The British team of Alcock and Brown, both Royal Flying Corps men, took the air at St. John's, Newfoundland, ina Vickers-Vimy, Diplane on June 14, 1919, Sixteen hours and twelve' minutes. later, having traversed 1923 miles of sleet and fog, they plunged with their aircraft' into a bog near Clifden, Ireland. But hardly had nations ceased to gasp over this British audacity, than a British Girigible, the R-34, rose from Earl Fortune, Scotland, one day in July. She turned her nose towards America, and with her went 30 men, one of them a stowaway. After 108 hours the R-34 reached Mineola, Long Island, and afew 8 afterwards returned folly to Bogland, tempts to equal the RB's cui in tragedy. The R-86 which was sold by Great, Britain to the United States was consumed by flame and explosion. It will be recalled that a like fate attended the maiden flight of the Roma, acquired by "this country. from Italy, set up in the United, States and turned loose upon th air at Aberdeen, Md. Explosion destroyed her, and a heavy loss of, ife marked the second attempt of United, States to break into In the third major divigible disaster since the R-34's brilliant flight, France and Frenchmen were the victims. Their proud Dixmude set out one day last year to penetrate into Africa and perished at sea, through, it is believed, Hightning igniting her hydrogen.
It may be remarked that the use of non-explosive helium as a substitute for the treacherous hydrogen promises to make dirigible transit of the future safer than andah perform at Lakehurst, New Jersey, under helium of course, witnessed her survival of terrific storm, and declare that all the terror has been removed from Yighter-than-air aeronautics. This, is the day of what the Yankee calls the "blimp." How the word came into existence T do not know, but. Americans talk of this class of; aircraft as this or that "blimy great thing. for the Germans to have sailed throug the air for 5,000 miles from Germa to America, but to the British be-Jongs the honour of having been, the first to out the great trans-SANAnte alt cana this. great lumber. territory there would be to-day a very remunera business in their hands. For many of your readers may not know that the original Oregon Country was bounded on the west by the Pa Ocean, on the north by the poral 54" 40, on the east by the Rockies, the south by the 42nd parallel, In the. treaty of 1846, concluded with Great. Britain, the 49th parallel was made its northern boundary, and thus delimited, it became, in 1848, Oregon Territory. At. this time "Oregon Territory embraced, besides the present state of Oregon, all of Washington Tdaho, and parte of Bfontana and 1853. Washington was created, the boundaries: between the two territories becoming the Columbia river to its intersection with the 46th parallel, fand that parallel to the Rockies, Tu *859, when Oregon became a state with its present boundaries, Washington Teritoy received tha tot Oregon Territory thus oft. In 1865, Téaho tory, and. Washingto present boundaries. Washington became a state as recently as 1889, This little geography lesson may seem out of place: but it is not so, For China, and the whole of A: will have increasing communication and commerce vith this. part. of the world. Great Britain certainly could not see that thi not so readily have given up her title. In the great lumber region of the Pacific North-west one of the striking char newness of its of About as Old as Shanghai When the British were busy trying to get a foothold in Shanghai this part of the world, which as I say is destined to have a growing connexion with China, was unheard of as a commercial field. The port of Seattle was only founded in 1851, and Tacoma, where several old Shanghailanders are "retired," as late as 1868. There are persons yet alive, it will be seen, who have witnessed the entire course of progress. Drake was out here in 1579. From that time onward the British had a good deal to do with life and business in the whole region. In 1778, Captain Cook—that great English navigator—gave an impetus to the fur trade, which een important ever since. One has no space for history here, but British pioneering. was in no small measure responsible for the early development of the grest lumber lands of the Pacific Coast—for was ¥|not Capt.
Dolls a Scotsman?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.