ing peoples of all nations; expedites commerce, with resulting prosperity; provides more effective means for exterminating crop- and life-destroying insects, and assists beyond measure man's battle against the destructive forces of fire and flood. "There is not a man, woman, or child in this Nation to-day who is not more secure in, and better able to enjoy, all that life holds dear by reason of the pioneering that has been done in civil aëronautics. Comparatively few in number are they that realize this, and still fewer fully comprehend its future possibilities. Truth is not always obvious, but faith sustains when vision fails. "May I recount briefly something of what our Nation has contributed to the development of aviation. It includes the invention and first flight in an airplane, the first transatlantic flight, the only flight around the world, and the first flight to the North Pole. "During this year alone American pilots, using aircraft and engines designed and built in the United States, completed a series of world-renowned transoceanic flights, spanning time and again the Atlantic, and the Pacific from the mainland to the Hawaiian Islands. These expeditions are frequently referred to as 'American stunt aviators,' but their real significance is far greater than that designation implies. They have done much to promote international good will, as well as to stimulate interest in aviation. All the participants in these great undertakings are worthy of our unstinted praise. NIGHT FLYING PROVED PRACTICABLE BY POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT "Our Post Office Department first demonstrated to the world the practicability of night operations of aircraft for commercial purposes when it established regular night service between Chicago, Illinois, and Cheyenne, Wyoming-a distance of about 900 miles. This original service, which has not as yet been equaled elsewhere in the world, in a little over three years' time has increased nearly fivefold. The operation, wholly in the hands of private enterprise, is now self-supporting, while every European air line is heavily subsidized. "Our supremacy in air-mail volume, mileage, and profitable enterprise is generally conceded. While our passenger and express traffic on scheduled lines is not comparable to our air-mail record, it is greatly underestimated. Air-mail contractors are now directing their attention to this branch of service, with every indication of equal success. an aviation in the United States exceed "Activities in all other branches of civil the combined similar activities of the en tire world. This includes the number of planes produced and in operation, miles flown, goods and passengers carried on other than regular schedules, photographs taken, areas patrolled, acreage dusted, and money earned. With these achievements, no longer should an inferiority complex impede our aëronautical progress. "The Army and Navy have participated in and contributed much to the pioneering success of civilian aviation. It is but logical that there should always be the closest coöperation between civil and military aeronautics, for they are indispensable to each other. We may all take pride in these accomplishments and should render our whole-hearted support individually and collectively toward making and keeping America first in the air. HOW THE PUBLIC CAN AID CIVIL AVIATION "The prosperity and political success of our Nation is in no small measure due to its highly developed systems of transportation and communication. That form of transportation which exceeds all others in speed and flexibility is bound to play an important part in this Nation's future. Whatever else may be said about aircraft. certainly it provides the swiftest and most elastic means of transportation that ever has been or probably ever will be developed. "We are still in the initial stage of its application to the needs of industry and commerce, as well as its service to the general well-being of mankind. Each and all of us may coöperate in one or more capacities, by using the air mail and express, traveling by air, fostering community airport development, keeping informed about aeronautics, and applying our ability toward solving technical and economic problems. "Those who participate in making aërial operations more general, economic, and reliable will find themselves engaged in a task of national importance and absorbing interest. Let it never truthfully be said of any of us that we failed to give our utmost support to civil aeronautics truly a harbinger of geographic knowledge, good will, prosperity, and national security." MILLIONS HEAR CERE- In addition to the International Newsreel PRESIDENT COOLIDGE PRESENTS THE HUBBARD MEDAL TO The presentation of the National Geographic Society's highest award was made in the presence of 6,000 members assembled in the Washington Auditorium. The medal bears the following inscription: "Awarded by the National Geographic Society to Charles A. Lindbergh for his heroic service to the science of aviation by his solitary flight from New York to Paris, May 20-21, 1927." (See "Air Conquest," in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE for August, 1927.) At the conclusion of the addresses, the speakers, flyers, and other participants in the ceremonies left the platform and took seats in the Auditorium, where for an hour they saw, in motion pictures,* a *"Heroes of the Air," a film record especially assembled for the National Geographic Society through the courtesy of Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. historical pageant of the outstanding achievements in aviation since those early days, nearly two decades ago, when the Wright Brothers gave their first demonstration flights for the United States Gov ernment. Motion-picture archives throughout the world were requisitioned in order to show the early flights of Dr. Orville Wright, the first flight made by a woman (Miss Harriet Quimby, of Massachusetts) across the English Channel, Commander Albert C. Read, U. S. N., and his NC-4 upon the completion of the first transatlantic flight in 1919; the reception accorded the intrepid British flyers, Alcock and Brown, upon the completion of the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic; the greeting given the U. S. Army Aroundthe-World Flyers by President Coolidge at Bolling Field; also the President's reception of the Army's Pan American Good Will Flyers;* the reception accorded Commander Richard E. Byrd, conqueror of the North Pole by air, and his associates upon their arrival in France after one of the most dramatic transoceanic flights of history; the take-off of the Detroit-toTokyo flyers; the picturesque floral reception accorded the San Francisco-toHawaii flyers in Honolulu; the milling throngs which in their enthusiasm almost mobbed Miss Ruth Elder and her pilot. Mr. Haldeman, upon their arrival in Paris, and, finally the thrilling story in pictures of Colonel Lindbergh's flight in the Spirit of St. Louis and his reception both abroad and at home. NOTED AUDIENCE AT HISTORIC CEREMONY Among the members of The Society and their invited guests present in the flagdecked Washington Auditorium for the presentation were: The Chief Justice of the United States and Mrs. William Howard Taft, Mr. Justice and Mrs. Edward Terry Sanford, Mr. Justice and Mrs. Harlan F. Stone, Mr. Justice and Mrs. Pierce Butler, and Mr. Justice James Clark McReynolds, of the U. S. Supreme Court. The Secretary of State and Mrs. Kellogg; the Secretary of War and Mrs. Davis; the Attorney General and Mrs. Sargent; the Postmaster General and Mrs. New; the Secretary of the Navy and Mrs. Wilbur; the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Work; the Secretary of Agriculture and Mrs. Jardine; the Secretary of Labor and Mrs. Davis. The Speaker of the House of Repre *See "How Latin America Looks from the Air," by Maj. Herbert A. Dargue, in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE for October, 1927. See "The First Flight to the North Pole," and "Our Transatlantic Flight," by Commander Richard E. Byrd, in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE for September, 1926, and September, 1927, respectively. sentatives and Mrs. Nicholas Longworth; Senator and Mrs. Bayard; Senator and Mrs. Broussard; Senator and Mrs. Cameron; Senator and Mrs. Copeland; Senator Curtis; Senator and Mrs. Dale; Senator du Pont; Senator and Mrs. Edge; Senator and Mrs. Fletcher; Senator and Mrs. Gillett; Senator and Mrs. Glass; Senator Hale; Senator and Mrs. Howell; Senator and Mrs. Andrieus A. Jones; Senator and Mrs. Norbeck; Senator and Mrs. Overman; Senator and Mrs. Phipps; Senator and Mrs. Shortridge; Senator and Mrs. Simmons; Senator and Mrs. Ashurst; Senator and Mrs. Caraway; Senator and Mrs. Harris; Senator and Mrs. Kendrick; Senator and Mrs. David A. Reed; Senator and Mrs. Sackett; Senator Steiner; Senator and Mrs. Tyson. Hon. John Q. Tilson, Majority Floor Leader of the House of Representatives, and Mrs. Tilson; Hon. Fred A. Britten, of the Naval Affairs Committee, and Mrs. Britten; Hon. Bertrand H. Snell, Chairman of the Rules Committee, and Mrs. Snell; Hon. Frederick N. Zihlman, Chairman of the District of Columbia Committee, and Mrs. Zihlman; Hon. Allen T. Treadway, of the Ways and Means Committee, and Mrs. Treadway; Hon. Theodore E. Burton, Representative Mary T. Norton, and others. The Ambassador of Great Britain and Lady Isabella Howard; the Ambassador of Japan and Madame Matsudaira; the Ambassador of Peru, Dr. Hernán Velarde; the Ambassador of Spain and Señora Padilla; and the Ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, Honduras, Ireland, Nicaragua, Panama, Persia, Poland, Rumania, Salvador, Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Siam, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The Board of Trustees of the National Geographic Society; Hon. Theodore Douglas Robinson, Assistant Secretary of Navy; Hon. Edward P. Warner, Assistant Secretary of Navy for Aëronautics; Hon. F. Trubee Davison, Assistant Secretary of War for Aëronautics. Representatives of the learned professions, and correspondents for the foremost periodicals and daily newspapers of America and of the foreign press. THE NATIONAL COPYRIGHT, 1928. BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. WASHINGTON D. C.. IN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN AROUND THE WORLD IN THE "ISLANDER" A Narrative of the Adventures of a Solitary Voyager on His Four-Year Cruise in a Thirty-Four "W Foot Sailing Craft BY CAPT. HARRY PIDGEON With Illustrations from Photographs by the Author HY did you do it?" is the question I am most frequently asked in regard to my singlehanded voyage around the world. The best reason I had was the lack of means with which to build a larger vessel and hire a crew to sail it for me. There is also a great satisfaction in accomplishing something by one's own effort. My love of the sea did not come from early association, for I was born on a farm in Iowa and did not see salt water until I went to California, when I was eighteen years of age. So far as I know, none of my ancestors ever followed the sea. After several years spent on a ranch in California, I went to Alaska, where I learned to saw out boards from the trees on the shore and make small boats, in which I had many thrilling adventures on the rivers and lakes of the north. At one time I owned a small vessel and sailed it among the islands of southeastern Alaska, but I never went out upon blue water and most of my time was spent hunting and making photographs along the rivers and in the mountains of that great land. Returning to California, I became a photographer among the great trees of the Sierras, but after a few years of this work, pleasant though it was, I longed for new scenes. A VOYAGE TO ISLES OF THE SEA IS About this time I came across the plan of a boat that seemed to be very seaworthy and, in addition, was not too large for one man to handle. Moreover, the construction of it did not seem to be too difficult for my limited knowledge of shipbuilding. I decided to build my long-dreamed-of ship and go on a voyage to the isles of the sea. From the mountains I went down to the shore of Los Angeles harbor, set up my camp, and began the actual work of construction. The plan from which I was to model my ship was one that had been drawn for Capt. Thomas Fleming Day, who had had wide experience in sailing small boats, and it was Captain Day's idea of what a small seagoing craft should be. It was of the Sea Bird, or V-bottom, type, with iron ballast on the keel. The timbers for the frame were all very heavy and reinforced at the bilge with steel knees, and when they were all bolted together as strongly as possible, the plank The vessel in which the author made his around-the-world cruise was almost entirely the product of his own hands. ing was laid on. As I was working alone, the most difficult part of the construction was to put on the thick, heavy planks. It was a long, hard job, but gradually something like a boat began to appear. The cabin was twelve feet long, arranged with a berth on either side and spaces for drawers and a wood-burning stove. Aft of the cabin was a cockpit, built water-tight and self-bailing. THE CRAFT IS CHRISTENED "ISLANDER" The masts were made and stepped, and the name Islander, which I had given the new ship, I painted on the stern board. I dug the ground away underneath and laid down ways on which the vessel might slide into the water. From the laying down of the keel to the launching, the work came near to being entirely of my own hands. The Islander was rigged as a yawl, and was 34 feet long over all, 10 feet 9 inches beam, and drew 5 feet of water with no load in her. For many reasons, mostly financial, I have never installed a motor. I built a skiff nine feet long for a tender, and when at sea this was hauled on board, turned over against the cabin, and lashed fast. In this position it was carried wherever I sailed. The Islander cost me about $1,000 for material and a year and a half of hard work HOW THE SHIP WAS NAVIGATED Many pleasant days were spent sailing about the near-by islands, sometimes with friends, but more often alone. In the meantime I procured books and instruments and began to learn something of navigation. My method of navigation was simple, and consisted of determining the latitude and longitude by observation of the suntwo simple problems that require no special ability to master. For the purposes of navigation, the earth is laid out in imaginary lines, called meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude, which may be likened to the streets and avenues of a city. The position of a ship at sea, and out of sight of land, on these meridians and parallels can be solved only by astronomical observation. When one can solve these problems he can find his way about on the sea as readily as he finds the numbers along the |