Santos-Dumont himself says that the world is still a long way from
practical, everyday aerial navigation, but he points out the apparent
fact that the dirigible balloon in the hands of determined men will
practically put a stop to war. Henri Rochefort has said: "The day when
it is established that a man can direct an air-ship in a given direction
and cause it to maneuver as he wills--there will remain little for the
nations to do but to lay down their arms."

The man who has done so much toward the abolishing of war can rest well
content with his work.




HOW A FAST TRAIN IS RUN


The conductor stood at the end of the train, watch in hand, and at the
moment when the hands indicated the appointed hour he leisurely climbed
aboard and pulled the whistle cord. A sharp, penetrating hiss of
escaping air answered the pull, and the train moved out of the great
train-shed in its race against time. It was all so easy and comfortable
that the passengers never thought of the work and study that had been
spent to produce the result. The train gathered speed and rushed on at
an appalling rate, but the passengers did not realise how fast they were
going unless they looked out of the windows and saw the houses and
trees, telegraph poles, and signal towers flash by.

It is the purpose of this chapter to tell how high speed is attained
without loss of comfort to the passengers--in other words, to tell how a