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Show xj - ITU the establishment of govern-iVTTrl " United States V I ment viatlon flcld at Co1' lege rara, ma., a uraim new branch of the regular army has come Into Us own. This latest Innovation in Uncle Sam's military establishment Is an aeroplane squad, or, as It Is designated officially, the aeroplane detachment of the United States signal torps. The signal corps has had for tnore than a year past a balloon squad or balloon detachment made up of enlisted men of the signal corps, who devote their entire time to aeronautical work, but the new organization is separate and quite apart from this. Indeed, It is generally considered to represent a higher development of military specialization, In the same proportion that the aeroplane marks an advance over the balloon as an Instrument for use in warfare. The new aeroplane detachment, which at the outset numbers only 11 men, or rather a corporal and 10 privates, la further notable from the fact that It Is the first organization of the kind in the world. The American war department has been severely criticised for being behind the military departments of certain foreign governments, particularly France and . Germany, in aeronautical investigation and experiment, but It has now, In some degree, made up for lost prestige by inaugurating the first aeroplane corps. The federal government's new aviation field is, for the time being, as much a school of Instruction for the men of tie plane squad as It Is for the two who are to qualify as the 's pioneer aviators. There Is this difference, however, that the men. In effect, have to work out their own salvation as aeroplane mechanicians and aerodrome keepers, while Lieut Lahm and Lieut. Humphries had a competent Instructor in the person of Wilbur Wright to teach them the alphabet of aeronlanlng. y offlcer" Bre already congratulating themselves that the new aeroplane squad was at the very outset.of the army's experiments Inorganized this most Important oranch of aeronautics. The outcome is sure to be in contrast to the history of American military ballooning, wherein there were innumerable .disappointments. Par tlcularly was this the case during the Spanish-America- n war. when the war department sought to get results with war balloons In the bands of men who had had no opportunity to specialize in this unusual line of work. The aeroplane detachment, on the other hand, will grow up in our military aeroplane work from Its inception. What is more, these caretakers of the sky entries have acquired experience of the most valuable kind In establishing Uncle Sam'a first aviation field. It Is not meant, of course, that the soldiers had much hand In clearing the field, blasting out stumps or erecting the unpretentious shed that shelters the $30,000 craft, but they did almost everything else connected with setting things In order, not forgetting the transportation of army aeroplane No. 1 by wagon from its previous resting place at Fort Myer. Va., a dozen miles' away. The insight thus gained Into the how of such things will be well nigh Invaluable, since it will make it possible to send this squad around the country to lay out aviation fields wherever needed by the army. While, as has been explained, the new aeroplane detachment is entirely separate and distinct from the balloon squad. Its brief history Is linked at many points with that of the older branch of the aeronautical division. Some of the star members of the original balloon squad have latterly been transferred to the aeroplane detachment and Indeed the new organization will have a sort of a dual existence as a regular aeroplane corps and emergency balloon squad, since the members will have charge of any flights that may be made from the capital In signal corps balloons, the regular balloon squad having been transferred meanwhile to Fort Omaha and Fort Leavenworth. The present membership of the e detachment, alike to that of the balloon squad, is expected to be merely the nucleus for a much mora numerous body later on when Uncle Sam shall have jone In more extensively for military aeronautics. The aeronautical division of the signal corps, of which both the new aeroplane detachment and the balloon quad are branches, was established as a result of the pride and Interest aroused by Lieut. Lahm'a victory In the first great international balloon race, held In Europe In 1896. The young American army offlcer. then barely 28 years of age, who, unknown and unheralded, defeated the most experienced aeronauts of Europe, is the selfsame Lahm who Is now qualifying at College Park as our premier army aeroplanlst and who Is in general command of the aeroplane detachment. He had made about 40 balloon (lights ere he ascended for the first time in an aeroplane and be has the complete confidence of his men an important requisite In a new and untried realm such as military aeronautics. 4 The order formally creating the aeronautical division of the signal corps was Issued on August 1, 1907, and the new organization was launched with a membership of a sole Individual, Sergeant Edward Ward, who has since graduated to the position of head chauffeur for the chief of the general staff. Gradually the membership grew to a dozen or more. At first the work of the new organization was merely with the old balloons of foreign make which had been purchased by the United States during the Spanish war and had been in storage ever since. Then came army dirigible No. 1, which the war department purchased from Capt. Thomas Baldwin, and flnully the Initial Wright aeroplane, which Is now at College Park. At the outset the headquarters of the aeronaut leal division were at Fort Mycr, Va., and the noncommissioned oltlcers and enlisted men of the aeronautical division displayed their versatility by handling indiscriminately spherical balloons, dirigible and aeroplane. When the signal corps completed Its fine, new plant for generating hydrogen gas at Fort Omaha It was decided to make the western post the headquarters for all army balloon work and the dirlglblo was transferred .thither. With it weut the balloon squad. Consequently, when the Wright aeroplane was accepted by the government and preparations were undertaken for establishing a government school for aeroplanlsts, it was necessary to organize on aeroplane detachment as a new adjunct As has been explained, some of the most capable men were transferred from the balloon iquud aad others from the ranks of tho !gnal corps, every were solf-cttiI I; OiV JMVVCtJSTT - Ay S3l!3frC , n il WS. "" r- -i "i II :'r full-fledg- are employed by the army officers to cover the dis- lieu-tenan- ta ar-ay- tl? newly-organize- effort being made to pick men who by reason of training or temperament may be expected to develop Into genuine specialists In the work. Much of the work which the men of the aeroplane detachment are doing at College Park r e presents brand new e- d JL li lhwMkPkkr ; to-da- y half-intere- ' i ' Ay xperience to aero-plan- . 11 tance quickly and the enlisted men have the use of a motor cycle, a type of vehicle which Is fast coming to have an Important place In the activities of the signal corps. of By reason condiweather tions and other c I rcu instances there - will be many days when aeroplane flights at College Park will be few and far between, the men of Idea that the Britisher Is the most ready and willing ot all men to part with his money to a sure thing gamester, but when it comes to competition against all comers tho average American bits the bullseye. The sure thing men of (Incorporated) know this and build upon It One of the biggest of them claimed not long ago that If he were given time he could sell worthless stock to three Americans out of every five, provided the gullible three bad the money or could raise It He actually counts upon one victim for every 60 circulars sent out through the malls. The common average, as the postal officials tell you, Is one dupe for every hundred circulars. Not bad, considering the cheapness of printing and postage. There Is a firm In New York that collects and sells addresses of people who buy things through the mails or who have at some time evinced a desire to do so. These addresses are sold at $8 a thousand. They are assorted under various headings. If. for example, 12.000 men have sent In applications for wives to a New York matrimonial bureau that list Is worth J6 to a 3 diamond ring concern that is setting up a circular mill. The sure thing operator has passed through various gold stages of progress. The now unsafe shell game, brick and green goods swindles which he operated with such profit able results in the eighties and the early nineties made way for the game, which flourished 10 years ago, and the employment game, which is still going on, though not to its former extent advertiser sold The In anything from you a partnership a peanut stand to a piano factory. When you had bought It the next find It. or if you found v thing was to It you discovered that It belonged to somebody else who knew nothto ing abftut the men who sold Jt them. Several of the members of the detachment have been working . around this same airship tor more than a year past, or throughout all the trial and test flights at Fort Myer. but their participation then wa very different from their present responsibilities. So long as the aeroplane was the property of the Wright brothers all the United States signal corps men were permitted to do was to wheel the machine from the shed to the starting point of a flight and to wheel It back to the shelter after a flight The starting of the motor, all adjustments of the mechanism and such repairs as , were necessary from time to time were attended to by tho Wrights In person or by Charles Taylor, their mechanic. Now, however, that the flying machine has been turned over to the government, all this devolves upon the men of the aeroplane detachment. They look after the weight tower, haul up the weight and arrange the starting rail with due reference to the direction of the to moving the machine from the shed wind. when a flight Is ordered they make the preliminary Inspection and tests of the working parts and start the motor. Finally It falls to the lot of this group of young men to procure the needed material and make all necessary repairs. There Is no doubt that they will get plenty of practice in tinkering with the sky scout for It is expected that once the army officers have the new vehicle to themselves they will inaugurate a series of experiments and Introduce! new attachments designed specially to adapt the aeroplane to the exigencies of military service. . .' The members of the aeroplane detachment are decidedly alert and take a real Interest In their novat occupation. Corporal II. Marcus, who is In command,, halls from Detroit and has been In the military service of the country for 12 or 13 years, although he has only been In the stgnat corps about a yenr and a half. Another man who has had considerable experience in the army is B. T. Hyde of Washington, D. C. whereas E. O. Eldred of Denver, a member of the old balloon squad, has now had two and a half years of practically continuous aeronautical work. Other members of the aeroplane detachment are Bert Brown of Brooklyn, Roy J. Hart of Washington, D. C Eulle P. Gomeringer of Brooklyn, K. L. KIntzel of Taniaqua, Pa., Bruce Pierce of Atlanta,' Ga.. F. G. Clark of Glontcr, Mo., and S. J. Idzorek of New York City. The boys hnve their own cook In the person of William A. Abolln, who enlisted in the army from Jersey City, and while the quarters which have been provided at the new aviation field are not perhaps quite as comfortable as the barracks at a military post, they serve the purpose very acceptably and are a big Improvement over a camp with canvas tents.? The frame building ' which housfs the aeroplane at College Tark Is about twice as large as the aeroplane shed which was constructed at Fort Myer, Va., when the Wrights first brought their machine there. The rear portion of the College Park structure is given over for sleeping quarters for the men. Just back of the building Is a double . tent, which terves as kitchen and Aes or eatlpg tent A good well has been provided close.at 4iand. The aeroNplane shed is perhaps a third of a, iulk".arross the ai ation Held from tho railroad station at College Park and Is several hundred yards farther dlxtant front the trolley line to WBNblr.fttcn. However, IrtrtcVaDd automobiles half-Intere- you. crvm. nMKarLfiB- .av&p sir - z'.vjb- - jvj&ut sii-vs- i aeronlane detachment will have something to occupy their leisure time on such occasions. Foremost among the occupations planned Is practice in telegraphy. All of the men of the signal corps are expected to know something of the practical side of telegraphy and this accomplishment will be especially essential to the members of the aeroplane detachment because of the important work In wireless and other telegraphy which the United States army officers propose to carry on by meant of airships and war balloons.. In order to qualify the men for this work, short telegraph Uses have been constructed at the College Park field, with sending and receiving stations at opposite ends of the building and at almost any hour of the day members of the detachment can be found at the keys at these stations. How late In the autumn the aeronautical activities will continue at College Park will be dependent of course largely upon the weather. The government has leased its aviation field until next March, with privilege of renewal and In the event that the coming winter Is an open one it would not be surprising if work continues off and on all through the winter. The men of the aeroplane detachment can be made comfortable in their presented quarters, and the machine Is well housed. The experience which the members of the aeroplane detachment are gaining will undoubtedly prove valuable In enabling them to take charge of the field when the next International aviation meet Is held in this country next year as the result of the vlctoryjof Glenn Curtlss In France a few months ago. It will be remembered that the United States army balloon squud did efficient work In connection with aeronautics at the Jamestown exposition and at the start of the great International balloon race at St. Louis. The same proficiency could be expected of the army aeroplanlsts In handling the machines at the meet next year. Especially would they be qualified to render such aid to the avaiators If the meet I held at the College rark ground. Washington and Baltimore are now 'cooperating energetically for the selection of this territory of 1910, and it Is as the scene of the aerial expected that one of the strongest claims for Its selection will be found In the fact that Uncle Sam has ready to hand at College Park an acceptable aviation field manned by soldiers who are thoroughly familiar not only with local conditions but also with the technical side of aeronautics. The employment game Consists of an opportunity to sell on high salary the goods or the stock of a company in which you must first buy shares. Then when you have paid over your money you are assigned a territory, generally a long rsajv distance from the company's office. Aftec you have gone at your own expense to Milwaukee, Dubuque or Kansas City, there to await telegraphic orders as to what to do next, you take it out in waiting. The orders never come, and when you get back to the company's office you find that the company has floated away on the magic carpet, nobody knows where. But it was soon found by the swindlers that these devices, like the green goods game, were rather crude and almost equally unsafe. So to the education of the man who ran the half Interest or employment schema course In high finance. was added a It came to be recognized by the swindling gentry that there was nothing like a corporation when one wanted to do a really safe and prosperous business. Then, too, the corporation must have something somewhere. If It Is a mining company It must have a hole In the ground. If It Is a rubber or coffee company It must have some sort of concession from the Mexican or a South American government, which It is always very easy to get. If It Is a cotton concern It must have a fencif, corner somewhere down south. These things are actually necessary In order to show in court when the time comes that the men who have taken your money have endeavored to carry out their part of the contract and that they have failed is merely theit misfortune. For to fall in business is not necessarily a crime. post-graduat- e WHAT. INOEED7 "James was always kind of morose," said Mrs. Pagb to her caller, "but now he's married again, seems as If he couldn't bear to have anybody smile. 'There you go, be says to Almlry, the other day, 'always singing them sccumr songs in this vale of woe. What if you was took sudden says he, 'and called to your last account with the "Soldier's Tear" in your mouth?'" Exchange. free-for-a- ll CHIGGER HAS MULTIPLIED Since its introduction from America the chlggor has spread far and wide along the west coast of Africa and Is now a greatly dreaded pest. NEW GOLD BRICK GAMES. Americans are the cream of the crcdulouR, declares a In Pearson's Mngnzlna wmetlmes huvbor the writer NEVERTHTLESS. - It Is prettr h who has ceant! rd to become enthusiastic ever, o tare vuat ither women i t wcum 4 ,tf. r V |