Fryeburg Academy - Academy Bell Yearbook (Fryeburg, ME)

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The Academy Bell 13 digiously. He then ate his lunch of bread and cheese, after which he promptly lay down as before and slowly sank back into the arms of Morpheus. In the afternoon a few travellers wandered about the ruins examining the stones curiously and then dis- appeared whence they came. At sunset the goat herd awoke with a start, called his goats together, and drove them in a straggling line down a narrow street towards the newer part of the city, and the ruins were again deserted. The su nsank out of sight behind a bank of orange and purple clouds, and darkness fell over the city of Aquania. Ghosts of times long gone and al- most entirely forgotten, ghosts of the time when the ruinous temples and buildings were things of beauty and elegance, ghosts of times when people thronged the forum and the various viae, all these and many others now came to haunt the ancient ruins. AVERIL HARNDEN. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AIRPLANE One of the world's greatest men has compared this modern age of in- vention with that of life and death. There is no part of it which can be predetermined or foreseen in any way. There are new developments, new experiments, and new ideas be- ing brought forward day by day. In the history of every invention there is a time when the energies of science are not extended in an effort to improve the new fundamental. The history of the airplane has followed this time worn path. Man's first desire to ily verges back into that grand old age when aeronautical science merges into and blends with mythology which has no written record. There are two men mentioned by the immortal Ovid as making an attempt to conquer the force of gravity. They fitted them- selves with patterns of eagle's Wings made of wax and papyrus and with more boldness than discretion they sought to sail the air. There was not, even in the minds of the most learned, any thought that the air would be conquered by the forces of mankind and certainly not that it would be conquered by a machine heavier than air itself. Orville Wright on December 17, 1903, startled the world by announc- ing that he had accomplished the im- possible. Wilbur, his brother, fiew in 1908, flew two hours continuous- ly. People declared airship building had reached its highest point and would gradually die out. But contrary to general opinion the industry flourished and the Am- erican Continent was circled by air- planes in 1911. When the nations were in 1914 plunged into interworld strife and discord, airplanes became one of the most deadly weapons known to the civilized world. Possessed of great speed,vastly mobile and impregnable to attack, they presented a wonder- ful opportunity for development and

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12 The Academy Bell If a foul murder has been com- mitted, he mused, the assassin has already made good his escape. This thought gave him courage and he forced an entrance. In the entry he collided with a hat rack, which he mistook for the outlaw, and al- most demolished it with severe whacks of his club. Then he made a careful reconnoissance, and dis-l lodged one of the burglar alarms. Spare my life, he yelled to the imaginary assailant, I'1l let you es- cape! He thought he had been stabbed with the frying pan. He rushed out of the house and secured the assist- ance of four of his fellow oflicers and the search of the building was re- sumed. Mrs. Banford was found in bed unconscious. Her husband was down in the yard in nearly a simi- lar condition, and the burglar was found under the sofa shivering with fear, and with his tail down between his legs. The cause of the panic was soon explained. Mrs, Banford had over- looked the presence of her pet dog in the house, and this innocent ani- mal, in running from one room to another, had dislodged the cheap and effective burglar alarms. PHYLIS MARs'roN, '28. AQUANIA The hot summer sun rose. over the still-sleeping city of Aquania, gild- ing the steeples and towers of the ancient city with the Midas-like touch of its slanting rays. The ruins over the old Roman baths were still in the shadow, but the sun, rising higher, touched their crumbling sides with a trace of former glory. In the newer part of the city, the bustle and hurry of the day was just beginning, but among these majestic ruins there were no signs of life ex- cept for the birds and insects, which held full sway. The birds filled the morning air with their joyful songs, welcoming the return of light and warmth. Two turtle-doves circled around the ruins of the Temple of Venus and came to rest on one of the few upstanding pillars as if they rec- ognized this to be a fit place for their lovemaking. Hither a goat herd drove his flock of goats to graze among the fallen stones and pillars, while he lay stretched in the sun dreaming away until it should be time to go home again. Hither, also, a pretty maiden hastened to fill her large pottery jar at a fountain which still existed among all these ruins. As she hur- ried back with the full jar balanced on her head, she nearly stumbled over the goat boy who was lying prone on the grass 3 she scolded him sharply for being so indolent but he only laughed and settled himself for an- other nap, and the pretty girl has- tened on home. All the long lazy forenoon the place remained deserted except for the sleeping goat boy and his flock. At noon the boy slowly arose from his couch and standing on two stones like a miniature Colossus of Rhodes, he stretched himself and yawned pro-

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l4 The Academy Bell service. As a war record we have the immortal heroes, Colonel Roy Guynemer, Captain Herbert Ball, Lieutenant Frank Luke and, last but not least, our own American Ace, Teddy Roosevelt's son. V During the war period there was no time to study, construct models, and publish statistics in regard to the airplane, but after peace was de- clared the thoughts of men turned to airships as a commercial asset rath- er than a liability of war. Records began to be issued, flyers were seen around small cities doing passenger work as a means of living. Let us look over some of the old documents published by the govern- ment. The 1908 planes were cap- able of traveling at the immense speed of 40 miles per hour. Two years later it was 60 miles, and in 1914 the English held a speed test of 120 miles an hour which was the world's fastest. During the sum- mer of 1921 a speed of three miles per minute or 180 miles per hour was reached and experts all agreed that the limit had been reached. Not daunted by this information the man- ufacturers kept on improving the machines, adding larger engines un- til in November, 1924, a Yankee avi- ator won the Dayton meet at 4.5 miles a minute or 243 miles per hour. As to altitude records there need not be much mentioned of the fact. From 508 feet in 1909 the height has grown to 37,500, a mile and a half, above Mount Everest. At this height the aviators carry compressed oxy- gen both for themselves and for their motors. At a height of 30,000 feet a 400 horsepower Liberty motor will develop only 170 horsepower due to lack of oxygen and a human being would die almost instantly. Some of the noted flights made re- cently are that of the N C 4 across the Atlantic by way of Azores, that of Sir John Alcok from St. Johns, Newfoundland to County Galmay, that of Sir Ross Smith, London to Sydney, Australia, and last the Round World Flight of 1924. The airplane engine has undergone a wonderful change as well as the rest of the machine and no doubt has had great influence on its his- tory. A fifty horsepower engine was unknown in 1910 and those they did have weighed from ten to fifteen pounds per horsepower. In 1918 machines using 300 horsepower were not uncommon and today monstrous engines of 700 to 1,000 horsepower and weighing only one and one- quarter pounds per unit is not at all uncommon. Again the engines will last over seven times as long as before and are not so susceptible to stalling or fail- ing in mid-air. ' One of the most interesting and useful branches of the Government Service is that of the Air Mail from New York to San Francisco. Each plane can carry nearly 20,000 aver- age letters at a cost of less than one dollar a mile figuring all operating and overhead expenses that can be charged to the service. The airplane presents 'a great problem of today and tomorrow and