plane. Ordinarily an airship need not fly at much more
than a thousand feet, which not only makes far less cold traveling
than at higher altitudes, but also allows the passengers to enjoy the
view far better than from an airplane, whence the world below looks
like a dull contour map. An airship also flies on an even keel; it
does not bank as an airplane does nor does it climb or descend so
quickly.

At present airship travel gives a greater feeling of comfort and
security. Sleeping is a calm experience; moving about comparatively
simple. Also there is less noise than in an airplane where the engines
beat incessantly and the wind rushes through the wires and struts. An
airship has no wires and can at the same time slow down and even shut
off its engine, so that it need be no more noisy than a motor-car.
Engine failure also is not so serious as in an airplane, for the
gas-bag will always keep the ship up until there has been a chance for
repairs.

Up to the present, too, the airship is less of a fair-weather flier
than the airplane. A surprising record has been attained in the war by
British airships, as is shown by the fact that in 1918, a year of
execrable weather, there where only nine days during which their
vessels were not up. This is, of course, in considerable contrast to
airplanes as at present developed, but it may reasonably be expected
that the latter will very soon develop to the same point of
independence of the weather.

Of course, the great difficulty of airships has been their ungainly
size and the difficulty of housing them. The sheds, particularly those
for the Zeppelins, have been most costly, but the British have
recently developed a system of mooring masts which make much of this
expense unnecessary. If such a device can be successfully put into
every-day use it will enormously increase the ease of loading and
unloading passengers, which now makes for considerable discomfort and
loss of time.

Some of the plans for future airships are unbelievable to one who has
not followed their development carefully. Already there is planned in
England a monster ship known as the "ten million," for the reason that
it will have a gas capacity of ten million cubic feet, over four times
that of the largest Zeppelin. The length is placed at 1,100 feet, the
speed at 95 miles an hour, the cruising range 20,000 miles, and the
cost at about $1,000,000. As a matter of actual practice, however,
the best division of th