. Regis' of a successful test of a dirigible balloon in this country half a century ago, long before Santos-Dumont was born. It is known that the Brazilian aeronaut was by no means the first man to try to steer a balloon, but this is the first public intimation that the credit for the first attempts in this direction belongs to America. American New York 10 Mar 1907 Airships Will Race For Valuable Prizes Expert Aeronauts Will Contest for Two $50,000 Events in Europe The amount of prizes, cups and cash offered for airships, aeroplanes, balloons, [[?]] heavier than air machines, is simply astounding, and the fact that they are so large encourages the belief that [[?]] most cases the donors of the prizes [[?]] little faith that the conditions will [[?]] complied with. At that the airships and balloons are going to give automobile a hard race [[?]] supremacy this year, and some remarkable aeronautic performances are to be looked for, both here and abroad, this summer. Among the chief prizes offered are the following: Le Matin, Paris - $50,000, Paris to London in [[?]]; 217 miles in less than 24 hours. Open [[?]] dirigible balloons or heavier than air machines. Daily Mail, London - $50,000. London to Manchester: 161 miles. Open only to heavier than air machines owned by members of a recognized aero club. The Car, London - (1) $2,500 (trophy) annually [[?]] aeronaut who flies longest distance in United Kingdom without touching ground in a self-propelled heavier than air machine; (2) $25 a mile for every mile successfully accomplished in the Daily Mail competition by the machine which completes the longest distance without ouching ground, provided at least 25 miles be covered. Adams Mfg. Co. London - $10,000 for any aeroplane that wins the Daily Mail flight, provided is entirely manufactured in Great Britain of dependencies. Autocar, London - $2,500 in same connection, provided engine used in the successful aeroplane is made by a British motor [[?]] manufacturer. Daily Graphic, London - $5,000 to the inventor who produces a heavier than air machine which will carry one or more persons through the [[?]] from one point to another not less than a mile distant. J. Norton Griffiths - Challenge cup to winner of Daily Mail race. Brookland Automobile [[?]] Club - $12,500 to the aeronaut who is successful in flying around the Weybridge track without touching ground from start to finish, at a height of 30 to 50 feet from the ground. Ruinart PEre & Fils - [[?]]2,500 to the first aeroplane to fly from French shore to English shore or vice versa. From Cape Gris-Nez to Dover is about 19 miles. Societe Des Bains de [[?]] d'Ostende - $40,000 to any flying machine or dirigible to go from Ostend to Paris in 24 hours; distance 186 miles. Henry Deutsch, Paris - $14,000 (trophy) to any flying machine or dirigible to cover course as follows: St. Germain, Seu[[?]], Meaux, Melun and St. Germain; 124 miles. Open only to members of Federation Aeronautique Internationale. Can stop and fill up with fuel. Deutsch-Archdeacon, Paris - $10,000 to heavier than air machine which accomplishes closed circuit of 62 miles without touching ground. Daily Mail, London - $1,250 for three best models of heavier than air machines exhibited at Exhibition, London, April 13, 1907. Barnum & Bailey - $10,000 for the purchase of a heavier than air machine to be used daily. M. Pepin - $200 for heavier than air machines, conditions to be issued later. Frank Hedges Butler, London - Challenge cup for the longest distance covered by aeroplanes or balloons starting from London on a given date. Howard de Walden Prize - Offered for a type heavier than air Sir David Salomons Cup - For a heavier than air type. International Aeronautic Cup - International contest for balloons open to clubs belonging to the Federation. Lahm Cup - Offered by the Aero Club of America to members of any aero club in the world for longest distance covered by balloons in the United States. Citizen, Brooklyn 10 Mar 1907 U.S. Building Balloons Be Most Dre[[?]] The photograph shows No. 10 on the West Point , surrounded by army of their friends and secret service [[?]] is being filled and the big pipe [[?]] ground is the conduit for the hyldr[[?]] If there is a war with Japan or any other country keep your eye on "No.10." "No.10" is the first balloon, other than stationary, that Uncle Sam has used for his army, and "No.10" will figure along with the numbers of regiments, with divisions of cavalry and artillery, in the future history of the United States. A company of officers are supervising the building of this new war machine on grounds of the military academy, and experimenting with other balloons at the same time, in order that No.10 shall be strictly up-to-date and formidable when finished. The new balloon will have some distinct features which are as yet a secret; That they are important is shown by the fact that secret service men are guarding the balloon and allow only officers to closely inspect the parts. The government is spending $12,000 on No.10 and two other balloons of like and same type. No.10 will soon be ready, and it will be shipped to Omaha, Neb., which is now officially designated as an aerial station of the United States army. The work is being done by Leo Stevens, the inventor and aeronaut of New York city. The new balloon is unlike any of the others made for the United States army, and also differs from the types used by the armies of foreign countries. It is not cigar-shaped, and is not steered by propellers or rudders. So far Uncle Sam's balloons have been captive ones, useful only to study the position of the enemy. No.10 will fill its capacious lungs with... [Picture] WOMEN AT WORK ON THE BASKET CAR OF "NO. 10" AT WEST POINT. LEO STEVENS, EXPERT AERONAUT, WHO IS HELPING TO BUILD "NO 10."
