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    "source_key": "britannica_1926",
    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926)",
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    "chunk_id": "1926:flour milling:80b6dc075cf2",
    "title": "FLOUR MILLING",
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    "verified_text": "profound changes have oc- curred during the period covered by our work (1910-26) in the geographical distribution of the flour-milling industry. the great increase that took place in the production of wheat in the u.s.a., canada, australia and argentina, the relatively low cost of production in those countries, and the cheapness of transportation, together with the universal drift of the pop- ulation from the rural to the urban districts, brought about the building of large flour-mills at the principal ports of great britain and other countries, and the gradual extinction of many small rural mills. american milling in the three canadian provinces of mani- toba, saskatchewan and alberta, alone, in less than a quarter of a century the quantity of wheat grown was increased irom 23,000,000 to 446,000,000 bu., and the export flour trade rose from 306,339 bar. (196 ib.) in the season 1871 to over 11,000,000 barrels in the season 1924-5. as wheat production increased, so also did the number of flour-mills, which were built regardless of domestic requirements in the united states, canada and aus- tralia. this was based on the assumption that flour could be most economically milled in the countries in which the wheat was grown. european milling —in europe, germany and france, in partic- ular, aimed at growing sufficient cereals for their own use, and heavy duties were levied on imported grain and flour to aid the process; in these cases, also, there was an increase in the capacity of the flour-mills to correspond with requirements. great britain and a few other countries placed their reliance on imported wheat, which was more suitable for breadmaking purposes than the native varieties; but here, again, they increased their capac- ity for the manufacture of flour, notwithstanding the same ten- dency in the wheat growing countries. active compelition.—thus a situation arose in which the capac- ity of the mills in several countries exceeded the requirements of the population. millers began to seek hungrily for trade farther afield. american, canadian and australian mills made unremit- ting efforts to supply europe and the far east with flour, entering alike overloaded and deficient countries. this current of trade in europe was met by other currents flowing from england, ger- many, france and other countries, the result being a swirl of competition that, however beneficial to the consuming public, engendered a certain amount of anxiety in the trade. in the years which immediately preceded the war, a world- wide scramble for trade had begun. from 1914 to 1918, how- ever, the feeding of the armies and the civil population was under the control of the respective governments concerned, and with the redistribution of supplies all the mills were kept going at full speed. in great britain additions were made to some of the plants, the aggregate peacetime capacity of which already ex- ceeded requirements. the millers of england and wales found themselves at the end of the war in possession of a potential manufacturing capacity of 40,000,000 sacks (280 ib.) of flour per annum, or an excess of 10,000,000 sacks over requirements. scot- land and ireland were and had remained under-milled, but the english mills can supply their deficiency and still have several million sacks to spare. after the state had liberated the industry from contro] in march 1921, british millers were compelled more than once by stress of circumstances to impose voluntary control upon their business, notably in 1921, when there was a record slump in the price of wheat, values declining by more than 4os. a quarter in a brief period. flour milling—flying, commercial for several years the situation was relieved by the demand for breadstuffs on the european continent. shattered as these coun- tries were by the four years of war, they could not, as formerly, grow or grind sufficient wheat for themselves, and one after an- other they relaxed or abolished their tariffs on imported cereals and flour. during this period the exports of flour from great britain rose to the unprecedented height of over 3,000,000 sacks. _ but so soon as the grain-growers on the continent had succeeded in increasing their productian mare nearly to correspond with na- tional requirements, both they and the flour millers exerted them- selves to secure the re-imposition of tariffs. in germany there was resistance from the urban element, but in oct. 1925 grain and flour imported to germany were again subject to customs duties. in france, millers were compelled by law to mix rice and other cheaper flour with their wheaten flour, and these regulations were finally removed in 1925. the growing chinese and japanese demand for wheaten products was met partly by american and canadian mills. but in these far east as in other countries at present under-milled, new flour-mills were crected to meet the increasing demands, so that further re- adjustments in distribution appear to be inevitable. inthe u.s.a., canada, australia and england, the mills were unable to work at their full capacity. in new south wales (australia) the quantity of flour required by the population of 2,259,000 people was 225,000 tons per annum, and the mills of this state could produce exactly double that quantity. the u.s.a. and canadian mills shared the same difficulties. in minneapolis, the largest flour-milling centre in the world, the mills were not able to work to anything like their full capacity for several years. in great britain, whilst the excess capac- ity amounted to 10,000,000 sacks per annum, on an average 4,000,000 sacks of flour came into this country from the u,s.a., canada, australia and elsewhere, so that the problem in this case is in- tensified by imports. the tendency generally is towards large scale production. it is estimated that 50% of the flour required by the population of great britain is milled at the principal ports, approximately 17% at mills in large inland centres of population, and 33% at mills in country areas. the flour-milling industry has encoun- tered inexorable economic laws, from the authority of which there is no escape, and, unless there is a voluntary arrangement to produce flour to conform with requirements, the fittest only will survive the stress of competition. bibliography.—royal commission on wheat supplies, ferst report, cmd. 2462 (1921); second report, cmd. s44 (1925); de- partmental committee on distribution and prices of agricultural produce—interim report on cereals, fleur and bread, cmd. 1971 (1923); royal commission on food prices, cmd. ay i 1925). of sm flying, commercial (see also aerial navigation; aeronautics; aeroplane; airship; etc.)—commercial avia- tion may be said to embrace all forms of flying other than that carried out by the fighting forces and may be divided into the following categories: (1) air transport; (2) aerial survey; (3) general flying; (4) flying schools; (5) air racing. i, air transport this section is confined to that particular branch of aero- nautical activity described as air transport. air transport is an entirely modern innovation. balloons were employed for the carriage of messages from paris during the siege of 1870, a war measure for evading the besieging army which, in other circumstances, could not have claimed to be a practical method of carrying mails. between 1909 and 1914 various demonstrations were made to prove the suitability of the acroplane as a rapid conveyance for mail matter, and a con- siderable number of journeys by air were accomplished by private individuals; but none of these enterprises, though interesting and daring, could fairly be described as the real beginning of air transport. that aic transport would become a practical proposition was, however, recognised, and in r91o a conference was held in paris at which an international convention in regard to acrial navi- gation was drafted. the credit for the first genuine commercial air service lies with germany; from march 1912 until nov. 1913, the rigid airships ‘‘ victoria luise,” ‘‘ hansa”? and “sachsen”? plied regularly between berlin and friedrichs- 43 flying, commercial ssims ysipims udissng p, . fe . t e 00\" ysi/oo 0 : —_ a e, ; ? valbhuof berrrener spud/siy ian or. “wes, e i = “phojdoy pasodotd udi/d7/ ages yk . a al a ee ‘0/0 pr ~ ‘ “. {7 be es ! a ‘“ . a arudii/ yy 6409 udwiiy fo nx yd boro fo/i0i £y ° rs pascdost | puobuys, soup -f . w\" 4 7 - yuval, |e ooo“ 7 isipuisy puojertog f ~~ pasodoid ,, *, b/oui2u02suq) : he a ysipsg ‘s j ggiidiy / 000000000 bi x suoubidseg ublbjag i p y be ~.,isno/no] fonfyiiiy | : ao les .isavoyong : 7, eon ee = _aposbjag a kro . t od & _. aun ra aie aes . ae ee ninvepuog ‘ . ee suoky * ‘ punguabd{y.s ye damned ner - oe dssapn asadopng’... syoseer : eer fausag 8 x < sn py alee ae “em, > , “ : zudisuol,., [fe a ~ dad/stpdig? 7 % yhuny i ~. q ad/soulii7 047\" 32/s0y, vs\" bi mab, d abur mm: \"7 =, sled ae bi9guiit © ’ . anbose l219 ip} 2or plapeg,. pen rhasusang ad2/o, dit? 0 2 ef: yi 13a yyuuud wae hee a a opis a set cediay, en : fs om ry fee aoysdyy 3 q ih ad/sisg a p\"> 4 & ag ? °.s}assn gy x als ot wr 5 aao “— qulo/o) ft x - ‘a ‘ ; pd 23h pe 519 7 ssd o oe fy “a a? } : 404 : cae ree ua” bh cia assy | ask : modssdy a wasa ‘uljuag . if em dun cake ee 2 f tene ey, - rf by | a let or urepuaysuny x fs q bunquarsoy . 2 : bragsbhiugy an : asui/owd ‘am moiso a : } eons” ws ouaoy jouen 4 ae posobaoy sulixf pbiy ¢ osz soupowio}iy osz soi ysi|guuy s3inod yiv adodna ( b yok om ar mage: ition ee -“ 5 >) 44 hafen, and in 881 flights, totalling 65,500 m., carried 19,105 passengers without injury and in considerable comfort. history in great britain the british government can claim to be the first govern- ment to study the possibilitics of air transport seriously. on may 22 1917 a civil acrial transport committee was appointed to advise the air board on the steps that should be taken for the development and regulation of aviation for civil and commercial purposes. this committce examined the possibilities of air transport from every point of view, and eventually submitted a report to the air council on may 11 1918. _ —_ 18,000 p ps ~ +--+ -_ le / < 15,000 — a7 i - —tf— _ | oy a — 12.000 a ae ds ot, le / \"ne 11,000 - 5 “. f “ - 10,000 e : or a ~ ri att 7,000 rt a ae 6,000 a) a - — ~~ a a e | 2,000 a — ° avu@, dec. dec. dec. dec. dec. ofc, 1919, 19t9. 1920, 1921. 1922. 1923. 1924, graph showing annual air traffic on london-continent routes. total passengers (continuous line), and passengers carried by british aircraft (broken line). aeroplanes and seaplanes.—at the conclusion of the war, the whole world began to turn its attention to the possibilities of aviation as a commercial activity. five years of forced technical progress and intensive production had left a great heritage in aerial resources; practically every combatant nation possessed large numbers of pilots and mechanics and vast storcs of surplus war aircraft. military aircraft had becn used for purely communication purposes with complete success; and the opcra- tions of war had proved clearly that flying under peace con- ditions should be both safe and comfortable. it was obvious that, if air transport was to accomplish even a small proportion of that which.enthusiasts claimed for it, international regulations must be put into force as soon as possible, and the necessary 1 reports of civil aerial transport committee, pub. by h.m. s.o., cd. 9218 (1918). flying, commercial steps were taken at the peace confcrence in paris during 1qto. international cenvention.—the treaty of versailles brought into being an international convention for the regulation of aerial navigation in which all the allies participated; under the terms of this convention a permanent commission for air navigation was to be set up and placed under the direction of the league of nations. in great britain, except for a brief period during easter week 1919, post-war civil aviation did not commence oflicially until may 1 1919. on aug. 26 1919 inter- national civil flying from great britain was first started under temporary air navigation regulations. the international air convention by june 1922 had been ratified by a sufficient number of signatory states to make the introduction of its regulations practicable. it was brought into force in great britain by the air navigation order dated june 20 1922. accordingly the first meeting of the international com- mission for air navigation was opened in paris on july 11 1922. the start of the service -—air transport began its career under — somewhat evil auspices. on the one hand, a large body of enthusiasts claimed the certainty of immediate commercial success, and consequent financial profits; on the other, con- servative scepticism pooh-poched the idea that aeroplanes could ever be a safe and economical means of transport, and cynically supported financial subsidies to the new industry. england led the way in accomplishment. on aug. 25 1919 the aircraft transport and travel co. despatched the first aircraft to fly on a regular commercial service to paris and on nov. 10 191g an aeroplane belonging to the same company carried the first regularly established air mail to the same destination. the british handley-page air transport co. and the french mes- sageries a¢€riennes were quick to follow and by jan. 1 1920 there were three british and two french companies operating on a regular time-table across the channel. these operations were nearly all carried out by military aircraft, or by military aircraft modified to carry passengers in some degree of comfort. need for state aid.—yrom the first it was obvious that such aircraft could not pay their way. it was, therefore, clear that air transport could not at once become self-supporting and would need some financial assistance from the state, until experi- ence was gained and aircraft specially designed for commercial purposes were produced with the aid of that experience. the french government had already realised the vast possibilities of air transport and a costly and ambitious policy of financial assistance was inaugurated in ro1g and has been continued until the present day. to some extent this policy was inspired by its potential political and military influence on the countries fown over, but its ultimate object was to attain rapid communication between paris and the french colonies in africa and asia. in england, on the other hand, there was not sufficient money allotted for even a very low standard of aerial defence, and air transport was therefore relegated to the background as an enterprise which the nation could not afford. in fact, the british empire had as much to gain from its development as any other country in the world. consequently the pio- neers, and with them the public who had supported their new enterprises financially, walked towards inevitable ruin. the general financial crisis of the autumn of 1920 brought mat- ters to a head, and the aircraft transport and travel company went into liquidation in dec., whilst in feb. 1921 the handley- page transport company suspended operations, leaving the french in unchallenged occupation of the cross-channel routes. this disaster brought about a parliamentary and press agitation which galvanised the government into facing facts and doing something; and from march ro2t the cross-channel services have been subsidised in varying degrees. governmental committees —the following are the various committees and boards which were set up by the british govern- ment from 1917 to 1923 to consider the possibilities of air transport and to make recommendations as to how it could best be supported and developed:— flying, commercial and private: plate fic. 1. vickers-vimy rolls-royce transatlantic biplane, which, piloted by sir john alcock, crossed the atlantic in june 1919 in 16 hr. 12 min. f1g. 2. junkers 3-engined all-metal monoplane. fic. 3. handley-page ‘* hampstead \"’ 3-engined commercial acroplane (phot a) fie fs acide € m use thr?? . lu lo. fi tf t 4 t pi flying, commercial 45 ladle. 1, date of appointment name of committee civil aerial transport committee may 22 1917 advisory committee on civil aviation june 8 1919 (weir committee) | june 1 1920 commercial airships committee may 5 1920 cross-channel subsidies committee | march 2 1921 (‘‘ londonderry committee ’') conference opened june 20 1921 conference of prime ministers and representatives of the united king- dom, the dominions and india, held in june, july and august 1921 civil aviation advisory board feb, 1922 civil air transport subsidies commit- | jan. 2 1923 tee (“ hambling committee ”’) air mails committee june 1923 from march to21 until march 31 1922 two british com- panies continued limited operations between london and paris under a system ae government financial support which guaran- teed them a 10% profit on the receipts obtained for traffic carried. whilst ‘this temporary and admittedly extravagant measure was in force, the londonderry committee put forward a new scheme which was accepted by the government, and was in operation from april to sept. 1922 government aid: the londonderry scheme.—this new scheme comprised the provision of half the fleet of each company by the government on a hire purchase system, and a subsidy based partly on the joad carried and partly on the gross earnings of the companies. three companies, the handley-page air transport, the instone air line, and daimler airways, operated to paris, and one company, the instone air line, flew to brussels. it was very soon found that the hire purchase scheme was im- practicable. moreover, the traffic available between london an«l paris was not sufficient for five competing companies (three british and two french), and it was obviously unsound that british companies should be subsidised to compete against one another. modified scheme—on oct. 1 1922, therefore, this scheme was modified on the basis of avoiding competition between british companies and extending british air transport into europe as far as possible with the money available. on this system the approved services in operation from this date until march 31 1924 are given in table in next column. meanwhile, owing to the various difficulties whfth had arisen and the apparent wastefulness of maintaining four separate organisations for a comparatively small volume of traffic, the hambling committee was assembled in jan. 1923. this committee definitely recommended the amalgamation of the four existing companies into a single national company with great freedom of action. they indicated that the company must be provided with a substantial capital, and be guaranteed a monopoly of subsidy for a term of years. “imperial airways” founded.—as a result, in march 1924, a national company, imperial airways, ltd., was brought into being with a guarantee of a total subsidy of £1,000,000 spread over a period of 10 years, for regular flying carried out within date of demise “feb. 7 1918 feb. 1922 i} april 1921 conference aug. 5 1921 july 8 1924 feb. 15 1923 reports ‘reports of the civil aerial transport com- mittee with appendices,”’ 1918. (cd. 9218, price 9d.) ist report: 'f report on imperial air routes,’ dated oct. 30 1919 (cd. 449, price 1d.). 2nd report: ‘‘ report on government assist- ance for the development of civil avia- ig ’ dated april 19 1920. (cd. 770, price 2d. only report dated june 1 1920, presented to parliament.) (report not only report dated april 1921. creport not presented to parliament.) appendix iit. to report: “ report of the im- perial air communications committee ” dealing with airships. (cd. 1474, price od.) closed ‘ report on imperial air mail ist report: | ’ dated july 25 1922. (cd. 1739, services,’ price is, ) 2nd report: “ report on aerodrome facilities of london,” dated jan. 29 1923. (cd. 1816, price 3d.) ‘ report on government financial assistance to civil air transport companies,\"' dated feb. 15 1923. (cd. 1811, price 6d.) m interim report of the air mails commit- tee,”’ dated jan. 19 1924. (cd. 2038, price 6d.) europe, the contract with the government permitting liberty of action as to the services actually operated. the frequent modifications of system and changes of policy had naturally militated against serious progress, and when at length this new annual mini- ae annual mini- per ; mum | am maxi- firm service |services|] -, mum ter potal in each . sub- jdirec- mile- sidy tion age : £ handley-page transport, | london, | ltd. ; paris | 300 15,000 instone air line, ltd. london, brussels, cologne 300 25,000 daimler llire, a ec, manchester, london, amsterdam, ifamburg, berlin {253 846] 55,000 british marine air navi- | southamp- gation co., ltd. ton, cherbourg, | ‘vwiavre, and . channel islands 60,000 | 10,000 organisation came into being it encountered many setbacks and difficulties in its first 18 months of operation, but it now promises to bring air transport on to a definitely self-supporting basis before any other similar enterprise recciving a subsidy from its government. history in other countries in other parts of the british empire, air transport generally made little progress, with the exception of australia, where a good deal has been done. australian development.—australia has subsidised three im- portant air lines—western australian airways, ltd., operating once a week from perth to derby (1,442 m.); queensland and 46 weal; and the larkin aircraft supply co., ltd., adelaide to cootamundra, with two branches, one from mildura to broken hill and one from hay to melbourne. rynanam j derby j broome s aces ott hall fit cfitziby creek eo wr port hediand lroebourne ie , wcarnarvon t charleville lgeraldtan broker hill australia air routes engtish miles fr.) 200 8=400 air routes in operation * \" prasected railway connection 600 te. ene ae german activity—germany had entered the lists as soon as the conditions of peace permitted her and, to encourage private enterprise, offered a simple subsidy on a kilometric basis. as a result there are to-day two substantial german air transport companies—the deutscher aero lloyd a.g. and the junkers luftverkehr a.g. in operation. the former is supported by some of the leading banks and shipping companies and utilises various types of aircraft. the latter is the property of the great junkers engineering firm and is equipped entirely with all-metal junkers aircraft. the junkers co. has created a world-wide reputation by means of a comprehensive scheme of standardisation in manu- facture. endeavours have been made to establish subsidiary companies in various countries in europe and in other parts of the world, over which control has been obtained by the provision of the initial fleet in exchange for shares. a scheme for the eco- nomical overhaul of all these aircraft at a flat rate at the junkers works has also been evolved. junkers companies exist in swit- zerland, denmark, sweden, austria, hungary, finland, estonia, latvia, russia, trans-caucasia, colombia and argentina, in addition to which junkers have created numerous subsidiary companies within germany itself. this bold scheme is almost identical with that on which the british air transport and travel co. was embarking when it came to an untimely end through lack of government support in 1920. its progress has been remarkable, but its eventual success must depend on the power of the junkers co. to bear the heavy capital charges. in- volved in the provision and maintenance of these fleets until such time as the subsidiary companies’ shares attain a serious financial value. french progress.—¥rance meanwhile has put her house in order and now has three main companies operating in different zones :— air union, paris-london. compagnie internationale de navigation aerienne (late franco- roumaine), paris—constantinople. compagnie generale d’entreprises aeronautiques (late latee- cotre), toulouse-dakar. all these companies are generously subsidised by the french govt. and in addition czechoslovakia, yugoslavia and rumania give financial support to the c.i.d.n.a., whilst the c.g.e.a. is assisted by french morocco. american policy—america did not participate in the inter- national commission for air navigation and has adopted an flying, commercial northern territory aerial services, ltd., cloncurry to camoo- entirely different line of policy from the european nations. she refused all assistance to private enterprise and even neglected to bring any form of air navigation regulations into force. at the same time, she started and operated a most eflicient but somewhat extravagant air mail service between new york and san francisco. this service was equipped with old war aircraft of british design and liberty engines, and was administered by the post office. its operations were remarkable for their efh- ciency and regularity, and in 1924 the first regular night flying service in the world was carried out on the central section between chicago and cheyenne. in 1925 america opened negotiations with a view to handing over the mail route to private enterprise, and is endeavouring to persuade private operating companies to undertake mail services on the other routes on a letter surcharge basis. air navigation regulations have also been finally approved and prepared for promulgation. during the above period other nations were coming into the field of air transport. air transportation in other couniries—the dutch created a subsidised company called the koninklijke luchtvaart maat- schappij voor nederland en kolonien towards the end of 1910, which has operated to london and paris with great efficiency, equipped with fokker aircraft and british engines. belgium has organised a national company called the societe anonyme belge pour itexploitation de la navigation aerienne. in europe it operates during the summer between brussels and basel, and in africa it has established a very successful service in the belgian congo from near leopoldville to luebo and eliz- abethville. spain, sweden, poland, switzerland, denmark, austria, wungary, finland, estonia, latvia, norway and russia have all established air transport companies and put them into operation. czechoslovakia, italy and yugoslavia have companies which in 1926 were about to commence operations on a fairly extensive scale. g . eee ap rica yrio de oro wort etienne north west africa air routes english miles 0 250 600 kilometres 0 250 800 french air routes air service to india.-—the british govt. is at present establishing an air service operating aeroplanes between cairo and karachi. the section between cairo and baghdad has already been tlown once a fortnight by military aircraft belonging to the royal air force for the carriage of mails and official passengers. flying, commercial it is now proposed to hand this section over to imperial airways and to extend it to karachi via basra and the coast of the persian gulf. the preliminary reconnaissance of the route has been carried out and the necessary arrangements made with the governments of egypt, palestine, ‘iraq, persia and india. a contract involving middle east air routes english mites fy) 250 500 kilemetres a a aan german” ee orn the payment of a subsidy for five years has been signed, a lump sum being given for each completed stage between cairo and basra and between basra and karachi. it is probable that this service will commence operations in nov. 1926 with aircraft of the latest type equipped with three air-cooled engines. construction, cost and service during the years that elapsed between 1918-26 many lessons were learned and certain facts established. safety.—first, it has been proved that air transport when properly administered and operated is a safe means of travel. in the british air service between may 1919 and march 1925 there were six fatal accidents, only four of which involved the death of passengers, for 3,698,000 m. flown, the equivalent of 148 times round the equator. in australia there was only one fatal accident! and 570,000 m. were flown between the starting of operations in dec. 1921 and the end of 1924. reliability.—a very high standard og efficiency has been reached and a standard of as much as 97% and 98% regularity in flying to a published time-table is elnimed for ccna air lines operating during summer weather. three quarters of the failures to maintain perfect regularity are due to weather and failure of power-plant, 66% being due to weather and 34% to mechanical defects throughout the year. this high standard of regularity and safety in british air transport was obtained very largely through the skill and determination of the pilots; and throughout europe it may be said that good piloting has usually been the greatest factor in any success obtained. thus it can be claimed that by the end of 1925 much valuable experience hac! been gained, and a very creditable standard of security and regularity had been attained; this standard was certainly as high as could be expected with the equipment available. economy.—on the other hand, although some progress was made during these six years towards economical operation, air transport is still far from arriving at a point at which it can be counted on to operate commercially without artificial financial assistance. cost of operating —there are two main reasons for the high cost of air transport as compared to other means of locomotion. first, an aeroplane expends a considerable proportion of its horse-power in climbing into the air and on maintaining itself at a safe height without regard to forward speed; in all other forms of transport the vehicle can remain at a fixed level on or in its particular element without expenditure of power. secondly, in order to obtain as great a disposable load as possible for any given horse-power, the structure of both engine and aircraft must be extremely light. consequently the air transport ve- hicle is costly to construct, and through its comparative fragility 1 at inaugural flight of western airways’ operations. 47 involves a high rate of maintenance. the cost of operation per hour depends to a great extent on the horse-power employed; thus every endeavour is being made, not only to increase the total weight per horse-power carried, but also to ensure that the greatest possible proportion of this total load is devoted to disposable load at the expense of structural weight. progress in this direction, howev er, has received certain setbacks by the proved necessity of carrying extra instruments, salety devices, heating and ventilating apparatus, etc. as indicated above, a considerable measure of reliability and safety has already been attained, and steady progress is being made towards increasing this standard to a basis of equality with other forms of transport.? the problem of reducing the operating cost to really commercial rates is more difficult, and represents the most important question before the designers of commercial aircraft to-day. progress is being made on broadly two main lines, the reduction of maintenance costs, and the increase of paying load per horse-power. air-cooled engines are just coming into use; all-metal construction is beginning to replace wood and fabric; and a rebust engine burning crude oil is promised in the near future. each and all these innovations will appreciably reduce the cost of operation. design, cost and carrying capacity.—england leads the way in the development of air-cooled engines and germany in metal construction. on the other line, various mechanical develop- ments are being applied to increase the disposable load without adding to the weight and size of the aircraft itself. the greatest load which an aircraft can carry is that with which it can take off and land safely. once at a safe height in the air, the normal aircraft has plenty of lifting power in hand. the planes are being fitted with adjustable slots and flaps which permit of a greater load being lifted from the ground in safety, and which lower the landing speed of heavily loaded aircraft which otherwise might be dangerous. considerable increase in horse-power is being obtained without serious additional weight by means of various systems of supercharging and “ boosting ” aircraft engines. variable-pitch propellers are just emerging from the experimental stage, by the use of which much more efficient application of the horse-power available will be attained. the newly invented de la cierva auto- giro promises to be a very valuable factor in progress towards carrying greater joads. data regarding costs per ton-mile are not at present available from foreign nations, and in england, owing to constant changes of policy and administration, it is dificult to obtain reliable figures. it is claimed, however, that with existing aircraft it is possible to operate at a speed of 85 m. an hour at 5s. a ton-mile, of which 3s. a ton-mile represent operating costs and 2s. over- head charges, including maintenance and depreciation. by means of various steps in technical progress, including those mentioned above, it should be possible to reduce these costs to less than 1s. a ton-mile for operating costs, and as safety and reliability are enhanced, “traffic will increase and overhead charges will drop to a rate which may also be estimated at 1s. a ton-mile. with a total cost of 2s. a ton-mile, air transport should be able to pay its way on many lines of communication between the great centres of the world’s commercial activity. summary of conclusions.—to sum up it may be stated that by the end of 1925 air transport opcrated by means of acro- planes and seaplanes has proved to be safe, and under european summer conditions very reliable. this new means of communica- tion cannot function, however, without artificial financial assist- ance. great progress is being made towards evolving aircraft which will be able to earn their costs of operation. as the re- ceipts for traffic approximate more and more to the expense of flying, air transport activities will rapidly increase; and when air transport with aeroplanes and seaplanes eventually reaches a paying basis, it must inevitably become one of the most im- portant means of communication between the various parts of the world. airships. —-since the early zeppelin enterprise in ane ? lee, “ the lessons of six years’ experience in air transport ” jour. of the royal aeronautical society, no. 179, vol. 29 (nov. ioe). 48 during 1912 and 1913, no regular commercial airship service has been put into operation, with the exception of the experimental service with the “ bodensee ”’ run by the zeppelin company from aug. to dec. 1919. germany, the chief user and most experienced designer of rigid airships, lost practically the whole of her airship organisation under the terms of the treaty of versailles; the ships which were handed over by her to the allies were not suited for commercial work; england and france had not the necessary faith in the future of airships to justify the expenditure necessary for their further development; and it was only in america that progress was continued. this general stagnation was further justified in the minds of unbelievers by the disasters which overtook the british ship r38 in aug. 1921 and the french “ dixmude ” in dec. 1923. the finest per- formance by an airship since 1918 was the flight of the british- built ship r34 from england to new york and back during the summer of rorg. (left england july 2 1019, arrived amcrica july 6 1919: ro8 hours. left america july ro 1919, arrived england july 13 1919: 75 hours). airship service—although america led the way by the con- struction of the “ shenandoah ” and the demand that the zra, later the “ los angeles,’ should be built in germany as part of her war reparation, it was england that made the first serious step towards establishing a genuine commercial airship service. this policy was initiated during 1923. after much discussion, towards the end of 1924 the construction of two large airships was put in hand, one to be built by government and the other by private enterprise. in the design of these airships the ortho- dox type of zeppelin girder has been departed from, and many improvements, the result of practical scientific research, will be incorporated in the structure. in connection with this scheme the existing airship station at cardington near bedford is being enlarged and a terminal airship station is being erected in india at karachi. a temporary refuelling station has been established at ismailia on the suez canal. the contract for the privately built ship includes a satisfactory flight to india along this route. the following data are given to indicate the progress in rigid airship construction attained during the last few years:— ex- treme | - radius 4 rer at this ee orse- spee speed | posa- description power m.p.h, (with- 4 out pay- ing load) | miles ‘r34 old british ship built max. 63°5=]| 3,286) 26-55 | in england during cruising | the war . . | 1,250 45 =| 4,905 'zr3 «| zeppelin’ ship built max. 79 =] 5,490] 46 | in germany for cruising | | u.s.a 2: : . | 2,000 68 =| 7,937 irro1 ship under construc- max. 78 =] 7,900] 85 | tion by [british cruising | govt. 3,500 65: -= use of helttm.—america has introduced helium gas to replace hydrogen as a lifting agent. helium (q¢.v.) has the advan- tage over hydrogen that it is totally non-inflammable, but its production is extremely costly, and its lifting power 15% less than that of hydrogen, which facts will prove a very serious handicap in the commercial development of the airship in america, if this policy is continued. in england, it is the intention to fit crude oil engines to the big ships and so eliminate the element of danger incurred by carrying petrol. no depend- able data exist from which the cost of operating an airship can be estimated, but there is little doubt that if the constructional and handling difficulties which have been connected with air- ships up to date can be overcome, the operating cost per ton- mile will be very much less than in heavier-than-air craft, flying, commercial although the initial capital cost involved is very much greater. the possibilities of the airship as a means of communication over long distances and across the great oceans are therefore cnormous. co-operation with aeroplanes.—it seems certain that in the future airships and aeroplancs will work in co-operation. as existing schemes develop, traffic for ‘iraq will reach egypt by airship and proceed thence by aeroplane to baghdad; for india, to colombo by airship and thence to various great cities by acroplane; for australia, to perth by airship and onwards to the northern and eastern cities by aeroplane. international agreements air transport is the most truly international of the transport industries; international laws and regulations are necessary for the operation of ships at sea and of trains across great continents. but the scope of these two activities is strictly limited, whereas aircraft can penetrate anywhere and fly over the territories of several different nations in a journey of a few hours’ duration (see aertal law). it has always been evident, therefore, that international air navigation regulations were of vital importance, and during 1922, on ratification of the international air convention, to which reference has already been made, the international commission for air navigation (known as the i.c.a.n. in england and as the c.i.n.a. on the continent of europe) came into being. the following states are parties to the convention and send representatives to this commission :— 1. belgium. 12. greece. 2. great britain and north- 13. italy. ern ireland. 14. japan. a. canada: 15. persia. 4. australia. 16. poland. 5. union of south africa. 17. portugal. 6. new zealand. 18. rumania. 7. irish free state. 19. kingdom of the serbs, 8. india, croats and slovenes. 9. bulgaria. 20. siam. 10. chile. 21. czechoslovakia, 11, france. 22. uruguay. the general principles laid down by the convention are as follows :— 1. innocent passage of commercial aircraft of the members over the territorics of all. 2. designation of customs aerodromes at suitable points at which aircraft must land. | 3. issue of licences to all members of the crew and airworthy certificates to all aircraft engaged in international commerce. the forms of these licences and certificates and the qualifications and tests to be demanded have been agreed by the commission. 4. the establishment of a wireless and meteorological organisa- tion and a lighting system along air routes authorised by the nation over whose territory they lie. the full commission now meets twice every year, the place of mecting being decided on the invitation of one of the govern- ments represented. meetings have taken place, so far, during 1922 in paris and london; during 1923 in brussels, london and rome; during 1924 two meetings in paris, and during 1925 in london and brussels. the commission has appointed standing subcommissions for the detailed study of operational, technical, medical and legal problems, and these meet as convenient at various dates between the meetings of the full commission. most european nations who are not members of the international commission have drawn up regulations of their own, approxi- mating to those of the international commission, and many of them have entered into agreements of various classes and duration with one another and with members of the international commission in order to facilitate the operation of international air transport. since its creation the commission has taken steps to modify two articles of the convention which were unacceptable to certain ex-neutral and ex-enemy countries. these modifications will come into force in the near future on the completion of ratification, when it is likely that several other european nations will join the convention. as already stated, america, flying, commercial although a signatory to the convention originally, has never deposited her ratification and is considering federal legislation for the administration of inter-state air transport. each country through its national legislature gives effect to the international air convention and to the decisions of the international commission. in great britain this is done by the air navigation act, 1920, and by the air navigation orders and air navigation directions issued by the authorities from time to time thereunder. ii. aerial surveys aerial survey came into existence during the world war. the necessity of photographing trench-lines and hostile positions became more and more vital as operations progressed, and by 1918, military aerial photography had reached a high pitch of efficiency. it was only in a few cases, however, that it was necessary to employ aerial photography as a means of measuring distances on the ground; as a rule, comparatively accurate maps were available, and the photographs were required for filling in details of natural features, buildings, roads, etc., and for dis- closing the dispositions of the enemy. at the end of the war, it was clear that acrial photography must provide a very valuable aid to ordinary survey, and from that date onwards aerial survey has been very successfully developed in various parts of the world. aerial survey problems —the greatest problems of acrial survey activities are:— . 1. to correct for the errors which must obviously result from photographing tracts of country in which considerably different height levels exist. 2. to ensure that photographs are taken with the camera axis as near as possible vertical and to correct the results of deviations from this ideal. 3. to fly straight and level and at a constant height so as toensure regular overlap of all negatives obtained, and as near as may be a constant scale. 4. to reduce operation costs to a standard at which aerial survey can compete financially with other forms of survey. canadian progress canada has been the pioneer of this new industry. her vast and comparatively flat northern regions offered an ideal field for the young enterprise to prove its com- mercial value. operations have for the most part been carried out by flying boats working from the numerous lakes and water- ways which intersect large expanses of unsurveyed and unex- ploited forest land. two systems have been employed; vertical photography aided by certain points previously fixed by triangulation; and oblique photography along a line already traversed by means of ground survey. ~ combined with acrial survey, a system of forest fire patrol has been established. during the forest fire seasons, constant air patrols are maintained over important arcas, and all fires reported by wireless to fire-fighting stations; in some cases, the fire-fighting partics and apparatus are actually carried to the site of the fire in aircraft. enormous tracts of timber have been saved by this means. in 1923, it was calculated that 2,120,000 acres of forest were destroyed in ontario; in 1924 the total destruction was reduced to 140,000 acres, and the saving in labour totalled 50,000 man-days. the united states has followed canada in aerial survey progress. her operations have included oil surveys, coast-line and river surveys, the alignment of new roads and railways, and municipal surveys and town planning. france and germany.—in france, a new law demanding accurate plans of all fair-sized municipalities has led to much activity in the survey of towns. in germany, forest survey has been carried out extensively and successfully, and great progress has been mace in solving the scientific problems connected with stereoscopic plotting and the aerial photography of mountain tracts. english experience —in england, owing to the fact that very accurate surveys everywhere exist, operations have been con- fined to experimental work and research, together with a great deal of commercial photography of estates, factories, etc. british 49 acrial survey expeditions have, however, carried out most successful work in british guiana, burma and borneo. ex- perience has enabled fairly reliable estimates of cost to be pre- pared, and it seems certain that complete and accurate aerial photographs of any normal area can be produced for from {£3 to {10 a square mile, depending on the position and extent of the area to be surveyed. triangulation on the ground is necessary for both air and ground surveys, but this price compares very favourably with any other method of filling in the topography of all except the most open type of country, while at the same time it gives considerably greater details with all necessary accuracy. it is likely that aerial survey operations will develop rapidly in the near future. one of the difficulties of the operator at present is that a single aeroplane can cover large areas so quickly that it is almost impossible to find employment for an aerial survey unit throughout the year, and so be able to dis- tribute overhead charges over a really large area of operations. ill. general flying immediately after the world war, a large number of very cheap aircraft were thrown on the market. in several countries, but particularly in great britain and america, demobilised pilots purchased one or two aeroplanes and set out to make their living by giving the general public short flights in the neighbour- hood of their landing place. the following figures show the measure of this activity in great britain:— : passen- : passen- flights ee | flights gers 1919-20 37,067 66,785 1922-3 13,578 25,253 1920- i 23,513 36,694 1923-4 22,842 39,227 i92i~ 2 21,767 36,048 1924-5 23,519 43,766 this purely local flying was in some cases extended to the maintenance of aircraft plying for hire to carry passengers at a mileage rate to any required destination. the demand for this useful activity has proved small in england, but is hkely to increase as operational costs are reduced. joy-riding has served a useful purpose both in england and america in educating the public as to the possibilities of aviation. in england an original use for aviation was devised in the introduction of sky-writing. a british company was formed shortly alter the war and proceeded to advertise various com- modities by means of writing their titles with smoke at a height of about 12,000 [t. in the air. this british company also obtained a large contract for advertising in the united states during 1922 and 1923. iv. civil flying schools owing to the heavy cost involved, flying instruction to the general public has been very limited. in most of the greater countries, however, civil flying schools exist which depend largely on government assistance jor their existence. in england there are five civil flying schools which undertake the annual training of officers. at these schools a private individual can obtain a very good grounding in the art of flying for about £100. in france there are 11 civil flying training schools at buc, le crotoy, mourmelun, orly, angers, nimes, orleans, bordeaux lyon, clermont-ferrand, chalon-sur-seine. pilots are trained for military purposes in these schools and it is from those who have had that military training that the civil aviation companies draw for their pilots. in germany there are three types of schools where the training of civil pilots is carried out:— (1) schools conducted by aircraft constructors; (2) schools conducted as an independent enterprise; (3) schools conducted by associations. in addition, there is an organisation known as the “ sportsflug ” which has started six of its own schools. in england a movement has just been started which will also give the private individual an opportunity of learning to fly. private flying clubs have been formed which charge entrance fees and annual subscriptions to all members; at these clubs tuition an small aeroplanes can be obtained at low rates. the gov- 50 ernment has guaranteed a certain measure of financial assistance to five of these clubs. | v. air racing the first form of air racing to come into being consisted of competitions between free balloons, the prize being given to the balloon which eventually landed at the greatest distance from the starting point. the first recorded race of this class was the grand prix which took place in france in 1905. in 1906 the gordon bennett challenge cup was instituted and has been competed for ever since, with the following results:— | gordon bennett balloon cup winners paris—1g06. sept. 30—oct. 1 1906.—america, frank s. lahm. balloon, “‘ united states ’’ (2,080 cm.), paris—fylingdales, york- shire. distance, 647-098 km. duration, 22 hr. 5 minutes. st. louis, u.s.a.—1907. oct. 21-23 1907.—germany, oscar erbsloh. balloon, ‘‘ pommern ” (2,200 cm.). st. louis—bradley beach, new jersey. distance, 1,403-559 km. duration, 40 hours. berlin—¥908. oct. 11-14 1908.—switzerland. col. schaeck. balloon, ‘‘ helvetia ’ (2,200 cm.), berlin—bergest, nr. bud. nor- way. distance, 1,212 km. duration, 73 hours. zurich—1909. oct. 3-4 1909.—america, e. w. mix. batloon, “america hh.” zurich—ostrolenka, poland. distance, 1,121-110 km. duration, 35 hours. st. lovis—t1g10. oct. 17-19 i910.—america, alan r. hawley. balloon ‘‘ america ii.’”’ st. louis—peribonka river, nr. chicoutimi, quebec, canada. distance, 1,884 km. duration, 44 hr. 25 minutes, kansas city, u.s.a.—ig911. oct. 9 i911.—germany, lieut. hans gericke. balloon, ‘ berlin ii.\"’ (2,200 cm.). kansas city—hal- combe, wis. distance, 758 km. duration, 12 hr. 28 minutes. stuttgart—1912. oct. 27-29 1912.—france, maurice bienaime. balloon, ‘ picardie’ (2,200 cm.). stuttgart—riga. distance, 2,191 km. duration, 46 hours. paris—1913. oct. 12-14 1913.—america, ralph h. upson, bal- loon, ‘‘ goodyear ” (2,200 cm.). paris—bempton, nr. bridlington. distance, 618 km. duration, 43 hr. 10 minutes. 1914 to 1919, inclusive—no contest. birmingham, u.s.a.—1920. oct. 23 1920.—belgium, ernest demuyter. balloon, ‘ belgica ” (2,200 cm.). birmingham—north hero island, vermont, u.s.a. distance, 1,760 km. duration, 40 hr. 15 minutes, brussels—1921. sept. 18-19 1921.—switizerland, capt. paul armbruster. balloon, ‘ zurich \" (2,200 cm.). brussels—lambay island, [reland. distance, 766 km. duration, 27 hr. 23 minutes. geneva—1i922. aug. 6-7 1922.—belgium, ernest demuyter. balloon, “ belgica ’’ (2,200 cm.). brussels—skollersta., sweden. distance, 1,115 km. duration, 21 hours. brussels—i924. june 15-17 1924. belgium, ernest demuyter. balloon, “ belgica\" (2,200 cm.). brussels—st. abbs head, ber- wickshire. distance, 714 km. duration, 43 hr. 16 minutes. won outright by belgium; replaced by second gordon bennett balloon cup. second gordon bennett balloon cup brussels—1i925. june 7-9 1925.—belgium, a. veenstra. bal- loon, “* prince leopold.”” brussels—cap torrina, spain. distance, 1,345 km. (840 m.). duration, 47 hr. 30 minutes. in 1905, the french aero club founded the federation aeronautique internationale to control all international sporting aviation. this body has laid down and published a code of rules for air racing. the aero club of each country appoints delegates to the federation, which meets once a year, discusses modifica- tions to the regulations, decides on conditions for current international competitions and investigates and ratifies claims for world’s records. the first aeroplane races ever held took place at an inter- national meeting at reims in aug. 1909. at this meeting an international challenge cup for speed was presented by mr. gordon bennett to be won outright by the country which was victorious three times running. below are given the principal international competitions for aeroplanes and seaplanes with the results up to date:— gordon bennett aviation cup (speed contest) reims—1909.—a merica (representative, g. h. curtiss). dis- tance 20 km. (12:4 m.). time, 15 min. 503 sec. curtiss biplane, 30 h.p. curtiss engine. belmont park, new yorkk—1910.— united kingdom (repre- sentative, c. grahame-white),. distance 100 km. (62-1 m.). time, i hr. § min. 4:74 sec. bleriot monoplane, 50 h.p. gnome engine. flying, commercial eastchurch, sheppey, england—ig1i1.—a merica (representa- tive c. t. weyman). distance, 150 km. (94 m.). time, 1 hr. 11 min. 364 sec. nieuport monoplane, too h.p. gnome engine. cuicaco, u.s.a.—1912.— france (representative, j. vedrines). distance, 200 kin. (124-8 m.). time, 1 hr. 10 min. 56sec. deperdus- sin monoplane, 140 h.p. gnome engine. riims—1gr3.—france (representative m. prevost). distance, 200 km. (124-8 m.). time, 59 min. 45 sec. deperdussin monoplane, 160 h.p. gnome engine. 1914 to 1919, inclusive—no contest. eiampes—1920.— france (representative, sadi lecointe). dis- tance, 300 km. (186-5 m.). time, i hr. 6 min. 174 sec. nicuport biplane, 300 h.p. wispano-suiza engine. won outright by france; replaced by deutsch de la meurthe cup. henry deutsch de la meurthe cup (to be won outright after two victories running) 1921—france.—societe nieuport-astra, pilot: georges kirsch. villesauvage, oct. 1 1921. nieuport-delage, 300 h.p. hispano- suiza engine. distance, 300 km. time, 1 hr. rf min. 39$ seconds. 1922— france.—societe nieuport-astra. pilot: fernand lasne. villesauvage. sept. 30 1922. nieuport-delage, 300 h.p. elispano- suiza engine. distance, 300 km. time, 1 hr. 2 min. 114 seconds. won outright by france; replaced by beaumont cup. braumontt cup (to be won outright by two victories running) 1923—no contest. 1924—istres. june 22 1924.—sadi lacointe. nieuport-dclage monoplane, 450 h.p. hispano-suiza engine. distance, 300 km. time, 57 min. 50 sec. speed, 311 km. (193-2 m.) per hour. 1925—jstres. oct. 18 1925.—sadi lacointe. nieuport-delage monoplane, 600 h.p. hispano-suiza engine. distance, 300 km, time, 57 min. 3626 sec. speed, 312-5 km. (194 m.) per hour. won outright by france. | pulitzer trophy (speed contest) 1920— mineola, long island. nov. 25 1920.—lieut. c. c. mosley, u.s. army. verville machine, 600 h.p. packard engine. course, 132 m. time, 44 min, 29-57 seconds. 1921—omaha. nov. 3 1921.—n. acosta, curtiss navy biplane, 400 h,p. curtiss c.d. 12 engine. speed, 176-7 m. per hour. 1922—detrott, oct. 14 1922.—lieut. r. l. maugham, u.s. army. army curtiss racer, 375 h.p. curtiss d. 12 engine. triangular course of 160 m. speed, 206 m. per hour. 1923—st, louis. oct. 6 1923.—licut. j. a. williams, u.s. navy. curtiss r.2.c.1, 460 h.p. curtiss d. 12 engine. course, 124-28 m. time, 30 min. 36 sec. speed, 243-67 m. per hour. 1924—davyton, ohio. oct. 4 1924.—lieut. h. h. mills, u.s, army. verville-sperry cantilever monoplane, 500 h.p. curtiss d. 12 a. engine. course, 124-7 m. speed, 215-72 m. per hour. 1925—mitchel field, long island. oct. 12 1925. lieut. cyrus bettis, u.s. army air service. army curtiss racer, 619 ii.p. curtiss v. 1,400 engine. course, 124-27 m. (200 km.). time, 29 min. 56-9 sec. speed, 248-99 m. per hour, the jacques schneider maritime cup (list of winners) monaco, 1913.—m. prevost (france) on a deperdussin float sea- plane, 160 h.p. gnome. 150 nautical m. in 3 hr. 48 min. 22 sec. (45:25 land m. per hour). monaco, 1914.—mr. howard pixton (great britain) on sopwith float seaplane, 100 h1.p. monosoupape gnome. 150 nautical m. in 2 hr. o min. 16 sec. (86 land m. per hour), 1915 to 1918, inclusive.— no contest. bournemouth, 1919.—race annulled because, owing to fog, no competitor covered the correct course; but as the italian aviator, signor janello, on a savoia flying boat came nearest to covering the correct course, the competition was held the following year in italy. venice, 1920.—signor luigi bologna (italy) on a savoia s. i9 flying boat with 550 h.p. ansaldo engine. 202 nautical m. in 2 hr, ¥o min. 35 sec. (106-7 land m. per hour). no english machines competed. venice, 1921.—signor giovanni de briganti (italy) on a macchi 7 flying boat with 260 h.p. isotta-fraschini engine. 200 nautical m. in 2 hr. 4 min. 29 sec. (110-9 land m. per hour). naples, 1922.—mr. ih]. c. biard (great britain) on supermarine sea lion flying boat with 450 napier lion engine. 200-2 nautical m. in 1 hr. 34 min. 514§ sec. (145-7 land m. per hour). cowes, 1923.—lieut. david rittenhouse (u.s. navy) on curtiss float seaplane c.r.3 with 465 fi.p. curtiss d.r.a. engine. 186 nautical m. in 1 hr. 12 min. 244§ sec. (177°38 land m. per hour). 1924.—british and italian machines entered for the competition which should have been held at baltimore. italian entry did not mature and british machine crashed just before it was due to leave for u.s.a. thus, if the american competitor had simply flown over the course, he could have claimed a win. as it was, the americans declared * no competition,”’ flying corps—foch baltimore, 1925.—lieut. doolittle (u.s. army) on curtiss r.3 c.2 with curtiss v. 400 engine. 191-4 nautical m. in 56 min. 6-37 sec, (232-57 land m. per hour). air racing has done much as an incentive towards attaining very high speeds, and although the actual racing machines are usually of small practical use, it has proved comparatively easy to develop from them aircraft of great military value. ripliograpiry.—very little literature exists which deals seriously with commercial aviation, but the following publications touch on its various aspects and cover the details of most of its early history: andre beaumont, aly three big flights (1912); c. grahame-white and h. harper, air power (1917); l. hirschauer, l’aviation de trans- port (1920); h. b. pratt, commercial airships (1920); g. holt thom- as, acrial transport (1920); sir walter raleigh, the war in the air, vol. 1 (1922, etc.); sir ross smith, 74,000 afiles thro’ the air (1922); c. g. grey, aircraft yearbook (1923, etc.); aero chamber of commerce of america, aireraft year book (1925); fred ‘t. jane (c. g. grey), all the world's aircraft (1925); e. h. lewitt, the rigid airship, a treatise on design and performance (1925). (w.s. b.) flying corps: see air forces. foch, ferdinand (1851- ), french marshal, was born at tarbes oct. 2 1851. his father’s family had long been settled in the south of france, leaving the district of ariege in the 17th century to establish themselves as woollen manufacturers in the small town of valentine where they took a prominent part in municipal affairs. on his mother’s side, marshal foch came of a race of soldiers, his maternal grandfather having been a gallant officer of the grand army. his father was a lawyer at tarbes (hautes-pyrenees) who later became a revenue official; and he was frequently transferred from place to place, taking his son with him. the future marshal thus received his educa- tion successively at the lycees at tarbes and rodez, the semi- nary at polignan and the jesuit college at st. etienne. it was not long before his teachers were struck with his ‘“‘ geometrical mind ” and it was decided that he should enter the ecole polytechnique, to prepare for which he was sent to st. clement’s college at metz. after a few months there, how- ever, the war of 1870 interrupted his studies. he enlisted in the infantry but the armistice came before he saw any fighting, and he returned to metz to finish preparing for his examination. one of his fellow-students has described how, in the midst of a lesson, they learned, on march 11 1871, by the booming of the german guns, that the treaty of peace had made metz a city of the german empire. none could foresee that the young student was destined, as marshal, to restore the city to france. he sat for his examinations at nancy, which was still occupied by manteuffel’s troops, and was admitted to the ecole poly- technique, where he made his mark. in 1873 he was commis- sioned, and served successively at fontainebleau, tarbes and rennes. he then passed into the ecole superieure de guerre where, after a tour of duty on the general staff, he was appointed a professor on oct. 31 1894. his lectures soon made a sensation, both by the evident soundness of the matter and the originality of the form. even thus soon his pupils bore witness to the excel- lent qualities of their professor, who presently became one of the leaders in military doctrine. the lessons given between 1894 and 1900, collected in volumes, constitute the chapters of foch’s great works: de la conduite de la guerre and des principes de la guerre, which appeared in 1897 and 18g9. in teaching six batches of staff college students foch fortified his own military science as well; his years of paris were in fact of capital importance in the higher development of his intellect. when he vacated his post no one doubted that he would return ere long in another capacity. after holding two regimental com- mands of artillery and spending a year on the staff of the v. corps, he was, so to say, imposed on the government by the opinion of the whole army as the fittest selection for the com- mand of the ecole de guerre that he had made famous. it was clemenceau—at that time prime minister—who made the appointment, giving him the rank of general, and from that day began the cordial relations between the great statesman and the great soldier which were to be revived later under mem- orable conditions. ey the general held his post as head of the ecole for four years, during which time he threw himself with untiring zeal into the work of this famous centre for military study, giving it a per- manent stamp and forming a whole new generation of picked officers. when, in rorz1, he was nominated to the command of the 13th div. at chaumont, foch was one of the very few out- standing figures of the army and it was not surprising that, after a brief period in command of the viii. corps, the wish of every- one acquainted with the higher military personnel brought him to the head of the splendid xx. corps, stationed about nancy, which was accounted one of the best elements of the “‘ couver- iure.’”’ thus, in 1913, he entered, to the sound of trumpets, the town where he had passed his examinations to the tune of the german army fifes and whence, before long, he was to march out for the war. general foch, who had married mademoiselle julie bien- venue, had at that time three children— two married daughters and a young son who was destined to be one of the first to fall in the war. although still attached to his pyrenean home, the general spent his holidays on a small estate that he had acquired at trofeunteniou in brittany. in the summer of 1914 france was so far removed from any idea of attacking germany that yoch had left nancy to spend a month in far-away brittany. a week later events led to his recall and he went into harness. the outbreak of war.—he was then a man of 63, but his rare moral, intellectual and physical vigour kept him singularly young. foch was a man of thought and also, above all, a man of action. gifted with an intelligence which was never allowed to be idle, ever widening the scope of his knowledge, reflective and delighting—to use his own striking phrase—to “ phos- phoresce,”’ the great soldier is even stronger in will than in intel- lect. “ victory=will .... victory goes always to those who deserve it by the greater force of wi/] .... a battle won is a battle in which one wi// not acknowledge oneself beaten ”— these are but a few of the maxims found in his books, in which the word wii! occurs on every page. and in truth, although his grey eyes sparkle with intelligence, the forehead and, even more, the mouth reveal that will which he was able to communicate to all those who came in contact with him in the course of war. it is this will which gives such solidity to his character and pro- tects it from all weaknesses. what is more, it stimulates both conscience and intelligence. he speaks of “ these natures, hun- gry for responsibility, which alone turn out great men,” and his own is one of these natures, that no sentimental considerations can either divert or check. for the rest, his clarity of mind translates itself by a realist and somewhat ironic common sense. what is it about?” is a favourite phrase of his in all circum- stances, for he believes in clear vision before direct action. the xx. corps formed part of the ii. army and foch was therefore one of the commanders of castelnau’s army, which, on aug. 19 1914, was thrown into annexed lorraine. it will be remembered that this army, after some successes, came up against a formidable resistance in the region of morhange and failed with heavy losses. foch had had no part in forming the plan, which met with so cruel a check; he was but one of the execu- tants. he had thrown his army corps resolutely at morhange and, when repulsed, was still able to organise with perfect cool- ness its retreat on the solid positions of the couronne de nancy. not content to await the enemy there, he resumed the offensive and, on aug. 20, threw himself on the german regiments which were waiting to attack in the “ gap of charmes,” and in over- throwing them prepared the victory in lorraine. he was pre- paring to take his part there when he was called to the grand quartier general, where joffre entrusted him with the command of an army. at that time the french were retiring in good order from belgium and the ardennes towards the region of the marne. as a gap tended to open between the iv. and v. armies, joffre gave foch the mission of forming a new army (the ix.) between them, co-ordinating his action with theirs. he was on the ground before the corps entrusted to him had arrived. in a few days he forged out of them a solid and supple little army which was 52 already well in hand when the celebrated order of sept. 4 ar- rested the retreat and prescribed the battle which was to lead to the victory of the marne. foch, after passing the marshes of st. gond, established him- self on the heights which dominate the petit morin and of which fere champenoise marks the crest. it was thought that his rele would be limited to supporting franchet d’esperey’s army on his left. but when the german armies, which, instead of turning the left of the french armies as they had expected, were themselves turned on the right, they tried to penetrate the allied centre precisely in this region of fere champenoise and foch had therefore suddenly to support the main strain of the battle, and that with troops inferior in number. the heights were for a moment carried by the germans from mondemont to fere champenoise. it was then that, by a clever manoeuvre, foch rapidly transferred the 42nd div. from his left to his centre and thus was able to gain the upper hand and force the enemy back. the extreme fatigue of his troops prevented him from pushing his successes, but he hung on to the retreating germans. and entered ch4lons-sur-marne behind them. his part in the victory of the marne was capital and it was recognised by a glorious citation in general orders. his reputation was so increased after this great crisis that’ joffre immediately entrusted him with a new mission—this time one without parallel. scarcely had the operations of the marne terminated when, the two armies mutually trying to outflank one another, the “ race to the sea ” set in from the oise to the flemish coast which was only to be closed by the arrival of the belgian army and the formation of a continuous front right to nieuport. the british corps, for their part, had been moved into the region of ypres, while joffre detached from the now stable front between the oise and the vosges all the forces that he could spare to meet a great attack between the oise and the sea. to co-ordinate the action of the heterogeneous troops hurriedly thrown into these regions, a leader of great authority was wanted at once to take the higher direction of the operations of the french armies and to co-operate harmoniously with the allied armies so as to assure the co-ordination necessary to victory. on oct. 4 foch was sent to the nord to fulfil this mission with the title of ‘‘ deputy to the commander-in-chief.”’ he did not limit himself to giving the french armies, from picardy to flanders, the most energetic orders but put himself in close and cordial] relations with field-marshal sir john french and king albert i., and established the essential liaison between the allied armies. ceaselessly finding the necessary reinforce- ments and dispatching them to the aid of the hard-pressed british and belgian corps, he was able by his friendly and gener- ous activity to impose his own resolute ideas and so make himself the soul of the battle of flanders that, after the fierce fighting of the yser and of ypres, ended in mid-nov. by the definitive check of the german invasion for the year 1914. in all this foch had not merely confirmed his prestige as a strategist, but had won for himself the friendly admiration of his allies so com- pletely that, even then, it could be foreseen that if, one day, circumstances required unity of command there could be no better choice for it than foch. did not mr. lloyd george say: “he could not have done more for us had he been one of our own generals,” foch was left therefore in contact with the british and belgian corps in the capacity of general commanding the group of armies of the north. he held the post for two years and thus presided over the two artois offensives of may and sept. rors and the battle of the somme in the summer of 1916 which the german attack on verdun prevented from assuming the ampli- tude and decisive character that had been intended. after brilliant initial successes the somme battle seemed to sink in the autumn mud. the disappointment that it caused led to a movement of dissatisfaction with the higher leaders who had presided over it. joffre having been relieved of his command, foch was deprived of his also and relegated to senlis for a mission of inspection. the story was that he was fatigued. this was foch hardly the case, but he accepted this semi-disgrace with resigna- tion and his valuable advice was always at the disposal! of general lyautey, who had become minister of war. when, in may 1917, gen. petain was called to the chief com- mand, he himself suggested to the government that foch could be usefully employed in the post of chief of the general staff. having been sent into italy on the morrow of caporetto to establish a much-needed understanding with gen. cadorna’s headquarters, and having remained in constant and cordial relations with field-marshal haig, there was little doubt that when the time came foch would appear as the single commander that so many people desired by the end of 1917. when, in march ror8, the germans launched their first grand offensive and the allied jine threatened to break, the necessity of this command became obvious to everybody. it was at doullens that foch, on march 20, received from the representatives of the french and british govts. that mission of higher co-ordina- tion that on april 14 became more precise in the form of the chief command of all the allied armies fighting in france. already he had grasped this command with a firm hand. thanks to the close co-operation of the allies he stopped the germans at the gates of amiens, and thereby brought about the final failure of their attempt to break the anglo-french front and penetrate to the channel. henceforward his whole energies were directed towards assuring this fruitful co-operation. thus he brought strong french reinforcements to help the british armies, attacked in march and april, and engaged british and american divisions in the battle of the aisne in may, thus twice checking german offen- sives that, for a moment, were triumphant. and when the germans came to a standstill in the pockets that they had driven into our front, he prepared the counter-offensives which, when the hour struck, were to shake and crumple the german front. the counter-offensive was on the point of being launched against the flanks of these pockets, from the aisne to the marne, | when, on july 15, a new german offensive took place. this met with a partial check which, as we know, had the effect of deepening the pocket in which foch intended to grip the enemy. the victorious attack of july 18 on the enemy’s flanks forced him to retire and gave the signal for the grand allied offensives. toch was now determined to halt no more. he realised that the german armies were beginning to be exhausted but that if they were to be overthrown, the blows must fall thick and fast. the great offensive of aug. 8 in the region of the somme which, as it gradually spread and became more violent, forced the germans to retire on to the hindenburg line, was almost im- mediately followed by the new offensive against that strong position where french and english vied with each other in valour. once the line had been forced, foch launched his famous ‘ directive ’’ of sept. 3 which was in fact the programme of the general attack. the stages of this semi-concentric attack are well known. it stretched from the meuse into flanders and was designed to draw the enemy from all parts back on to the region of the ardennes, where foch hoped to pin them and grasp them. the ‘“ directives,” which issued from the head- quarters of bombon (and later, senlis) are clear, resolute and pitiless. at this point petain, haig and pershing worked in closest harmony with their french colleague. the directives of oct. 10 and 1g were followed by successes—hard won and un- equal, it is true, but which on nov. 5 culminated in the general retreat of the beaten and exhausted german armies. foch, following them closely, had already prepared an opera- tion on a large scale to make an end of them. while the germans were to be thrown back into the difficult ardennes region, a huge grovp of armies under the orders of castelnau with mangin as principal executant, were to attack on the moselle and the sarre and, reaching the rhine, were to bar the line of retreat from the encircled germans. it was at this point that the germans asked for the armistice. on nov. 8 foch, who had been engaged in drawing up the conditions for three weeks past, received the german plenipotentiaries at rethondes and, by his masterful attitude, brought them to accept all conditions on nov. 11, foerster—folklore obtaining with the occupation of the left bank of the rhine the results which he had expected to gain from the supreme battle. the career of foch was not at an end. europe acclaimed him as the leader who had secured the victory. marshal of france since aug. 7, he now became a british field-marshal and later a marshal of poland. he was elected a member of the academie francaise, which body, emulating the academie des sciences, gave him a wonderful reception, and at paris, on july 14 1919, he passed under the arc de triomphe de l’ etoile at the head of the victorious troops. from new york to london and from brusscls to warsaw he passed from triumph to triumph. he was not, however, con- tent with a parade rele, and, as president of the inter-allied military commission, he was repeatedly called upon to take measures in support of the action of the allied governments. this presidency he still retains—the last vestige of that single command of the armies led by him to the common triumph, the triumph which was the outcome of that “‘ will ” always regarded by him as the great and essential mainspring of victory. bibliography.— marshal foch’s own works are des principes de la guerre (1903), with english translation by hilaire belloc (1918); de ia conduite de la guerre, 3rd ed. (1915); preceptes et jugements du marechal foch extraits de ses oeuvres, precedes d'une etude sur la vie militaire du marechal par a. casset (nancy, 1919); with english translation by hilaire belloc (1919). see also a. h. atteridge, marshal ferdinand foch (1919); a. l. grasset, le marechal foch (1919); h. de lacroix, le marechal foch (1921); p. painleve, com- ment j’at nomme foch (1923). see also the marshal's article on morale in this encyclopaedia. (live foerster, josef bohuslav (1859- ), czech com- poser, was born dec. 30 1859 in prague, and studied under fibich. he became an organist and a writer on musical subjects; later he was appointed professor at the conservatoire in ham- burg and eventually, in 1918, professor at the conservatoire in prague. as a composer he developed from symphonic and chamber music to opera, which formed the most important part of his work. foerster was a type of cultured musician, deeply emotional in his resources, who replaced the vagueness of ex- pression which marked his carly period by purity and technical perfection. his operas deborah (1891), eve (1807), jessica (1904), the unconquered (1906), the heart (1922) are dis- tinguished by psychological depth and by the subjectivity of their artistic understanding. of his other compositions, the most important are a symphony entitled from my youth and a number of suites. fogazzaro, antonio (1842-1911), italian novelist and poet (see 10.590), died at vicenza march 7 1911. see eugenio donadoni, antonio fogazzara (1913); l. gennari, fogazzare (1918); and f. crispolti, antonio fogazzaro; discorso commemorativo (1911). fokker, anthony herman gerard (1890- ), dutch aeronaut and aeroplane constructor, was born april 6 1890 at kediri, java. he obtained his international pilot certificate in 1911 and in the following year he established an aeroplane factory at johannesthal, near berlin. in 1913 he founded another factory at schwerin in mecklenburg and during the world war supplied the german army with flying material, notably the fokker bi- plane. after the war he returned to holland and established the fokker aircraft works in that country. in 1924 the atlantic aircraft corporation was founded in the united states, mr. fokker being a director; and a factory was started at hasbrouck heights, new jersey. meanwhile he had set up a plant in mad- rid, which was already producing machines for the spanish government. he devoted much of his time to researches in the field of commercial aircraft development, one of his latest designs being the fokker triplane. his early experiments with regard to gliding with motorless machines, of which he gave a demonstra- tion in england 1n 1922, did not meet with very much success. folkestone, england (see 10.600b), with a population of 37,511, has been improved as a seaport. before the world war the harbour pier was lengthened to 1,480 ft., so that it now has berths for eight steamers, a railway platform and raised prom- enade along the whole length, and a lighthouse at the end. the o3 area of the inner and outer harbours is a little over 12 acres. in 1915 there was a large landslip in the warren; the railway line between folkestone and dover, which was buried or damaged for a distance of nearly two miles, was closed and was not re- opened until aug. 1919. in 1920 the earl of radnor presented the warren and east cliff to the town. a zigzag path has been built between the undercliff and the leas. in 1921 the founda- tion stone of an addition to the royal victoria hospital was laid. in 1924 remains of a large roman villa were excavated near the east cliff, and the corporation undertook the roofing of a portion of the site, which contains a mosaic pavement. folkestone was an important embarkation point dunng the world war and one of the ports permitted to civilians. many belgian refugees passed through in the early days; it was esti- mated that 64,500 destitute belgians arrived between sept. 1914 and march 1915, besides about 44,600 who had sufficient money to pay railway fares for themselves. there were later large numbers of canadian troops at shorncliffe camp near the town and also camps for american troops and for chinese and zulu labourers. on may 25 1917, during an air raid, a bomb fell in a crowded street, killing 33 people.",
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