wide stretches of desert country as in Arabia and the
Soudan. The merits of all of these will doubtless be considered in due
course and there for the present we must leave them.

Finally, a few words must be written regarding the means to be adopted
in introducing the airship into the realms of commerce. As we said at
the beginning of the chapter it is not likely that the formation of a
company to exploit airships only will at the present moment appeal to
business men. Airships are very costly and are still in their infancy,
which means that the premiums demanded for their insurance must of
necessity be enormous. One suggestion is to place a reasonable scheme
before the great shipping companies in case they will care to find the
necessary capital and form subsidiary companies.

Another suggestion is that the Government should make arrangements to
subsidize commercial airships. The subsidy might take the form of
insuring them. If the burden of insurance is taken off their
shoulders, it is considered feasible to promote companies which will
give an adequate return for capital invested. The Government could
also give a financial guarantee if mails are carried, in the same
manner as is done by shipping companies.

In return for this the Government could at the outbreak of hostilities
commandeer all or any of the airships for war purposes and so save the
number to be kept in commission.

By this means the Government will have a large number of highly-trained
and efficient personnel to call upon when the emergency arises, in the
same way as the fleet can call upon the R.N.R. This system appears to
be the best in every respect, and it cannot be denied that in the long
run it would be the most economical for the country.

The airship has now arrived at the parting of the ways, and at this
point we must leave it. The flying in war has been concluded, the
flying in peace has not yet commenced. It seems a far cry to the dark
days of 1914, when we only possessed two airships of utility, the one
manufactured in France, the other in Germany, while to-day we have
built the mighty airship which can fly to America and back. We are now
at the dawn of a new period of reconstruction and progress, and during
this period many wonderful things will happen. Not the least of these
will be the development of the airship.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of British Airships, Past, Present, and
Future, by George