There is no question that in this particular line of aeronautics, America is now leading the world; but the hydroaeroplane contests recently held at Monte Carlo and the experiments made in France by the Voisin Brothers' "Canard," which was erroneously hailed by the French press as being the first occasion when a machine had risen from the water with two men, show that the French are not far behind us. Other experiments have been made in Europe by Fabre, who was the first to achieve any degree of success in this line, and by the Duf aux Brothers on the Lake of Geneva, to say nothing of the flights made by Herbster, the old Farman pilot, on an Astra-Wright at Lucerne, and if the American aeronautic industry does not awaken to the immediate possibilities along this line, it will once more be overtaken by Europeans. There are thousands of men throughout the country who would gladly take up a new mechanical sport as a successor to motor boating and motoring if they felt they could do so with a reasonable degree of safety to themselves, and adequate assurance that the life of their machine would be commensurate to the price paid for it. Followers of the sport of motor boating, which has made thousands of converts during the past few years, are already turning to the hydroplane, which skims over the water at much greater speed and less power. The next step will be the hydroaeroplane, which can skim over the water in exactly the same way and has the further enormous advantage of rising into the air whenever the driver so desires. The sport should develop rapidly next summer and be in full swing in a few years. Several improvements of detail will have to be made. Ways of housing the craft–of stopping the engine–of muffling the roar of the motor, will be devised; while more comfort for the pilot and passengers will be arranged. If a cross-country flight is too dangerous to attempt because of the rough character of the land, the hydroaeroplane can follow a river course with perfect safety. Or, if there is no water course and the country is level, it can take the land course with equal safety. In short, it matters little whether an aerial course takes one over land or water, the hydroaeroplane is the safest machine for flight. With the "Triad," as we called the machine from its triple field–air, land, and water–the Great Lakes offer no impassable obstacle to a long flight, and it is within the vision of him who watches the trend of things, that an over-sea flight is not far in the future. NOTE BY AUGUSTUS POST THE "FLYING BOAT" At San Diego, on Jan. 10, 1912, a new type of Curtiss hydroaeroplane, or "flying boat," was given its first trial on the bay. It had been designed and constructed under strict secrecy at Hammondsport. The public knew nothing as to the details of this craft until it was taken out on the bay in order to test its balance and speed on the water.