A NEW HEROISM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1776, 14 June 1913, Page 32

A NEW HEROISM.

THE AIRMAN'S CONTEMPT OF DEATH.

(By F. Ashworth Briggs, in tho "Daily Hail.")

Vou might bnvo scon the other day ji. very fine figure of a man, quite unclad, warming bare toes before- a firo nml drinking steaming tea. .-\n hour before lie had been within seconds of an unpleasant death. But 'his eye was tranquil, his voice calm, and his face smiling. JIo had been flying above fho sea in a monoplane, nnd had misjudged bis descent—a very easy thing to do over unruffled water. His tuachino capsized, nnd ho was pinned under water, upside down, with a pyramid of wires nnd other obstacles between himself nnd tho air. He disappeared for so long that it seemed certain ho was dead. But ho struggled on, and Teached the surface at his last gasp, with- a blood-stained face.

"Thought you were 'done in,'" observes a comrade by the fireside. "Not this time," ho answered as coolly and calmly as possible. The ndventuro had left no "perturbation of his spirit _8.0 is an Englishman, and for professional , reasons his name may not bo given. His equals in pluck and checriness aro to bo found in nny British flying ground. Witness tho flights the Army men have been making over Salisbury Plain on a freezing night with n half-moon to guido thein. The Courage that Conquers Danger. Tlio French can go one better. Tho case of Captain Aubry, of tho French Army, would be incredible if it were not officially nuthenticated. He was flying high'at Longwy on a windy day in a Doperdussin monoplane when a sudden upward gust caught the tail'of the machine and flung it up. Tho machine dived vertically and capsised. Captain Aubry clung lo his seat with his feet towards the sky and his head towards the earth. The-monoplane glided in this position until another gust caused it to dive vertically once more. .At the end of this second dire the machine righted itself and the pilot found himself in his original position. This sounds incredible, but the captain's Gallic audacity added another chapter to tho incident. Looking below him he saw rather broken ground, '. He flew another two miles before making a perfect descent on an open field!

Munchausen hardly tells a taller story. But the facts in this caso were verified by General Hirschauer, head of the French Air Corps, who ssnt his congratulations to Captain Aubry upon his coolness. '

Lady Loraine and Mr. Georije England. You will comprehend that to face risks of this kind even' day of your life needs a' special temperament and'n special philosophy. Nothing in our modern lift ii finer than the spread of that philosophy. These young men nro striving for an ideal, and their .parents sympathise with and encourage tncm. It is good to contemplate the attitude of Lady I/oraine in July last, and of Mr. Georgo England only last week. Each. lost a son by the perils of the air. Kncli in the grief of their boroavement /pleaded for tho advancement of tho causo to which their soii9 were Riven. True patriotism, this, deserving the thanks of the nation for it 3 nobleuers of spirit. Their friends, too, bear their loss with tho same fortitude. You will find among our airmen a cheerfulness, a devo-

tion, a determination which 'nothing can. daunt. They are nothing less than splendid. I think of the men I lave known—tho jolly, dashing Petre ("Peter the- Painter, they called liini), who perished in a galo on Yorkshire marshes; the gallant Hardwicke, who ended a life of roaming and adventure the -world over by a fall on a suburban golf links; Holls, Grace. Cnmmell, Parke, Captain Loraino, and the others who died so well; arid I conH not find it in my heart to wish they had done otherwise' than ther did. They a.re to be numbered with Scott and Captain Dates. Their example is Immortal, and each of them has spread among our people something of his own glorious spirit. How the Courageous Spirit Spreads. The proof of that fact is'all round us at the present time. There is the waitinglist for the air 'services; there is the in. tense and growing interest in tho conquest of the air; there nro the vast meetings who cheer to the echo the greatest hero of them all—lord Roberts; there is the public impatience and intolerance of the wordspinning and sophisms and evasions in the House of Commons; the best and most popular writers—wo may instance Mr. Wells—preach the same lesson; a leading article in "Tht> Daily Mail" on "Living Dangerously" brings in hundreds of letters of approval; the Titanic anniversary recalls a talo of general heroism; and from over the sea the progress and daring • of our rivals sends a challenge, a call to our blood. Lord Roberts said well and truly at Lewis that "a new spirit is ■ abroad in England." But the new spirit has vet to penetrate a narrow and old-fashioned section, which includes minds of the tvoe of that of Sir Philip Burnc-Jones. The "Burne-Jones spirit" sees nothing but "incitement to suicide" in the great enterprise of living the Atlantic. It is well to contrast it with tho words of Lady loraine, who wroto on the morrow of her son's death, "I pray that tho earnest wish of a sorely stricken mother, who went whole-heartsd-ly every step of the way with her son in his untiring efforts to master the new craft, may raiso that spirit of patriotism which is over latent in all thoso who hold ', allegiance to the Crown."

We of the younger generation do not hesitate in our choice between Sir rhilin's philosophy and that of Lady Loraino and the airmen. We long to seo'our country leading the world in this great new science which is changing all international conditions. We are interested, many of us, in engines and angles and boats that fly. Wo have learnt from our motor cycles something of the petrol motor, and are impresstd by it as one of the great factors of the future. Action and progress, the endless struggle of man against nature, the feats of ou.v rivals and friends, the raco of science in the piling up ot armaments—these ale tho subjects we read of and meditate upon. If we are no longer joining the Territorials it is because we are impatient of shame. Wo cannot imagine why the War Office, n» regards either flying or the Home Army, should be a by-word and reproach among all tho soldiers and all tho flyers!

j The Reaction Against Blind Officialdom. J The, new spirit is active. Our poli- ; ticians have failed us utterly. Hlind to 1 the greatness of the new art of flving-, i blind for yenr after j-ear to portents be|j foro their very eyes, "they have not now, i( in the hour of their tardy awakening, the j courage to admit their failure. By prnisi ing our flying men they seek to cover ' their own deficiencies; by praising our ' Territorials they seek to discredit the , overwhelming case against the Territorial i system. But there l's a stirring in Eng- ! land, and a challenge, from over the sea. i Lord Robert? and the airmen will yet force the politicians to their duty.