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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0431.PDF
JULY 17, 1909. most of the leading aeronauts. Blanchard and Dr. Jeffries were the first to accomplish the crossing in 1785, when, starting from Dover, they landed in the forest of Guines near Calais, and accomplished the journey in under 2^ hours. Green, a notable aeronaut of the thirties, made the crossing with two passengers in November, 1836, and the centenary of Blanchard's performance was observed by Captain Webb performing a similar feat. Coming to modern times, the names of those who have made the crossing are too numerous to mention indi- vidually ; they include many of those present members of the Aero Club of Great Britain who indulge in the pastime of ballooning. Mr. Latham himself made the passage in 1905, when he accompanied M. Jacques Faure, and travelled from London to Aubervilliers, a distance of over 200 miles, in 6i hours. The longest journey including the cross- Channel passage was that made in the Daily Graphic balloon " Mammoth " by Messrs. Gaudron, Tanner and Turner on October 12th, 1907, when, starting from London, the occupants decended in Switzerland by Lake Wener, having travelled over 730 miles in 19 hours. A summary of some of the more notable crossings from England has been compiled by M. Pierre Souvestre, which we reproduce in tabular form. THE WOMEN'S AERIAL LEAGUE. IF any further proof were needed of the thorough manner in which interest in flight and all that appertains to the conquest of the air is taking a hold upon all classes of society, it was given on Monday of this week at the Society of Arts, where a meeting was held, with the Lady O'Hagan in the Chair, to inaugurate the Women's Aerial League. The objects of this society, as set forth by its prospectus, are to encourage and stimulate the invention of aerial craft and the things appertaining thereto. To disseminate knowledge and spread in- formation, showing the vital importance to the British Empire of aerial supremacy, upon which its commerce, communication, defence, and its very existence must largely depend. To use every constitu- tional means to bring about the objects for which the League is established, and to invite the support of men and women of all shades of opinion throughout the Empire. The policy of the League is to start an educational campaign for the purpose of arousing an intelligent interest in the question of aviation by means of lectures and distribution of literature, to en- courage the formation of branches throughout Great Britain and the Empire, and to collect money to build an all-British airship by British mechanics of British material, in order that this nascent industry should be established in this country. This fund is also to be devoted to founding scholarships for young British subjects desiring to take up aerial engineering as a profession. Altogether a nice, comprehensive scheme. The principal method adopted by the League for ensuring the carrying out of these aims, is that of enrolling members, associates, and honorary associates at annual subscriptions of a guinea, five shillings, and a shilling respectively, and in joining the League members are of course expected to further its interests by doing their best to obtain donations to its funds from those who have its interests at heart. Lady O'Hagan, in opening the meeting, pointed out, in the first instance, that the Women's Aerial League was a strictly non-politicai body, which had been formed with the object of giving what help they could to their country in order that it might take its proper place among men and nations in this new question of aviation. They desired to awaken in all members of the community a practical interest in the subject. They would like to present to the nation an airship of British construction, made by British workmen and of British material—to present such an airship from the women of the Empire for use in the defence of the Empire. They wished to enable British workmen of all grades, from the lowest to the highest, to acquire the knowledge necessary to carry out such an object, and in order to do this it was their intention to give scholar- ships at their technical schools and polytechnics, and by so doing to incite in them the desire to take up aerial dynamics and aerial engineering as a special subject of study. They also wished to give scholarships at their great engineering schools and colleges when they had made this subject a special branch in their curriculum. Lady Beerbohm Tree, in proposing " That this meeting warmly approves the formation of the Women's Aerial League, and pledges itself to support it by every means in its power," said that the League was purely an educational body. They were banded together to show their sympathy with men's work and to help their mankind to the best of their ability. They had collected, and should continue to collect, money which should enable their engineers to start building British airships, to be followed by a fleet—or should she say flight—of British airships. If they accomplished half they hoped to do. they would aviationise society. They were resolved, from purely defensive and patriotic motives, that England should build more airships than any other possible combination of countries, and that she should build them quicker and better. They wanted a supremacy in the air complementary to, but no less absolute than, that supremacy on the seas which had been England's boast since navies were. Major Baden-Powell, in seconding, said they must carefully con- sider, before saying that they wanted this or that, what they wanted, how it ought to be got, and the methods by which they should secure it. The idea at the present moment seemed to be to get a French airship built specially regardless of cost. He should like to ask what good would that do us ? Would it not be better for us, instead of buying a French airship, to start constructing vessels of our own, British-built. What we wanted was to start in England an industry which would enable us to provide airships for the future. One air- ship was no good ; we wanted a dozen or fifty, and we wanted them British made. Therefore he was strongly in favour of developing this industry rather than obtaining a foreign-made machine. We had built airships—he did not say with the greatest success—but there was one reason why we were not successful, and that was that we had always been stinted for money. If we had the money avail- able, he felt perfectly certain that we in England could build a vessel to navigate the air quite equal to any that could be built abroad. Let the ladies of that League collect all the money they could, and carefully consider what was the best way of spending that money so that it should conduce to procuring the supremacy of the air for the British nation. Col. H. S. Massy, speaking in support of the resolution, said he was quite in favour of their building an airship which should be all British, but they must not call him an alarmist when he said that there was very little time now left to teach British workmen how to make half-a-dozen or a dozen airships, which we should certainly require within the next twelve months. He was afraid he did not see how that could be done in the time. What was wanted was immediate help. He had been in Paris for the last two months, and every day he spent there impressed him more and more with the idea that the sooner Britain woke up the better. Among those present, or who had expressed their approval with the objects of the League, were the Earl and Countess of Kinnoull, the Countess of Dartmouth, the Dowager Countess of Desart, Lord and Lady Pirrie, Lady West, Lady Marjorie Erskine, the Dowager Lady Macpherson-Grant, Sir John and Lady Shelley, Sir Buchanan and Lady Scott, Lady Cecilia Rose, Major and Miss Baden-Powell, Colonel and Mrs. Capper, Captain and Mrs. Cave-Brown-Cave, Lady LSeerbohm Tree, Admiral and Lady Massic Blomfield, Major- General Arbuthnot, the Hon. Mrs. Assheton Harbord, Colonel and Mrs. English, Mr. J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon, Colonel H. S. Massy and Mrs. Massy, and Mrs. Watt Smyth (hon. secretary). The Swale Bridge Tolls. ^. -i . WHEN the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway Bill came up for second reading in the House of Commons last week there was some plain speaking on the subject of the proposed perpetuation of the tolls over the Swale Bridge, on the grounds of their hardship on the 22,000 people who inhabit Sheppey Island. Eventually the Bill was read a second time, the motion for its rejection being defeated by 183 votes to 97. The tolls at present are : carts, loaded or empty, crossing each way, is. 6d.; wagons 2s., horses 3d., and foot pas- sengers id. This bridge has to be crossed by visitors to the Aero Club's flying ground at Shellbeach, and the ques- tion of the toll is an important one for those driving down. 433
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