Underwood & Underwood

ly at the mercy of the weather; but recently, when there was such a gale in the Channel that sea communications were interrupted temporarily, two high-powered air expresses duly fought their way through between Paris and London. So long as it is wind only a pilot has to contend with, and his vision is not obscured, he is already the equal of, and in some instances even superior to, transport by land and sea.

British air development in the East has been more marked and noticed than at home. The Royal Air Force has maintained its wartime aërodromes and has added new fuelingdepots, so that it is now possible to fly between Cairo and Bagdad in twelve hoursa journey that once required a month! A successful flight has been made between Cairo and Capetown (with aërodromes prepared in advance at great cost), and of course the performance of Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith in flying from London to Australia in a twin-engined plane is well known.

way.

All passengers have been carried in safety and comfort, though the thin man has the advantage, for the total weight of passenger and baggage must not exceed two hundred pounds. Many American travelers to the Continent have availed themselves of this service, both for its speed and its novelty.

British firms are also operating hundredmile-an-hour air expresses to the Continent. The London planes make connections at Amsterdam with machines which fly to Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Warsaw, and many points in central Europe and the Scandinavian countries. The flying-time between London and Berlin is less than twelve hours. From August, 1919, when the first international air express was undertaken between London and Paris, to the same month, in 1921, a million miles have been flown by British aircraft on this route. Mr. G. Holt Thomas, who started this service, says:

The airplane is sometimes regarded as particular

England has been also the scene of the most tragic air disaster of the year-the collapse and destruction of the giant dirigible. the ZR-2, which had been built for the United States Government. The great regret, naturally, is for the loss of the brave men who manned her on the last and fatal trial trip, but there is no reason to believe that this accident, terrible as it was, will entirely halt experimentation with, and the development of, the dirigible type. These great airships, with a cruising radius of six thousand miles, are considered by many experts the best type of aircraft for air communications between the British dominions, and also for cross-continent service in the United States. Plans are under way, we are told, for the formation of a fifty million dollar company in this country to develop and operate, by 1923, dirigibles between New York and San Francisco, covering the distance in thirtysix hours.

The premiers from the British overseas dominions in session in London this last summer gave much thought to the subject of air transport, and it was their plea that deterred the British air ministry from scrap

Germany, creator of the Zeppelin, and the pioneer twenty years ago in the construction of rigid airships, is, by the Treaty of Versailles restricted in building airships and airplanes until she has complied with that section of the peace pact which provides for handing over to the allies all air material of war type.

There is nothing in the treaty, however, which prohibits the Germans from thinking of the future. They seem to be active in making plans, and within a year from the time the allied restrictions are removed, Germany will doubtless be in the air as a commercial carrier between nations. There is a report, current abroad, that she will try for South American air traffic, flying from Berlin by way of Spain. For this service, an airship larger than the ill-fated ZR-2 is planned.

This brief summary of aërial activity at home and abroad points out that this country is not approaching the zenith in its development of air transportation (we may expect too much of an industry which will not become of age for three years), even though it was an American who set the world's altitude record at 40,800 feet in September. Per

haps Lieutenant MacReady tied our aërial hopes to a star when he made that memorable climb to seven and three quarter miles, and the present readers of ST. NICHOLAS may be the generation which will develop the airways of our country. At any rate, they will be the future air-passengers, the coming pilots, and the owners, as well. The author, at ST. NICHOLAS' age, flew kites. A few years later he was firing a machine-gun, at the rate of a

Photograph by "Salt Lake Tribune"

AIR-MAIL PLANE LEAVING SALT LAKE CITY

thousand shots a minute, through a propeller revolving eighteen hundred times every sixty seconds, and was traveling through the air at one hundred and thirty-five miles an hour. Had he ever dreamed of such a thing when he was a boy? Hardly. There were n't even Boy Scouts then, and he thought all wars had been fought and done for when Russia and Japan signed the peace at Portsmouth, at the invitation of President Roosevelt. Yes, in those days only time flew. Soon we all shall fly!

ONCE upon a time, many long years ago, there lived in a little hut on the edge of a wood a poor widow and her only son. They were very, very poor, and the house in which they lived had only two rooms. But although they were poor, their clothes were always clean and mended, and the house neat and tidy. They both worked hard in order to get enough to eat, and, indeed, sometimes even then they were hungry. They were very generous, and it may have been on this account that at times there was not enough left for themselves. If a traveler asked for food, he was never refused.

One day, Mrs. Brown packed a nice little lunch and, giving it to her son, said, “Jack, I want you to take the two largest baskets and go to the woods and pick some berries." "All right, Mother," he answered, "I know where there are lots of berries."

So taking his lunch and the two big baskets, he kissed his mother good-by and started for the woods. He walked and walked, but found only a few berries. Some one must have picked them at the place where he thought there were so many, for they were all gone. He kept going farther and farther into the woods, but had only about a pint of berries when it was time for him to eat his lunch.

He saw a nice little stream and washed his hands in it. Then he sat on a big flat stone by the edge of the stream and opened his lunch-box. Just as he had taken the first bite out of his sandwich, a tiny little man stepped up to him and, taking off his hat, with a polite bow, said: "I wonder if you'd have enough for me to eat. I'm very hungry."

Now it happened that Jack had only a little lunch, scarcely enough for himself,and he was very hungry too; but he answered with a smile on his face, "Yes, indeed; I'd be glad to share what I have with you."

Moving the lunch-box over, the little man sat down on the stone beside him. Then the two ate the lunch and, strange to say, they both had all they could possibly eat. Jack thought it tasted better than any lunch he had ever eaten.

After they had finished, the wee little

man said to him, "Since you have been so kind as to give me my dinner, I 'll help you pick your berries."

So, taking the empty basket, he started running on ahead, and Jack followed him. They walked beside the stream for a short distance, then turned, following a little path that led around the edge of a big rock. Just beyond it, they came to the finest patch of the biggest berries Jack had ever seen. In a few minutes, both baskets were brimming full.

"Well," Jack exclaimed, "you certainly have helped me!"

But the little man shook his head, and, putting his hand into his pocket, took out a tiny brown box and said to Jack: "No, I have n't done enough yet to repay you for your kindness to me. Here is a gift for you."

Jack took the tiny brown box which he handed him, and thanked him for it. Then he turned it over and over in his hand and looked at it curiously, wondering what it could be.

"Perhaps you think it is not worth very much," the little man said, "but I will show you what it is. Just put it on the ground at your feet."

Jack did as he was told. Then the little man clapped his hands three times. Jack's eyes grew big as he saw what was happening, for the little box was getting larger and larger until it was as big as his mother's kitchen table. Then he saw it rising from the ground, and four legs came out from it, while two chairs appeared at the sides.

The little man clapped his hands three times again. Now Jack's eyes got bigger than ever, for he saw the table set with everything good to eat that he could think of-turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, ice-cream and cake, and lots of other things -a regular Christmas dinner. Suddenly Jack felt hungry.

"I'll give you something to eat this time," the little man said. "Let's sit down."

So they both sat down at the table and began to eat. And they ate and ate and ate, until Jack began to wonder how he was going to walk home with those two heavy baskets of berries to carry. After they had