the
ship will not be rigidly secured. This, however, can probably be
managed when experiments have reached a further stage, and at present
the system may be said to present distinct possibilities.

The third system, that of mooring to a mast, possesses several features
peculiar to itself, and not embraced by the other two, which should
secure it prolonged investigations. The system is by no means new and
has been tried from time to time for several years, but since the
question of mooring in the open has been so ventilated and is now
considered of such vital importance, these experiments have been
continued, and in less spasmodic fashion than in the past. In a trial
with a small non-rigid airship some months ago a signal success was
achieved. The ship remained attached to a mast in open country with no
protection whatsoever for six weeks in two of the worst months of the
year. During this period two men only were required to look after the
ship, which experienced gales in which the force of the wind rose to 52
miles per hour, and not the slightest damage was sustained.

Two or three methods of attaching the airship to the mast have been
proposed, but the one which appears to be most practical is to attach
the extreme bow point of the ship to some form of cap, in which the
nose of the ship will fit, and will revolve round the top of the mast
in accordance with the direction of the wind.

For large airships, employed as passenger and commerce carriers, we can
imagine the mast advanced a stage further, and transformed into a tower
with a revolving head. Incorporated in this tower will be a lift for
passengers and luggage, pipes also will be led to the summit through
which both gas and water can be pumped into the ship. With the airship
rigidly held at the head of such a structure all the difficulties of
changing crews, embarking and disembarking passengers, shipping and
discharging cargo and also refuelling, vanish at once. Assuming the
mooring problem solved with success, and we feel correct in this
assumption, the first two of our difficulties automatically disappear.
Sheds will only be necessary as repair depots and will not be
extensively required, all intermediate stopping places being provided
with masts and necessary arrangements for taking in gas, etc. At these
intermediate stations the number of men employed will be comparatively
speaking few. At the depots or repair stations the number must, of
cour