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“On the Edge of the Future,”
A Gloomy Glimpse at Airship Year
Problems That Will Arise When the First Air Schooners, Air Steamers, Air Mo
torboats and Air Yachts Begin to Flap Through the Thin Upper Fluid.
Bv JULIUS W. MULLER.
In spite of the thousands of in-'
venters who are working at the prob
lem, there will, no doubt, be air
ships that can really fly almost as
well In the air as they do now in
the Patent Office romances. Even the
most brilliant mechanical geniuses
will be unable in the long run to pre
vent the final accidental production
of a real ship of 'the atmosphere.
On the day that this first ship
actually flies to anywhere and back
again without the aid of an under
taker and a coroner, the whole sys
tem of the world will be turned topsy
turvey.
About the only human institution
that won’t be affected by it will be
that wonderful specimen of perfect
and illimitable elasticity, the Ameri
can Constitution. It will swallow the
new Empire of the Air without a
gasp, and the stars and stripes wiil
be floating over the clouds to greet
the first ship that gets there.
But everything else will have to be
remodelled—municipal, state, federal
and • international laws must be made
to cover the unknown. Every law
making body in the world, from the
tiniest Board of Supervisors of the
tiniest settlement to the biggest
makers of international law, will have
to meet in a hot hurry to tackle the
host of new problems that will arise
when the first winged thing steers
into the blue.
The very first question to come is
that of jurisdiction. At present every
maritime country exercises sover
eignty by international agreement
over the sea for a distance of three
nautical miles from its shores. That
is beautifully effective now with ships
that can’t do anything except to swim.
But what will happen when ships fly’
Shall the zone be tilted upright and
made to extend three miles overhead?
Plainly that will not cover the case,
for ships will, no doubt, be made
ultimately to fly four and more miles
high, and these could pass serenely
back and forth above the three-mile
zone of sovereignty, leaving the
Power underneath to gnash its na
tional teeth in unavailing rage.
Aerial Imperialism.
So the first great change to come
o ver the earth with the first real air
ships will be a vast assumption of
new territory by all the nations. They
will all become aerial imperialists and
expansionists, claiming sovereignty
over the air overhead clear to the limit
of atmospheric pressure, forty miles
or more.
The Czar and the Shah-in-Shah with
similar great potentates, including,
perhaps, the Kaiser, may claim domin
ion clear to the sky, to make sure.
They will have fine squabbles over
it. There may be wars before the
thing is settled. An unlimited vertical
zone of jurisdiction would suit some
nations beautifully, and it wouldn't
suit others at all.
A British air sailor, for instance,
wouldn’t see the use of air ships if
he couldn’t make a short cut straight
across Europe instead of flapping his
way laboriously from London around
to Gibraltar and then down the Medi
terranean and through the super-heat
ed air of the Red sea in order to get
to India. He might justly complain
In that case that he could go as well
In a water ship.
Yet, on the other hand, Germany
and France certainly could never bear
to look up into their own native air
at every hour of the day and night
and see the red British ensign or the
Stars and Striees fluttering all over
their skies, as their rivals in com
merce and war go careering happily
about their business of grabbing the
trade of the world.
The inland nations will be in a di
lemma to delight the lawyers of the
world, and give them food for subtle
reasoning for years. If they don’t de
mand an unlimited vertical zone of
sovereignty, they might as well go out
of business, for they will be only con
veniences and way stations once the
merchant fleets of all nations begin to
fly over them. They couldn’t main
tain their diplomatic positions any
more, for they would hold no balance
of power. Any nation could transport
its sailors and soldiers across their
territory, as long as it did so at a
sufficient hlght.
AMERICANS’ DOINGS
IN OLD ENGLAND
)• VAN ALEN’S RUSHTON HALL.
LORD FAIRFAX TO RETIRR TO
THIS COUNTRY AND BECOME
A "an."
American Multi-Millionaire, Who
Intend* to Become a British Sub
ject. Buoy Overhauling Hl* New
F.ngltsh Realdence—Mr*. Spemler-
Clay, Wllllaui Waldorf Aator’*
Newly Wedded DaoKlder, Aaton
lalie* Her Friend* by Her Knowl
edge of Lace nnd Expose* a
Fraudulent Dealer—Young Mr*.
Bradley Martin'* Practical Idea*
of Charity.
London, Dec. 3. —James Val Alen,
■who intends to (become a British sub
ject, Is clearing out all the furniture
that remained in Rushton Hall, his
newly acquired mansion in Northamp
tonshire. Second-hand furniture deal-.
ers from London and Birmingham
have been examining everything, front
pictures to tapestry, in the place dur
ing the last few days. It was general
ly believed that the new occupier would
retain some of the best of the furni
ture, but when the whole had been
catalogued he gave a wholesale order
that the lot be cleared out. He found
that the furniture would not harmon
th* scheme of decoration
whlth he means to introduce so that
the hall will be newly furnished from
floor to ceiling. He has expressed hlrn
seir ready to spend half a million dol
lars on structural alterations alone,
and it | understood In the nelghbor
hood that there will be hardly tuiy
ining but the outer walla left when
inese alterations are complete. He la
‘ lW 2* r * n * a number of eatlmatea and
■geciflrattona, and It ia not anticipated
"** h * "Ml be bio to taka up his
,IL *n*nt realdence there for another '
sis or nine months. An architect from
‘ *" '’ wk has boon exploring the
mansion for th* past fortnight and It
_..^°* > * l ‘i* | sd moat likely that lit* alls
*7-- I l .* w ' u ha carried out undei hie
The Guilders in the neigh- '
aerboed : ICeitertng, which is the
Yet. if these inland fellows do de
mand an unlimited vertical zone of
air, what use will airships ever be for
them except for purely domestic pur
poses? If they have the unlimited
vertical zone, all the rest will have it.
And then they couldn’t send out a sin
gle airship of their own without hum
bly asking permission from their neigh
bors.
However, it will be merely a matter
of time, intrigue and mutual swin
dling before the nations agree on a
zone. And then the real practical dif
ficulties would only just begin.
Declaration of the zone is one thing.
Enforcement is different.
The sailor of the sea can approach
coasts only in certain ways. He can
not run into any part of the shore. He
needs channels and lighthouses and
harbors. Therefore, the present port,
navigation and commercial marine
laws are enforced easily enough by
establishing custom houses and quar
antine and Immigration stations at the
various ports of entry. Even the
smuggler can be practically suppress
ed that way. for surf, rocks and other
dangers of the seacoast limit him, too.
to certain localities for landing his
cargoes.
Troubles of tlie Revenue Airine.
Consequenty, the revenue marine
of to-day has well defined "beats.”
But the revenue airine of the future
will have a vastly different problem.
The flying smuggler can swoop over
the borders of any country at any
point at any time. No surf beats
tn his path. No channels daunt him.
He can dump his freight in prairie or
in suburb—even on the roofs of houses
in the heart of the city.
The staid and honorable merchant
airship will make trouble enough. If
a liner of the Flying Cloud Line ar
rives off the borders of the United
States with infectious disease aboard,
where is she to be quarantined? They
can’t establish an aerial anchorage
over the land, for, no matter how
high up the unlucky vessel might lie,
the people on the ground would have
good reason to kick against a possi
ble shower of germs. Yet how could
she be quarantined over the sea?
nearest town to the hall, are compet
ing keenly for the work because It Is
understood that Mr. Van Alen is a
most liberal and generous man to deal
with.
A Judge of Old Lace.
It has Just been discovered by her
friends that Mrs. Spencer-Clay is one
of the best Judges of old lace in Eu
rope. The dealers have known it for
a long time because she has frequent
ly exposed their impositions. Shortly
after the announcement of her engage
ment an American friend who knew
of Miss Astor's partiality for speci
mens of good old lace was enlarging
on the beauty of a sample which she
had Just bought from a dealer. It was
the lady’s intention to present the
piece of lace to the bride as a wed
ding present. Miss Astor, without A
moment's hesitation, described tne
sample as not lace at all, but a poor
German copy of a genuine. Irish de
sign. The friend collapsed. She told
Miss Astor that she had paid an enor
mous price for it. “Oo and get your
money back,” said Miss Astor; "if the
dealer Is worth powder and shot he
will not hesitate; if be Is not, you can
consider your money lost.”
Few people know how she obtained
her extraordinary knowledge of lace.
She has paid frequent visits to Lim
erick, the center of the lace Industry
In Ireland, and has sat for hours at
a time watching the girls in the con
vent schools there while they were at
work. Shs has made some intricate
designs herself and if she were not a
millionaire's daughter she could earn
a handsome living as a lace worker.
While she is an expert In Irish lace,
it would be difficult to deceive her in
Snanish, Maltese, Egyptian or Arme
nian specimens. Her admiration for
Irish lace workers has caused her to
support the industry most generously
from time to time.
Mr*. Brntlley-Marlin's Charity.
Following the example of Lady Cra
ven, young Mrs. Bradley Martin has
already commenced to take an active
Interest In charitable Institutions that
devote their efforts towards the relief
of distress among Indigent old people.
She has no sympathy with the English
poor house system by which old mar
ried couples are separated immediate
ly they become chargeable to the rate
payers. It has been the custom in re
cent years to solicit subscriptions from
wealthy people to provide some meas
ure of Christmas cheer for the poor 111
the work houses.
Such ''luxuries'' cun be obtained only
through voluntary support heesuse the
government will not sanction any ex
tra expenditure that might Involve the
general rate-payrs. When Miss Pilpp*
was appealed to, ■ few weeks ago,
for a subscription to provide an en-
Uttsinment at Christmas for the In
SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY. DECEMBER 4. 1004
What kind of moorings could be
made for her?
The matter of moorings presents
an interesting phase. Of course the
big. unwieldy airships will need par
ticularly snug berths when they are
not under way. If It were merely a
question of tying them fast to some
thing, it would be simple enough to
eretet immense steel skeletons of tow
ers. But something more Is needed,
so that they won't roll in a heavy
"ground swell” of wind. This opens
a delightful prospect for the owners
of suitable roofs. The time may come
when every roof in a city will be laid
. WvwfflSmfr and
-
v JF Tar”*
H 4
( THE WAR OF THE FUTURE—AERIAL, BATTUE SHIPS J\ ACTION.
out with a slip or dock for airships,
and the happy proprietor can rake in
wharfage duties in the very heart of
the town.
Shipwrecks Right at Home.
Of course the whole country will
get nautical, or, rather, aero-natutlcal,
and everybody will watch wind and
weather with the knowledge squint of
the old salt of to-day.. At any mo
ment a blow may set in and drive
airships in shipwreck at a man's front
door.
mates of one of the Scotch, poor houses
she quietly told the collector that she
would be always happy to contribute
if there was a guarantee that hus
bands and wives were allowed to share
the same - table on Christmas day. The
collector could give no such guaran
tee and had to go away without any
assistance.
Mrs. Bradley Martin and Lady Cra
ven have always responded to such
charitable appeals liberally, but it
would appear that Mrs. Bradley Mar
tin, Jr., prefers to support places like
Nazareth House, where old married
couples are allowed to enjoy each oth
er's society within stipulated hours.
She will not be found among those
who Indulge In indiscriminate alms
giving which has been denounced as a
"demoralising luxury.”
Lord Fulri'itx to Become I'lnin “Mr."
Lord Fairfax, the representative of
that Maryland family which has long
held a Scotch peerage, is looking for
ward with pleasant anticipations to
his speedy return to the land of his
birth where he will be able to assume
once more the simple dignity of a
plain American citizen, who recognizes
to the full his obligations to make a
living for himself. His business mis
sion, in connection with some Ameri
can banking institution, has been far
from successful, I am told. The fault
was probably none of his, for motley
is scarce in these days and British
capitalists are very shy of making
foreign investments. Apparently those
who sent him here thought that his
title would attract people to the
scheme he represented. If anything
it has had quite the contrary effect.
So many scandals have resulted of
late years between the association of
coronets and commercial ventures
that the public generally refuses to
bite at the company promoter's honk
when It is baited with a peerage. For
his title Lord Fairfax really seems to
care not a Jot. He has so long lived
In America as plain Albert Kirby
Fairfax hat he ha* no notion how to
assume the airs that are here sup
posed to be the appropriate and nec
essary accompaniment of it. He pre
fers "Mr.” to "My Lord,” but people
have Insisted on giving him the full
benefit of his title. At the swell func
tions, which he found It impossible to
shirk he always looked bored and
much out of his natural element
among those with whom fashionable
frivolity constituted the chief busi
ness of life.
A cynical critic of our aristocracy
has remarked that It la a great pity
Lord Fairfax cannot lake back with |
him a ship load of young titled Idlers
that In America they might undergo
transformation Into useful wage
earners like himself. Lord Fairfax's
visits to England aaerri associated with
failutre. When ell the poors of tbs
The householder may awake at
night.to hear trampling on the top
of his premises, to find that an air
schooner. driven out of her course,
has struck on his frowning chimney,
and the the survivors are lashed to
his good tin roof, stamping melan
choly holes into it as they shout for
succor.
The Marine Courts will become
Airine Courts, to sit on the new Ad
miralty cases, such as the amount of
damages to be awurded to the master !
of an airship because his vessel struck
a house whose owner had failed to
display the proper riding lights. Or
a house-oxvner may sue because a
skipper has permitted his vessel to
go adrift and smash hts windows.
There will be fine salvage cases that
will keep the courts and the lawyers
fat for generations. Men will catch
airships that have been abandoned
in a storm, and, tying them up to
their front door-steps, will hold them
for heavy salvage. Of course tha
marine insurance swindler will scut
tle airships as he does water-ships, he
will simply scuttle the gas reservoirs
of the motor instead of the hull.
The question of collecting port
charges and customs duties will set
the whole world by the ears. The
temptation for airships to evade pay
ment by sneaking in at night over
lonely ports of the boundaries of dif
ferent countries, is too great to be re
sisted by any except the supremely
virtuous. • There will be fine chases
in the air when aerial tonnage gets
large. At any moment the unfortu
nate Average Person on the street
may expect to get his share of modern
progress by being hit with the hurt
ling fragments of a ship that has been
blown into smithereens by a vessel of
Mhe Revenue Airine three miles above.
realm were being rounded up to grace
the coronation of King Edward VII
he crossed the Atlantic and had a
costly set of peer's robes made for
him. but the King’s illness and the
consequent postponement of the coro
nation compelled his return to Ameri
ca before he had had an opportunity
to make a public appearance in them.
And nothing could induce him to don
them In America.
How a Lieutenant Stirred (ji u. Din
ner,
Amusing stories will doubtless fol
low the return of the Olympia to
America and be enjoyed as much as
they are In England when the experi
ences of the American visitors are be
ing recounted. At the Pilgrim's din
ner, Lieut. Le Bretton of Olympia was
determined, In spite of British stiff
ness, to have a good time, and chesr
lly took the seat placed for him at a
table with four other young fellows.
No one spoke and the quietness some
what daunted him, but he determined
to thaw these Britishers. "I'm Lieut.
Le Bretton of the Olympia,” he re
marked pleasantly nodding to them all.
“Oh,” timidly sntured one of his au
ditors in an undertone. And the si
lence fell again deeper than ever. At
last Le Bretton could stand it no long
er. “Well, now, 'say,” he burst out,
“If we go on like this we shan’t en
joy our dinner. Let us Introduce our
selves to each other and have a good
time. Who are you?” he asked, turn
ing to the young man next him. This
one happened to be the Master of Kln
naird, the son of Lord Klnnalrd, and
thus breaking through the ice the
American visitor roused the whole ta
ble and made a Jovial, merry party of
It, instead of a dull set of silent diners.
Everywhere there is a great deal of
regret in society at the recall of the
Olymplt, for interesting American vis
itors always give occasion for smart
and piquant Intertalnlng.
Ladv Mary.
—"Deed, Mlstah Fommeh!” cried
‘Rustus Johnsing, caught with the
goods on in Mr. Fommeh's turkey
coop; •• 'deed, suh, I Isn't a-stealln'
dls yah bird—l'se a-takln' it In self
defense. Hones' | is.” "Self-de
fense? What kind of a lie are you
trying to tell me?" "Please, suh, mah
wife she aay ef I doan' fotch homo a
tukkey she gwine ter break ebbery
bone in mah body. An' so I Jec*'
'bleeged ter perfect tnahxee'f."—Judge.
—Secretary Tafi played golf up In
Canada lust summer with a Juatlos of
the Supreme Court, a clergyman and
a city magistral*. The lightest in
weight of the qukrtet owned to euf)
pounds. They wens dubbed "tb* i,m
pound foursome."
Short-sighted persons have said that
the airship would surely bring univer
sal peace because it would render all
present great land and naval arma
ments useless. They point out that sn
airship could hover over a fleet, army
camp or city at a hlght so great that
cannon could hardly reach it with any
chance for a hit, and drop terrific ex
plosives to destrop everything In a
great radius.
That is true. But these regsoners
forget that the other fellow could do
the same. And, furthermore, even In
land nations can own airship fleets, so
they will add Just so much more to the
armaments af the earth. In addition,
airships will not be nearly so dear
as steel armor battleships, and fourth
and flfth-rate powers will enter the
great game of world-poker, where
in every player takes care to be "well
heeled."
A Temptation to War.
Therefore the airship will be a con
stant temptation to pugnacious or
avaricious nations to make war. And
quite without this stimulus the oc
casion for quarrels will be vastly in
creased by the new vessel. When men
got dominion of the air their Interests
will conflict In hundreds of different
ways. There will be no artificial geo-
graphical and political boundaries to
restrain them. They will be far be
yond the hand of law.
The lightness of the airship of the
future will demand an entirely new
form of armament. Of course. It will
not be enough for the lighting airship
to carry only explosives to drop from
a hlght. It must carry guns that it
can direct against other airships.
These guns must be featherweight, yet
they must have tremendous range; for
the flying ships will be able to sight
each other at Incredible distances,
Bk
GREW THIS HAIR
UIHM DOROTHY CLARK, ChTcsn.’uCS iTrv
""•SS® 4 *— *£%%%£&,
LBTTLE FRANCES* MARIE KNOWLTOM
hM * mo tf bwitifulhoad °f goldsu hair, thicker than the crown of glory of most
#*' oly fmjr years old. andl her hair hangs within 18 Inches of the floor. Tbs extraordinary hair
ss? ot Opndorlne lias grown for this little girl the most admirable head of hair ever possessed bv
a child of her age ip the world. The other two ladles whose photograph* are shown here are certainly delighted with the
results they are gettlug, Neither of them having bair that would rse3j to their waists before beginning the use of UsndsHas.
IT IS POUT I Iff AMO PERMANENT IN ITS RESULTS.
10 th ®L*f*'P *n *ithr old or young, It mskes the hair sprout and grow thick, long and beautiful and thera
ns. ttttsSbss Es*?
FREE •— ~~ r
, - - . ... - _
MMU* *■*
since, once they rise a mile or more
above the ground, the curvature of the
earth will not limit the range of vi
sion.
Perhaps the warship of the sky will
use radium or some even more won
derful element still to be discovered,
for its fighting.
Men will invent and find all the
necessary things, as they have always
managed to invent and find what they
needed. Does anybody believe that
they are going to miss the chance to
use the fruits of- their ingenuity?
New weapons, new explosives, a
weird and wonderful theater of war,
with ranges beyond the imagination of
men of to-day—where will the white
dove of peace be in airship year?
The Poor Avernae Person,
Now what will that useful and
worthy and universally Ignored crea
ture, the Average Person, get out of
It?
If a naval engagement suddenly
breaks loose over the place where he
lives, he won't even have the mourn
ful pleasure of seeing what hits him.
The spectacle of battle will not be for
him. It will be too high up. But
the projectiles that go wild and ev
erything that is smashed up there will
fall down on him with simple direct
ness.
Ills life insurance premiums will
Jump with a mighty Jump. No in
surance company will fall to take ac
count of the new risks. If the Aver
age Person doesn't fall out of an air
ship himself, somebody else will, and
the somebody else will, of course, drop
on him as he walks respectably on
the street. If there Is a collision
overhead, the Average Person on the
sidewalk will be the target for the
pieces. If two freight ships smash
Into each other somewhere out of
sight overhead, the Average Person
will find It out very quickly, though
too late for It to do him any real
good, by being burled under the tum
bling freight.
He will have brand new injuries
and diseases, of course. Medical and
surgical specialists unimaginable
now, will arise to do for him. There
will be weird complaints, due to the
expansion of the good old vital or
gans whch they are hauled Into the
rarelled air. Ear drums will burst, ar
teries and veins will have ‘‘blow
outs,” there will be diseases of noses
and eyes with Eatln names a foot
long. Everybody will have mountain
sickness. The aerial ambulance serv
ice will have vast emergency cases
when a whole ship's complement of
passengers Is stricken suddenly blind
because an airship happens to swoop
out of a cloud into the full glare of
the sun In the thin a.!m I
high. I I
Ilia Coming Trials, fl I
The Average Persi>n| a
get "soaked" Just as f",
then, as he is now on
ship catches Are, no '
will be rotten and fours
way. the Are boat of
problem, too. It certa:en
able to carry enough f nr
with which to put out |
a cloud? What would
days when there isn’t a ■cloL
Maybe they will learn to
cloud 'by that time and towl
for use In case of need.
Of course, it Is too much tfjy|
that human Ingenuity and gflH
both will have arrived at
pitch by the time airships fl®
have produced a real life prps
It is to foe expected that the Ilf
serving parachutes of 1950
made of canvas dated "1890” '<
they will be thoughtfully though
tentatiousiy loaded with lrof
by that time people may have
to swim in the air, so that thf
flounder around in the thin fluid
or four miles above the earth ti
are picked up, or, perhaps, i
down.
What else may the Average V
look forward to In the day of alii
There will be so many of him bf
time that all the airship rapid t
routes will be as crowded as the
portatlon routes on the surfac
now. It is only too certain tha
Average Person of the future, lik
Average Person of to-day, will
to a strap. There won't be
enough. There never were. Ther
never will be.
A Revival of Piracy.
In his voyage to business and b*
his crowded way 'will be 'beset by
the present dangers and added
them will be the new ones of gra/|
and wind and lightning. Furthering
the chances are that the fine old pt
fosslon of piracy will have e. gr*
revival. The rakish craft of twßs
tieth century Bluebeards or Moron
may hover everywhere and holdTi
whole shiploads or. descending toKh
Average Person's home on terra flAna
at night, lay his house by the boflH
depart with his plate, and perhms
make the unhappy owner walk the
plank out of his own windows in gdpd
old style. K 9
Even without the pirate, the AverJ
age Person's privacy will vanish wltti
the arrival of the ships of the atmos
phere. High walls will give him no
exclusiveness. Merry chowder par
ties and picnic crowds will lean gayly
over the taftralls of their excursion
barges and lightly drop banana peels
ard sandwich crusts and other rubbish
all over his property, and his head,
too. Probably, whenever he walks In
his garden, a bomb-proof metal hel4|
met will have to take the place of the!
broad-brimmed straw hat of to-day.
The Average Person won’t get anvi
fun out of air navigation himself any!
more than he does now out of the wat-|
er. He won’t 'be able to own a prl-j
vate air yacht any more than he can!
own a private sea yacht now.
The new aerial police to enforce the!
new speed laws and rules of the aerial
roads; the new aerial Are and ambu
lance services; the aerial anchorages
and life saving stations; the Boards of
Aerial Inspectors of Everything
Aerial and More, Too—all will be paid
for by the Average Person in increas
ed taxes.
And in return he will get an occa
sional fractured skull from an empty
bottle tossed pleasantly overboard by
an unknown speed-maniac who Is
racing in his air nuto out of sight four
mlleß up in the blue.
(Copyright, 1904, by Julius W. Muller.)
A Friend nf Washington's.
From the Cornhill Magazine.
While many persons have _ known
Lincoln and Grant, and a few were ac
quainted with Washington and Lincoln,
so far as I am aware, but one per
son was ever born Into this world who
knew the triumverate of uncrowned
American kings. That Individual was
Horace Btnney, leader of the Philadel
phia bar, and among the foremost lead
ers of the profession throughout the
land, with whom I spent a memorable
hour In the year 1874. During that de
lightful interview he stated that when
a youth his home was near President
Washington’s Philadelphia residence,
that, he had met him almost daily for
several years, and that he frequently
held conversation with the general.
Mr. Btnney also mentioned the Inter
esting fact that he had been acquaint
ed with every President of the Unit
ed States up to the time of Grant, dur
ing whose second administration he
passed away at the great age of nine
‘y-flve. _ 4 1 j