At present the greatest value of the aeroplane seems to be for military reconnaissance and all the great powers are striving their utmost to secure supremacy in the air. France, Germany, Russia and England have to date spent millions in developing aeroplane fleets. Only the government of the United States has failed as yet to appreciate the military significance of the flying machine. If the relative aeronautical strength of the world’s nations were represented alphabetically the U. S. would naturally scarce have to change its initial, U being slightly in advance of Z which would stand for Zululand. But even with its modest equipment the navy fliers of the United States proved the great worth of the aeroplane and the flying boat, when during the recent trouble in Mexico the air scouts gathered in a few minutes information that could only have been secured by days of cavalry scouting before the advent of the flying machine. Indeed, the name of Lieut. P. N. L. Bellinger, the most able of the naval fliers at Vera Cruz, has figured more prominently in the despatches from the front than that of any other officer connected with the expedition. Flying seems certain in the very near future to take its place as the fastest, safest and most comfortable mode of conveyance. The flying boat will render quickly accessible the vast country lying along the great rivers of South America, Africa, and Australia; it will bridge the great lakes and the oceans; bring near together the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans. It will make imperative, because of the speed with which distances will be traversed, of a language common to all peoples; and treble man’s life without extending his years by making it possible to see and do three times as much in the same length of time. ~TEN YEARS OF FLYING~ Ten years ago on that day, December 17, 1913, Wilbur and Orville Wright made four flights on the coast of North Carolina near Roanoke Island, a spot historic in America’s history as the site of the first English settlement in the Western Hemisphere. [Illustration: Flying over military post in Curtiss biplane.] The first flight started from level ground against a 27-mile wind. After a run of 40 feet on a monorail track, the machine lifted and covered a distance of 120 feet over the ground in 12 seconds. It had a speed through the air of a little over 45 feet per second, and the flight, if made in calm air, would have covered a distance of over 540 feet. Altogether four flights were made on the 17th. The first and third by Orville Wright, the second and fourth by Wilbur Wright. The last flight was the longest, covering a distance of 852 feet over the ground in 59 seconds. After the fourth flight, a gust of wind struck the machine standing on the ground and rolled it over, injuring it to an extent that made further flights with it impossible for that year. [Illustration: 1900 1901 1902 1905 1904 1903]