contrast with every other man's failure. To waken the nation
to its real state, and chain it to the consideration of this
one duty, is half the work. So much have we done. Slavery has
been made the question of this generation. To startle the
South to madness, so that every step she takes, in her
blindness, is one step more toward ruin, is much. This we
have done. Witness Texas and the Fugitive Slave Law.

WENDELL PHILLIPS: _The Abolition Movement_, 1853

4. Until just a few years ago flying was popularly regarded as a
dangerous hobby and comparatively few had faith in its
practical purposes. But the phenomenal evolutions of the
aircraft industry during the war brought progress which would
otherwise have required a span of years. With the cessation
of hostilities considerable attention has been diverted to
the commercial uses of aircraft, which may conveniently be
classified as mail-and passenger-service.

Men who first ventured the prediction that postal and express
matter would one day be carried through the air were branded
as dreamers. Parts of that dream became a reality during
1918, and a more extensive aerial-mail program will be
adopted this year. The dispatch with which important
communications and parcels are delivered between large cities
has firmly established its need.

Large passenger-carrying aircraft are now receiving
pronounced attention. Lately developed by the Navy is a
flying-boat having a wing area of 2,400 square feet, equipped
with three Liberty motors and weighing 22,000 pounds with a
full load. It is the largest seaplane in the world, and on a
recent test-trip from Virginia to New York carried fifty-one
passengers. At the present moment the public is awaiting the
thrilling details of the first flight between Europe and
America, which has just occurred as a result of the keen
international rivalry involved between the various entrants.

The British are now constructing a super-triplane fitted with
six 500 horse-power engines. Originally intended to carry
10,000 pounds of bombs and a crew of eight over a distance of
1,200 miles, the converted machine is claimed to be able to
carry approximately one hundred passengers. It has a wing
span of 141 feet and a fuselage length of 85 feet.

What about the power plants of the future aircraft? Will