r, or a motor-cab, quite as a matter of
course and without a thought of risk.

When one discusses flying and its dangers, it is essential to maintain
an accurate sense of proportion. In the very earliest days, for
instance, it must be realised that the few men who then flew--they
could be numbered on the fingers of one hand--exercised the greatest
caution. They did not fly in high winds; they treated the air,
realising its unknown perils, with a very great and a very commendable
respect. Thus it was that thousands of miles were flown, even with the
crudest of these early machines, and with motors that were constantly
giving trouble, without serious accident. But after this, and very
quickly, the number of airmen grew. New aviators appeared every day;
contests were organised extensively; there were large sums of money to
be won, provided that one pilot could excel another. And the spirit of
caution was abandoned. Even while they were still using purely
experimental machines--craft of which neither the stability nor the
structural strength had been tested adequately--there grew a tendency
among airmen to fly in higher winds, to subject their machines to
greater strains, and to attempt dangerous manoeuvres so as to please
the crowds who paid to see them fly.

It was not surprising, therefore, that flying entered upon an era of
accidents. Such disasters were inevitable--inevitable, that is to say,
in view of the tendencies that then prevailed; though it is a
melancholy reflection that, had men been content to go ahead with the
same slow sureness of the pioneers, many of those lives which were
lost could have been saved.

To the public, not aware exactly of all that was going on, it appeared
as though the navigation of the air, instead of growing safer, was
becoming more dangerous. There were suggestions, indeed, made quite
seriously and in good faith, that these endeavours to fly should cease;
that the law should step in, and prevent any more men from risking
their lives. What people failed to realise, when they adopted this
view, was that instead of one or two men flying there were now
hundreds who navigated the air; that flights in large numbers were
being made daily; that thousands of miles instead of hundreds were
being traversed by air--and often under conditions the pioneers would
have considered far too dangerous. These facts, had they been realised,
would have shown people what was actually the true state of affa