Instances of the practical value of dispatch-carrying, in time of war, are readily forthcoming. A distinguished cavalry-officer, Colonel Grantham, supplies one, for instance. In the Chinese war, he recalls the plight of two columns which were advancing, about twenty miles apart, to deliver a combined attack. The country dividing them was mountainous; parties of the enemy were also moving about on it. The result was that, for several days, no message could be got through. This lack of communication made the scheme of a joint advance very difficult to carry out. Had an aeroplane dispatch-carrier been available, in such circumstances as these, he would have linked up the two columns in a twenty-minute flight, irrespective of all that lay below him. It is, of course, frequently necessary, during the progress of a battle, for Generals commanding various sections of an army to report to the Commander-in-Chief. Here the dispatch-carrying aeroplane, on account of its speed, will be of the greatest value. [Illustration: WEIGHT-CARRYING WAR BIPLANE. By Fitting "extensions" to the upper main-plane of the machine, as seen above, it is possible to achieve sustained flight with two, or even three occupants—or, should necessity arise, with a pilot and an appreciable load of explosives! The actual machine photographed is a Bristol, flying over the Brooklands aerodrome.] What can be done, in the way of long-distance dispatch-carrying, has been demonstrated most effectually by Captain Bellenger, a well-known French military airman. This officer, while stationed at the Vincennes air-depot, received instructions to carry a dispatch, as quickly as possible, to the military flying school at Pau. This represented a distance of 450 miles. Starting early one morning, Captain Bellenger reached Pau in seven hours sixteen minutes of actual flying. While _en route_ he made three halts to replenish his petrol tank. Recent tests in France show that quickly-assembled, single-seated monoplanes will be extremely useful, in actual military operations, in co-operating with artillery, by giving aerial directions as to gun-fire. Upon occasions when the effect of long-distance fire is unknown to the gunner, an aerial observer, ascending to an altitude of several thousand feet, will be able to detect what mischief the shells are doing, and suggest—either by wireless telegraphy or by messages dropped from his machine—corrections in the gunner’s aim. Another field of practical utility for the aeroplane, during an action, lies in the quick transport, from place to place, of staff officers. Horses, motor-cars, and motor-cycles have, hitherto, been employed for this purpose. But the aeroplane is infinitely their superior in the matter of speed.