MIND OVER MATTERN

Mr. Mattern, tersely warned by the Soviet Government, will keep his distance above Lake Baikal. For the glory of the World's Fair he flies on, and his daring will reinforce the glib Mr. Holmes and the accommodating Areturus to publicize Chicago's latest exposition. Mr. Charles Dawes thought he would not spend any money on publicity. Mr. Rufus Dawes thought he would spend ten thousand dollars. The compromise is Mr. Mattern.

Why Mr. Mattern should be allowed to perform a dangerous and bootless flight for Chicago's glory does not seem clear. But the enthusiast for variety should not condemn our aviators without a hearing, for in comparison with other daredevils they have displayed a real fecundity of invention. Mr. Brody jumped, and seldom featly, from all our great bridges, and there was in his contortious a lack of grace monotonous to all but the local Chambers of Commerce. Many barrels ricocheted over Niagara Falls before Buffalo was convinced that the idea had lost its original savor.

The aviators, on the other hand, have progressed by rhythmic steps to perfection. First three men, then two men, then one man, flew across the Atlantic, and Miss Earhart capitulated to the obvious with a solo excursion. Evidently the same gradus honorum will be observed in world flights. But there is an important difference. Mr. Brody relinquished the front pages on his third attempt, and even the barrelleers were only good for five. When naivete has followed in the exodus of the earlier colonial virtues, possibly witless aeroplane maneouvers will join their predecessors in silence, and the native yen for high romance will undergo an advertising catharsis into more lively and less hazardous channels.