gue, but automobiles became fashionable,
partly for rapid transit, partly for work formerly consigned to heavy
teams. Auto-carriages capable of railway speed, varying indefinitely in
style and in cost, might be seen upon the smoother roads about cities
all the way from Maine to California. They exerted great influence in
inducing communities to macadamize roads, for which the passing of the
stage-coach and the spread of railroads had diminished the demand.

[Illustration: Man standing on a metal frame beneath a balloon about
fifty feet long and fifteen feet in diameter.]
Courtesy of Scientific American.
The "Arrow" getting under way.

Effort with flying machines was incessant but only partially successful.
No air-ship had thus far been devised which could undertake a definite
voyage of length with any certainty of reaching its destination. The
best feat yet was that of the air-ship Arrow, which, October 25, 1904,
at St. Louis, made a ten-mile trip. On the other hand, the development
of boats able to carry life for hours beneath the surface of the sea
added a new form of attack and defence against the well-nigh
impenetrable sides and enormously powerful guns of modern naval ships.

About 1890 the use of the Australian ballot system became general, and
thus the purchase of votes became more difficult. But this reform did
not eliminate the evils of machine politics. State laws were extended to
the control of party affairs, with severer punishments for corrupt
practices, the control of lobbying, and the requirement of publicity for
campaign expenses. In a few States the primary election system was put
into operation. Public officers won popular approval in numerous States
and cities by their activity in revealing "graft" and by their fearless
enforcement of the law.

These reforms were made possible by the increase of independent voting
in State and city politics. Politicians must reckon, as never before,
with the demand of the average citizen for honesty in public service.
The influence of corporations in governmental affairs received a check,
and there came to be a growing demand for the more complete control of
public utilities, and for the public ownership of them in cities.

[Illustration]
Courtesy of Scientific American
Baldwin's airship "Arrow" at a height of 600 feet over
the Exposition Palaces, St. Louis, October 25, 1904.

The prominence of the moral element in the business and political
reforms me