oose from high elevations tiny paper aeroplanes.
With a little practice he found he could start the slow match with
such precision as to cause the aeroplanes to burst out into flight at
any desired altitude. This interesting and beautiful experiment was
performed for the first time by Mr. Eddy on February 22, 1893, when
he sent off from a height of one thousand feet forty aeroplanes, their
forward edges weighted with pins for greater stability.

Assuming such an arrangement made for discharging a load of dynamite,
Mr. Eddy calculates that, with a twenty-mile breeze, six eighteen-foot
kites would lift fifty pounds of the explosive a quarter of a mile
in the air and suspend it over a fort or beleaguered city half a mile
distant. It would thus be perfectly possible, supposing the wind to be
in the right direction, to bombard Staten Island with dynamite dropped
from kites sent up from the Jersey shore. It is evident that,
for purposes of bombardment, a tandem of kites possesses several
advantages over the war balloon. Kites are much cheaper. Then it would
be far more difficult to disable them than to disable a balloon, since
they offer a smaller mark to the enemy's guns; and even if one or two
were destroyed, the others would still suffice to carry the dynamite.
Finally, the kites may be sent up without risk to the lives of those
who directed them, which is not the case with the balloons.

Another interesting and important application of the modern kite has
been conceived by Professor J. Woodbridge Davis, principal of the
Woodbridge Boys' School, in New York, who is one of the most famous
kite-flyers in the world, in addition to being a distinguished
scientist and mathematician. It was Professor Davis who invented the
dirigible kite several years ago, three strings allowing the operator
to steer the kite from right to left at will or to make it sink to
earth. Having perfected this curious kite, which is of hexagon shape,
is covered with oiled silk, is foldable, portable, and has a tail,
Professor Davis turned his attention to his more recent and important
discovery of the dirigible buoy, which bids fair to do much to lessen
the dangers of shipwreck. For months past Professor Davis, assisted by
Mr. Eddy, has been experimenting on the Kill von Kull with this buoy,
and has obtained most encouraging results. There are two kinds, both
being designed to be attached to kite lines and drawn over the water
by the power of the kite.