anything goes wrong, sail gently downward like a parachute, particularly
if the operator is cool-headed and nervy enough to so manipulate the
apparatus as to preserve its equilibrium and keep the machine on an even
keel.

Two Fields of Safety.

At least one prominent aviator has declared that there are two fields
of safety--one close to the ground, and the other well up in the air. In
the first-named the fall will be a slight one with little chance of the
operator being seriously hurt. From the field of high altitude the the
descent will be gradual, as a rule, the planes of the machine serving to
break the force of the fall. With a cool-headed operator in control the
aeroplane may be even guided at an angle (about 1 to 8) in its descent
so as to touch the ground with a gliding motion and with a minimum of
impact.

Such an experience, of course, is far from pleasant, but it is by no
means so dangerous as might appear. There is more real danger in falling
from an elevation of 75 or 100 feet than there is from 1,000 feet, as
in the former case there is no chance for the machine to serve as a
parachute--its contact with the ground comes too quickly.

Lesson in Recent Accidents.

Among the more recent fatalities in aviation are the deaths of Antonio
Fernandez and Leon Delagrange. The former was thrown to the ground by a
sudden stoppage of his motor, the entire machine seeming to collapse. It
is evident there were radical defects, not only in the motor, but in the
aeroplane framework as well. At the time of the stoppage it is
estimated that Fernandez was up about 1,500 feet, but the machine got
no opportunity to exert a parachute effect, as it broke up immediately.
This would indicate a fatal weakness in the structure which, under
proper testing, could probably have been detected before it was used in
flight.

It is hard to say it, but Delagrange appears to have been culpable to
great degree in overloading his machine with a motor equipment much
heavier than it was designed to sustain. He was 65 feet up in the air
when the collapse occurred, resulting in his death. As in the case of
Fernandez common-sense precaution would doubtless have prevented the
fatality.

Aviation Not Extra Hazardous.

All told there have been, up to the time of this writing (April, 1910),
just five fatalities in the history of power-driven aviation. This is
surprisingly low when the nature of the experiments, and the fact that
most of the