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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1244.PDF
NOVEMBER 7, 1918 ' by the pressure of circumstances to give way to them. With the dawn of peace that pressure will be eased considerably and the necessity for giving way to all and every demand will have disappeared and we may look for a little more sanity and sweet reasonable- • ness in the attitude of the Labour extremists. We trust it will be forthcoming. • <*• • At first sight, as we mentioned the otherRabies week, the connection between rabiesand the , ', r, . r • , ,R.AJF. and *ne R-A.F. is not very apparent. It is stated, however, that the outbreak of the dread disease in Devon and Cornwall originated with a dog which was brought from France by aero- plane. Questioned on the subject, the President of the Board of Agriculture seemed to have no know- ledge of the facts and was compelled to admit that he could not account for the outbreak. The very definite statement has been made, however, that it did in fact originate as we have said. We have no doubt that the authorities of the Air Ministry will insist that the facts shall receive the very fullest investigation, and that if it can be proved to be as said the offenders will be visited with the punishment their criminal thoughtlessness deserves. We believe that at one time it was not at all unusual for dogs to be brought back from France by returning aviators, the object of this mode of conveyance being, obvious- ly, to evade the quarantine which is very wisely insisted upon in the case of all dogs imported from abroad. The practice has, naturally, been sternly discouraged by the authorities and most stringent orders have been from time to time issued against it. Therefore, if rabid dogs have been brought into the country in this way a double offence has been committed. Not only has the statute law of the country been broken, but a serious offence against discipline is disclosed and it is likely to go hard with the culprits. We can quite understand how these offences originate and that they arise much more from thought- less anxiety to be of service than from moral turpitude, but making every allowance for the heedlessness of youth and the impressions likely to be made by a woman's appeal for assistance in getting her beloved Fido out of the hands of the guardians of the public safety, they certainly cannot be passed over lightly. There is no more terrible disease than rabies. No one who has seen a case of hydrophobia has the smallest desire to repeat the experience. Thanks to the determined line taken by Mr. Walter Long some years ago, the disease was completely stamped out in the British Isles, and so far as we recollect there has not been a single case since the bid Muzzling Order was rescinded. Now, owing to the thoughtless stupidity of some silly young ass, probably under the spell of some utterly selfish person of the opposite sex, we have it in our midst again. There is one reflection that must inevitably arise in connection with this matter, and that is as to the difficulty of keeping an adequate check on the bringing over of any kind of contraband by air. We have no doubt time will bring a solution of the problem, but it is not easy to see how it is to be done when a very large proportion of our overseas traffic is conducted in the air. Smuggling ought to be easy. It is probable that all machines crossing the frontiers will be compelled by law to land at specific points for examination, but here it is going to be difficult to ensure that the would-be smuggler will comply with the law. Obviously it is impossible to properly watch the whole length of the frontier of, say, Germany, and anyway at night or in misty weather a smuggling machine could get across without much difficulty. Something might be done by a system of examination at the point of departure and the issue of a certificate that the machine is not carrying goods which are dutiable or contraband in the country for which clearance is granted. Even here there is a great deal of room for evasion. The whole question bristles with difficulties. Doubtless a solution will be found —indeed, it must be found—but just, where that solution lies we confess we do not see at the moment. Probably it may be in making the penalties so utterly drastic that it won't be worth while. R.A.F. Congratulations from the King THE King has sent the following telegram to the Secretaryof State for the Royal Air Force :— " I offer you and the Royal Air Force my warmest con-gratulations on the successful results of air fighting, on Octo- ber 30th, and on beating all previous records. Such achieve-ments testify to the spirit which animates all ranks in their determination to maintain our mastery in the air, and cannotfail materially to assist the steady advance of my Armies in the field. " GEORGE R.I., General-in-Chief." Lord Cowdray's Gift to R.A.F. Club THE Committee of the Royal Flying Corps Club are tobe congratulated on the gift of ^100,000 which has been given by Lord Cowdray, who was the first Air Minister,for the establishment of a Royal Air Force Club. Having nearly a thousand members, the Royal Flying Corps Clubhas found its temporary premises in Bruton Street over- crowded, and with the aid of this endowment the new Clubwill be able to arrange for more suitable and convenient premises. The letters accompanying the offer and acceptanceOc=he gift are as follows :— " 16, Carlton House Terrace, S.W., October 30th."My dear General Brancker—In Sir David Henderson's absence, I have much pleasure in advising you and themembers of the committee of the Royal Flying Corps Club that I herewith give ^100,000 (cheque enclosed) for the pur-pose^of^ providing the Service Club for the Royal Air Force. This sum should ensure a permanent club home worthy ofthe airmen and of their brilliant and superlatively heroic work. If my offer be accepted, I shall invite my colleaguesof the first Air Ministry, viz., Major Baird, Sir Godfrey Paine, Sir D. Henderson, Lord Weir, and yourself, and Mr. PercyMartin, also Sir Paul Harvey, the then Secretary to the Ministry, to join with me in the responsibility of findinga suitable building, and of preparing and equipping it as a club, and further, in drawing up the condition under whichit should be handed over to the new Air Service Club. " With all my heartfelt good wishes for the club and forGod's care of its members, believe me, yours very sincerely, " COWDRAY." The second letter is from General Brancker, at the AirMinistry, and reads :— " My dear Cowdray—I take the earliest opportunity oftendering you, on behalf of the committee of the Royal Flying Corps Club, our most grateful thanks for your munificent gift,which is destined to provide a Service Club for the Royal Air Force. Your great generosity will, I am sure, provide a per-manent club home worthy of the airmen, to whom you allude in such enthusiastic terms. A more valuable form of assist-ance at this point in the history of the youngest of the Services could not have been conceived, and your namewill go down to the coming generation of airmen not only as their first Minister, but as their greatest personal bene-factor.—Yours most sincerely, • • " W. S. BRANCKER." 1245 / ^
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