[A] According to press reports, temporary water ballast will
be taken on during the daytime, to offset the ascensional effect of the
hot sun on the envelope.
[B] The contestants for the Ryan prize of $10,000 were
Moisant, Count de Lesseps, and Grahame-White. Owing to bad weather,
there was no general participation in the preliminary qualifying
events, and some question exists as to whether such qualification was
not tacitly waived; particularly in view of the fact that the prize was
awarded to the technically unqualified competitor, Mr. Moisant, who
made the fastest time. This award was challenged by Mr. Grahame-White,
and upon review by the International Aeronautic Federation the prize
was given to de Lesseps, the slowest of the contestants, Grahame-White
being disqualified for having fouled a pylon at the start. This
gentleman has again appealed the case, and a final decision cannot be
expected before the meeting of the Federation in October, 1911.
[C] The high wind velocities of the southern circumpolar
regions may be an insurmountable obstacle in the Antarctic. Yet Mawson
expects to take with him a 2-passenger monoplane having a 180-mile
radius of action on the expedition proposed for this year.
[D] It seems that tomorrow has come; for an aeroplane is being
regularly used (according to a reported interview with Dr. Alexander
Graham Bell) for carrying mails in India.