AERONAUTICS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 552, 6 July 1909, Page 5

AERONAUTICS.

PROBLEM OF AERIAL BOUNDARIES.

A CONFERENCE,

FRENCH INVITATION TO GERMANY.

(By TeleEraph.-Press Asßociation.-OopyrlEtat.)

(Reo. July 5, 10.15 pjn.)

Paris, July 5,

France lias issued an.invitation to Ger. many to a conference to settle rules of airship traffic. ■'■■','.■■' P .-'■■'■ -— is THE FATE OF A FEMALE AERONAUT, a — '- -.:-■.;■ d ELECTROCUTED IN BALLOON. v .'.■■, 'New York, July 4. n ,Mrs. Meixel, an aeronaut, mode an ascent at Lowell, Michigan, in the presence of ono thousand spectators. .'. b Her balloon became entangled among high- J tension wires, and she was electrocuted, and <■ fell from the car to the ground. y AN INTRICATE PROBLEM. { The frequency with which foreign balloons i cross the French frontier has led the-French | Government to levy high duties on them. In , April it was cabled: 'Tour German balloons j alighted in French territory yesterday, and as the aeronauts' hnd insufficient funds to pay the duties the balloons were confiscated.; Another balloon dropped near the Antwerp citadel. After first denying the v aeronauts confessed that they were German, officers. They, were detained." -. _ .-' : ' ' '-'■'. National Boundaries., ■ ■.'''' The landing of German aeronauts on French soil and of: military officers in Belgian terri- ; tory at once raises the question of the limits which can be, rather than wHch should be, impose 3 upon the journeyings of airships. Can there be any effective control of the traffic, of the air should such assume considerable dimensions? Major B. Baden Powell, an acknowledged authority en the art of flying, thus discusses the question *in a recent number. of "The Times'':—, :■.-'■-■ ;X:: :' V ■': "We. are now confronted 'with a most intricate and.'difficult question of international politics^—one which in the is- bound to lead to complications and controversies. 'Already, it ■is said the Frenoh Government are considering the matter.' It has. been clearly demonstrated that'apparatus can now be; made—whether dependent: on displacement or: dynamic power- 1 which can carry men through tn'o air in a/practical manner; and there seems to be every probability . that ■ within the next , few years many machines will be constructed capable of travelling hundreds"\6f miles through' the air, swiftly, surely, and safely. Such vessels, moving independently of \fiied tracks, and regardless of boundaries such as wo ".'respect to-day, must be of great military value; they will certainly be much used for sport or pastime, and wilWn all.'probability be employed for such purposes as postal delivery,; transport. of light goods, and conveyance of express, passengers.. If, then,.such' machines are to become at all common.it is Very evident that laws must,bo made 'and modified to meet the "new cirounlstances.'-'. '-'!.", .'■' ■-'■'■';'". '.'■';■"'■'•■:■ "The first and one of the. most important questions calling for solution: is that regarding international frontiers,' seeing that neither walls nor fences, mountains nor rivers,, not even seas offer insurmountable barriers. ; Are these airships to "be allowed to traverse frontiers, freely .regadrlcss'of passports, independent of. Customs dnHes; defiant of bans, of cxilo orUaVs of.Emigration?, .Are .they, atliborty to hover, over fortifications, arsenals, and dockyards?;' '■■'.-.;; :.vV:-i'-:. ; ','';;-- ; -'-,-■■.•■; :.; ■-' Private TrospaM. ,- . "Secondly,: there is that. very serious question of private bofind.aries.; Are .these .air hogs' (as they are sure. to. be dubbed) to.M allowed to pass-over our private property? May they glide over our chimney tops or skim 'close above our lawns and flower beds? The Haw of trespass. i> intricate .f*»;,rt' m. and if proof of damage to property rts! the only, mainstay, it seems wholly inapplicable to aircrait. Damage due to accidental -landings or to. articles' dropped from above is -anothor matter. ; Then,.thero;must ■be.,eon6idorationj/pr. epclos-., ures whero' sporting and- other 'events: takc : place, and where entrance money is collected. In a few .-years, we.shall have.., the:, course ,'.nt, ;.Bnsoni ttarkehed'byja.vast fWck of ;human' vultures vying for places oyer the winning posv Even if flyers are to be allowed to cross liigli 'up ; in ; the' sky, Show oan'wo' limit tho exact' .height at whioh they may.travel? ;,<.'' .: "If definite laws arc adopted controlling such matters,' we. then, got to more pernlexing problem-of how to police these ; realms of blue. It is-all very well to dictate, regulations for aerial traffic; but how. is the law in be maintained ?.: Machines-, travelling; at. a. speed of 80 or 40 yards a second. get such: a start that they" cannot -easily -be,- followed, • and uneonftned to definite tracks, the transgressors cannot bo detained.on■ arrival-attheir destina-: tion.":'-V-.'.-'-'.v.'-" ■'.'•■■ r-' :; - ; "-•' -n--'-.'.:"' '";■-,. ■'''"■■:'',.