The United States Forest Service has made considerable use of Army aeroplanes and aviators in patrolling the great forests of the West, where a constant lookout for fires must be kept throughout the summer. There are about 28,000 forest fires in this country every year, and the average area burned over amounts to more than 8,000,000 acres, entailing an average annual loss of $10,000,000 worth of timber. Observations are maintained on mountain peaks and towers, but the aerial watchman commands a much greater range of vision and can readily detect fires in places such as deep canyons where they are, in many cases, hidden from the existing lookout points. When a big fire is in progress, the aviator can quickly ascertain its extent and report the information by wireless to the fire-fighting forces. In case the fire is difficult of access on account of the absence of roads, the fire fighters can be transported to the spot in aeroplanes. It has even been proposed to fight forest fires by dropping bombs filled with fire-extinguishing chemicals. At one time it was thought that aeroplanes might largely replace fixed lookout stations, but experience shows that both systems of observation are desirable. Many foresters favor the use of small dirigible airships in place of aeroplanes, owing to their ability to fly very low, when desired, land in any small clearing, discharge passengers by rope-ladder while hovering over a selected spot, and transport relatively large loads of men and supplies. Such are a few of the valuable peace-time uses that have already been found for the aerial vehicles that owed their production chiefly to the late war and for the host of pilots trained during the same conflict. Undoubtedly the immediate future holds far more interesting developments in store. One important practical aspect of aeronautics remains to be mentioned, and that is the question of safety. In their early days the steamboat and the steam railway were both risky contrivances. It is recorded that at one time steamboats were barred from the Thames on account of their dangers. Undoubtedly the tradition of frequent boiler explosions lingered in people’s minds long after it had ceased to be a substantial fact. Aerial navigation--and particularly aviation--has now passed beyond the pioneer stage, but it still bears the dubious reputation that it acquired when it was in its infancy. Aerial travel, under standardized conditions, is no longer unsafe. There are good reasons for regarding it already as safer than automobiling. According to a report of the British Department of Civil Aviation, there were 21,000 commercial flights in Great Britain during the six months from May 1 to October 31, 1919, and 52,000 passengers were carried. The total mileage covered was 303,000. Not a single passenger was killed during this period, and only ten were injured. There were two fatalities among pilots and six pilots were injured.