Show maj birr HE aeroplane s career as a savior of lives in large number began as early as 1911 in the very war in which I 1 it first demonstrated its potent lall jacj ty an instrument of war and i jy ane result shows that its poten L was greater as an inspru L jaent of peace a life saver those who followed the development of the italian turkish war will remember how at the very start of the campaign before the first engagement took place the newly landed italians were saved from an unpleasant surprise by the aerial scouts who observed three advance ing columns of turks and arabs of about men the italians after receiving this alon could successfully calculate distances and arrange for their defense on the following day october 24 the battle of sciara took place resulting in the loss to the 1 army of 3 men during the battle two aeroplanes aero planes were circling the air the flights took place above the line of fire so as to be able to direct the firing of the big guns from the battleship carlo alberto and also of the moun tain artillery the aeroplanes aero planes were often shot at by the guns of the enemy but with no results the finding of the enemy was an influential event the situation at the time was such that without that discovery the italians would have met with a defeat which might have affected the whole campaign thus two men and two old half worn aeroplanes aero planes saved a defeat which might have in evolved the loss of thousands of lives as was the case in the campaign at a cost ot pos only a few dollars the price of casolene ga solene and oil later in the campaign the aeroplane became a veritable advance agent of peace being used by the italian officers to drop manifestoes manifest oes over the encampment telling the natives of the italians in tent lons this Is a very important matter because as shown by frances long campaign in algeria and morocco most of the trouble in colon les ii due to the natives misunderstanding the purposes of the invaders who never have a chance to explain their intentions again in the balkan war the aeroplane was a messenger of peace perhaps the greatest surprise of the balkan war was that Adria nople the gibraltar of the bal kans which the turks were supposed to defend to the last breath of life was captured with little loss of life by a comparatively small force the aeroplane even the old type clumsy machines manned by untrained pilots used by the bulgar lans deserves the greatest credit tor the saving of afe and money the bulgarian air scouts though untrained in military matters and poorly equipped mechanic aal went out over the besieged city and brought to their commanders information which enabled them to attack the weakest spots then others messengers of peace whom humanity should recognize now that they have saved thousands ot lles in both the and balkan wars soared over the city and dropped messages to the besieged which it not of peace made for peace an admirable feat in saving the lives of french soldiers Is credited to a single aeroplane of the french morocco squadron in december a column of french troops had been sur rounded by rebels to the south of SIo gador and for five days some anxiety was felt for their safety then lieutenant do aiu in his buerlot monoplane was able to convey information to the commander that reinforcements were close at hand and encouraged they renewed ther defence while the rebels seeing ominous signs in the arrival of the aeroplane retreated life saving in time of peace while it has not attained more than a fraction of the number of idea saved in war is perhaps more interesting to most people than the latter being closer to 1 lb needs nd experiences of the general public it Is therefore gratifying to find that the water aeroplane the hydro aeroplane and the flying boat seem destined to save life the hydro aeroplane began its career as a lifesaver in 1911 while still in the experimental period it was during the famous chicago meet an aviator lost control while flying over lake michigan and tell into the water three quarters of a mile away there was a hydro aeroplane the early curels model the prototype of the flying boat circling around and occasionally settling on the surface of the water like a big seagull the pilot of this craft seeing the aviators tall went to the rescue at a mile a minute speed he reached the spot landed on the water by the submerged aeroplane and offered to take the aviator to landall in less than one some months later on march 6 1912 two avla tors fell in san diego ba walla flying and their machine capsized an aviator on the chore saw the accident jumped on bis hydro with his mechanic and flew to the rescue landing a aln ute later by the shipwrecked two the first demonstration t actually rescuing a person not connected with ivl atlon was given on october 10 1912 by charles wald instructor in the wright school of water flying at the glenwood country club A man named walter strohbach fell into the harbor from a rowboat in which he was seeking diversion with a friend the row boat was half a mile off the shore at sea cliff and fully a mile from the glenwood country club when miscalculating calculating mis his position mr strohbach attempted to sit further on the stem of the boat alth the result that he fell overboard although his friend tried to reach his companion a strong current carried them apart shouts along the shore told of the plight of the young man who was exhausted in the chilly water mr charles wald of the occurrence while at the hangar preparing to make a flight jumped into his machine and flew to the man in the water who could be seen from the club station alighting in the hydro aeroplane on the water near strohbach the aviator first threw a life preserver to the oung man who was scarcely able to keep afloat then bringing the machine along side managed to get him aboard one of the floats of the biplane and brought him safely to the wright station boats leaving the shore did not reach the scene of the accident until the hydro aeroplane was well on its way to shore with the rescued mr II 11 curtess the dean of water flyers and creator of both the hydro aeroplane and flying boat was the hero of a lifesaving life saving act last june rescuing two occupants of a broken down motor boat with the big tour passenger flying boat of mr harold F mccormack lck mr and mr C C were flying over lake beuka keuka in the boat to test it and were running for home ahead of A coming thunder shower when a mile from shore they noticed a motor boat in which two men were waving wildly curtess brought the flying boat to the w ater and stopped near the motor boat the men said their motor was broken and they wanted some one sent out to row them ashore mr crawled out on the tall of the flying boat and took a rope from the motor boat which he held while curtess drove the flying boat a mile to the shore the motor boat was left there and taking the men aboard mr curtess flew back to hammonds port tha and hydro aeroplane may be said to be tho logical adjunct of life saving stations and therefore absolutely necessary As an es sentral purpose of a lifesaving life saving station Is to re aleve wrecks and sae people from drowning speed in doing it Is the essence of efficiency the aeroplane the water kind Is revolutionary in this respect it can fly to the spot where relief Is needed at the rate of a mile a minute and the alman who sees every detail of what goes on below can either land by the object or rescue or just drop life belta ropes food medicine or according to the urgency of the needs with all the navies working to develop meant for launching aeroplanes aero planes from battleships and receiving them back it is safe say that th problems connected therewith will be solved vcr soon then liners will carry aeroplanes aero planes to use for carrying dispatches and tor general pilot duties just as the water aeroplane Is a wonderful aux illary of the navy it is a wonderful auxiliary toi ocean liners promising to afford 0 o passenger carrying ships services of the highest kind the water aeroplane Is wonderfully adapted tor preventing disasters of the kind which overcame the steamship titanic and in case such disasters take place minimize the loss of life A flying boat on a steamer can rise to investigate unseen dangers ahead it can do BO at night as well as by using the ship s searchlights as the aeroplane a searchlights in case of the vessel becoming disabled the aeroplane can fly to notify other vessels utilizing the wireless apparatus with which every flying boat Is being equipped in the foreign na ries to notify the other steamships of the need or of its approach the most appalling thing in the titanic disaster was that there were a number of steamships with in call distance some not as much as 40 miles away which the wireless telegraph did not reach in come cases because it became disabled as the ship sank A flying boat could have covered the 40 miles in less than an hour while its wireless plant would have notified the other vessels as it proceeded onward A flying boat on the vessels that came to the rescue after the titanic had sunk could have ae arched the surface of the sea for survivors its altitude giving it a range of vision of miles and could have found the survivors where the vessels did not see them it would thus practically have superintended super intended the work of life saving each year there Is a long list of people who are drowned from falling overboard from large vessels and who cannot be rescued in time to save their lives the boat sent to save them reaching them too late to be of aall A flying boat can be launched and can search for the person that has fallen overboard and can drop a safety belt or land by and pick him up much taster than the fastest life saving boat the sea is an unknown quantity in many respects and the biggest of steamships Is very much at its mercy and assistance of the kind which the flying boat affords Is a necessity A ves sel at sea often meets signs of wrecks or it is signalled signal led by craft in distress at the present time there is no way to investigate such things without involving a great delay or putting the craft itsell in danger through taking it out at its marked route which Is the safety zone A flying boat can do all these things tor the vessel it can be launch ed with men one of whom searches the sur face of thet sea with powerful glasses the vessel can proceed on its course the flying boat will overtake it after having discharged its mission As even a special machine and the equipment cannot cost more than it Is evident that it Is an absurdly cheap factor of efficiency which every cratl can afford land should have y abt |