A SHRINKING WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1913, 22 November 1913, Page 10

A SHRINKING WORLD.

In proportion as travel becomes moro rapid the world seems to become smaller (states a writer in. "The Quoen"), Tlio buildings of railroads and steamships did much to annihilate distance, and caused tho first really big shrinkage, of the world. The telegraph and. tiro telephone have dono their work, and now it ii tho turn of aircraft to increaso the rate of possible intercommunication between tlio peoples of tlio world. When one hears that one can fly from tho Riviera to Tunis in eight hours, avoiding tho horrors of seasickness, one's mind naturally leaps oyer tho years, ail dby means of a little* addition sum imagines the journey from London to Cairo accomplished iii about thirty hours! What has been oneo done can bo done again, and with increasing knowledge and confidence is bound to become before long an everyday affair. But it is always an astonishment to those of us who' liavo followed the progress of aviation and aro certain as to its useful future that such a large proportion of the community not only disbelieves in tho possibilities of aerial travel on an extended scale, but positively dislikes the idea of proceeding from one placo to another by ..any other other method than one which keeps tiiem to terra fir'm&.'Lt is Waste of time for enthusiasts to try tq convert' the present generation en masse; they must turn their attention to the young, to ■ schoolboys and schoolgirls. M.. Garros's splendid flight must, however, stir the imagination of all. When ho flew from Africa to Sicily and on to Rome a short time ago, it was considered a wonderful achievement, yet his sea journey then was nothing compared with his flight ■last week. Ho has also made re.inarltahle altitude flights at different places, ascending to over 17,400 feet oil ono oceasion at' Tunis, and creating a world's record.