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Show the air,, the clouds above St Louis will be dotted during the summer of 1901 with craft of all descriptions. de-scriptions. No less interesting will be' the great J stables for the balloon racers which are to be built on the fair grounds. There are other, great features of the fair, but thege airships should prove the most interesting of the many splendid exhibits. Contests in the Air at, St. Louis. Unique as an attraction and invaluable as an educational feature will be the exhibits of airships, balloons, gliding machines and kites at the St. Louis World's fair." No such display has ever been attempted at-tempted at any other exposition and this is one of the striking features which will mark the Louisiana Purchase centennial as distinct from similar enterprises. enter-prises. The aeronautic contest has aroused such -widespread interest that even at this date its suc-cess suc-cess is assured. Santos-Dumont, Sir Hiram Maxim, Prof. Langley and other 'inventors of international fame are busily engaged perfecting new craft with which to navigate the air in the races scheduled for 1904. Out in San Francisco an entire block of land is tenanted by j rsons who are building an immense airship in which they propose to fly to St. Louis. Several machines resembling a bat in appearance are being constructed near Bridgeport, Conn., and at Frankfort, N. Y., there is a balloon farm where experiments are being made with a number of new living creations. The chief of transportation exhibits exhib-its is in correspondence' with more than 250 persons per-sons who are contemplating participation inthe contest. . But the conditions are such that a thor-v. thor-v. ough weeding out process will result in a lessening v ft the contestants. No inventor can compete for ' '-? grand prize o 100,000 who cannot give satis-tory satis-tory proof thathehas made a flight over at least i;le. course and return. This great race will be X a ten-mile course shaped like a letter '.'L," Ach will be marked at the turns by captive batons; bat-ons; and the prize will be awarded to the competi- r whose average speed during three trips shall ; jii the greatest. Many other prizes have been of-f of-f fered. Out of ?-o00 is for the flying machine carry--ing an'.-operator which will make the fastest straightaway run of one mile and return. Two thousand dollars for the gliding machine, mounted f bv an operator, which shall advance at a vertical an-le most acute with the horizon. Two prizes are offered for the best airship motor. Four prizes of 5000 each w ilF attract balloonists as well as airship air-ship inventors. One is for the greatest altitude attained; at-tained; the second for the longest time in the air; the third is for the aeronaut landing nearest the Washington monument, the start being made from the exposition grounds, and the fourth is for the longest journey in any direction, starting from the exposition grounds. Still another class of prizes are .those offered kite flyers. Because of the great inducements in-ducements made to persons who seek to navigate r1 i |