CONQUEST OF THE AIR.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 807, 3 May 1910, Page 5

CONQUEST OF THE AIR.

' (By Teleirraph.— Sn'ecial OorrcsDondcnt.l Auckland, May 2.-. As.stated by Auckland business people last Saturday, it is; estimated that the loss to trade in Auckland through the of Government House would mean anything between JE2OOO and .£3OOO per year. Another indication .of /the Government's determination to. dose Government House is- the fact that the large brick stables, recently erected on the grounds, have been leased to a resident of Princes Street at 355. per week. That the New Zealander is determined ' not to be far .behind in the race for the conquest of tho air seems to be evidenced by the fact that alreadj several applications i have been made foispatents regard- , ing improvements to aeroplanes and models which have been constructed, and it is even stated that an-airship has been designed. No New Zealander has yet actually succeeded in flying, in the'accepted Wright or Bleriot styles, -. although it is on record that one has. hopped off a hill top in a crude air-craft,-which, was unable to resist the laws of" gravitation-, and thus gradually came to terra firma in parachute, style. . Some enterprising Australians have imported aeroplanes; and exhibitions of flying are now being given .in Melbourne, but apparently the residents of the Dominion, intond to rely on their own "contraptions."

Their efforts are. praiseworthy when the distance from the scientific and mechanical centres of tho , world is considered. A letter received during the week from ■Wellington by a resident of Auckland contains some interesting of the coming aviators of the Dominion. There have been several gathered in the ■Empire City during the past few weeks, and Mr. Beach, an inventor of a biplane, seems to have been the most successful. His machine is 6aid to have some good points, and' to be very elaborate in style. The particularly effective portion of the invention has not been made known, bnt it is understood that tho machine has 'room for a motor and passengers in the centre , between the pianos. Wellington people are apparently getting interested in aeroplanes, and Sir. Beach is said to have sailed for Australia with big intentions and plenty of money. A mechanic employed at Cables Foundry, Wellington, lias built a machine which has been tested. Mr. Ferguson, of Napier, is another aspiring aeronaut, ana photographs of the machine have been sent to Wellington. The idea is an automatic lateral balance, operated at the end of a biplane, which is in form like a 6hutter, the hinge at the rear of the main plane having a front opening, lifting up and down, 'a weight being responsible for the balance. It is said that this may interfere with high speed. Another enlightened mechanic fromChristchurch has been in .Wellington with aeroplane designs. . . . Auckland has not been Iwhind in this matter, and there is at present in Wellington a model by an Auckland inventor (Mr. J-. A. King), a working engineer. Details of Mr. lung's machine have, ak ready been published in the Tierald. It is'the inventor's intention to form a syndicate, and to have the machine constructed in New Zealand. His idea ia the most patriotic yet given out. He claims that all the material necessary otto, be procured in the Dominion, and adds that a big drawback in aeroplane building is that the models are out of proportion, owing to the excessivo weight for power. There are several other local inventors who have taken out patent rights for improvements in aeroplanes, and it is stated that a local _ en-' gineer has' already drafted the designs and plane for; an airship.