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 ers, for whom until today I have a deep gratitude.

The next day, in a feature article, M. Jaurés said that "until then he had seen seeking to steer the balloons at the "shadow of men"; today he saw "a man".

I received congratulations from all over the world; among them, however, one, certainly the one that honored me the most and was most precious to me, came this way, in a photograph of the greatest inventor of modern times:

"To Santos-Dumont, Pioneer of Aerial Navigation Thomas Edison".

At that time, when aeronautics had just been born, it wasn't much to be considered its Pioneer; today, however, when it exists and will decide the fate of the war, this appreciation of the man for whom I have the greatest admiration is infinitely precious to me.

On July 13, 1901, at 6 hours and 41 minutes, in presence of the Scientific Commis-