Water supply, power, irrigation, swamp drainage, etc. Exploration of areas superficially ex amined. Exploration of upper air. Meteorological instrument tests. Astronomy. Of these varied uses, the transportation of passengers and freight, without doubt, will eventually become the most important. Notwithstanding that development during the first year has been somewhat delayed, due, first to the lack of airdromes-permanent landing. fields and, also, to the fact that American manufacturers were not permitted to attempt commercial designing until well after the signing of the Armistice, the primary steps have already been taken. Hops" "at fairs were the logical consequence from exhibition flying of pre-war days, the difference being that then the people gazed in wondering disapproval, while to-day they, too, would fly. 66 Commuting by wealthy owners of aircraft began as early as last summer and continued through the winter. There is in this commuting a prediction of the time when cities shall be released from the confines now imposed upon them by inadequate rail transportation. Whereas 17 to 20 miles is the comfortable suburban distance by train at present, the aero commuter does his day's work and — granted the establishment of proper terminals is a hundred miles in the country an hour or so later. There has been much commuting and inter-city travel, trips being made with increasing frequency between such points as New York and Washington, New York and Buffalo, Cleveland and Dayton, Cleveland and Chicago and on the Pacific Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and between Portland and Seattle. Notable flights have been made by civilian aircraft such as the first regular passenger service in Aeromarine flying boats between New York and Atlantic City; the trip which Mrs. S. E. J. Cox made in her Curtiss Oriole from Houston to New York, the frequent trips. by Dayton-Wright De Havilands out of Dayton and the ThomasMorse two-seaters out of Ithaca. The Curtiss Eagle and the Glenn L. Martin army transport, the one seating eight and the other twelve people, have made scores of flights with official and civilian passengers. Out in California a company does a prosperous" ferry" business between the mainland and Catalina Island, in Curtiss boats. An enterprising Seattle man, on missing a coastwise steamer, 'phoned for a Boeing seaplane and in this he overtook the slower water craft. AERIAL TRANSPORT The two principal features in which aerial transport differs from other means of rapid transit are high speed and the ability to fly in a straight line between any two points on the earth. It follows that aircraft save time under two headings and it is precisely this feature which gives aerial transportation an immense superiority over vehicles of the road and of the sea. Aircraft, and in particular heavier-than-air machines have to-day reached a state of finality which make the operation of aerial transport services a question of landing and housing facilities alone. The record of safety and reliability established in the all-year-round operation of the United States Aerial Mail Service proves conclusively that modern airplanes are for all practical purposes independent of weather conditions. In Europe, where the importance of aeronautics in its military and civil application is better understood by a large section of the public than in the United States, airplanes are already being widely used for the transportation of passengers and a certain type of goods. In the latter category are included goods relatively light in weight and costly in value where rapid transit is a factor of importance and food supplies which are perishable and highly marketable at certain seasons. As a specific instance a daily passenger service has been operating with marked success between Paris and London since the summer of 1919. As has been said above, it is the time element which plays an important rôle in aerial transport, that makes this method of travel more desirable for routes of 200 miles and over than any other means of conveyance. At the present stage of aeronautical development the commercial speed of a well designed transport airplane can be taken to average from 85 to 90 miles an hour. This is the speed which an airplane can be counted upon to furnish on the average daily run regardless of adverse weather conditions. A cruising speed of 90 miles an hour means that the aerial passenger will be able to reach Chicago from New York in about eight hours and San Francisco, with two intermediate stops of one hour each, in about 32 hours as against the 20-hour railroad trip to Chicago and the five days or more required for reaching the Pacific Coast. The time the tourist and business man will save thereby represents 60 per cent. of the time which is to-day wasted in traveling. During the last railway strike in England airplanes were used on an immense scale for keeping up communication between various cities. Passengers, newspapers and perishable goods such as milk, fruit and vegetables were carried through the air at high speeds and to the satisfaction of all concerned. This was an especially illustrative case of how aircraft can supplement the existing means of transit in case of emergency. But the usefulness of aerial transport is not limited to this kind of work. Passenger and express airplanes are being put into service and planned all over Europe, and France, Great Britain and Italy are making a powerful effort to assist the development of commercial air fleets with all means at their disposal. This assistance manifests itself chiefly in two ways. On one hand, the British, French and Italian Governments have laid out a compre |