The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-08-02

had become much interested in III
j. man, and in his project, visionsr
though It seemed, and called upoI
nlm the following day and the mex
On Saturday he informed me that b,
p was about 70 make an actual expert
ment IN flying. "The apparatus ha
= long been ready" said he sand / hav,
partially succeeded IN securing the re
qulsIte motive power I cannOt in
deed, make rapid fight but / shal
be able % sustain myself and 10 ad
: vance slowly ! eagerly questioned
. nm IN regard to his invention, but be
Z checked me by observing that it was a
secret he did not care to disclose. "You
= shall, however, said he. witness its
= practical operation and then added,
/ 'Ohe defect / have not yet overcome,
namely, the inability TO rise. But
there win be 70 difficulty in descend
ing from the lOfsest elevation AYE,
there's the rub, ! remarked, plAyfully
facilis descensas arerni ss,y revooare qTaduns,
hic labor, h0c oPus est"
"slnce you have cited one quotation.
he replied with seriousness, II will give
you another, which is quite as much 10
the point, 'Nitil smsk inusntlal sst sf
peucctgm which, freely translated
means that no invention Is perfected at
once. IT one can remain suspended.
or even descend safely, 8 great point
has been gained In this I readily
acquiesced, and when Mr. Smith IN.
formed me that he expected to try his
experiment on Monday, To-day was
on the tip-tOs of expectation. He re-
quested me to say nothing of his inten-
ton, as he did not wish TO be impeded
by crowd of gaping idlers. Tie as
sented, however, to my request, that |
Captain Cobb should be- of the party.
This morning at eleven o'clock, the |
hour appointed, We were promptly at /
Mr.. Smiths store, and found him ready /
70 start At the door there stood two /
teams and wagons, one of which con
tanned what l supposed to be a canvass
tent, with poles &c In the other we
took our seats. The party consisted Of
Mr. Smith and his clerk, James Nc
Lehman, Captain Cobb and n.yselE Pat
rick Riley and Andrew Ward, the dri-
Vers-six in all Mr.. Smith was en-.
veloped IN large linen dustsr, which
quite concealed his person. During the
ride he appeared rather serious and
taciturn. In two hours we reached
point about twelve miles west of the
city, and there stopped The country
was q rolling prairie, wholly uncultiVa-
ted, and with no travelled road for sew
eTal miles on either side The canvas,
&c, was taken out and spread upon
the ground, and found, to my amaze
men, that instead of tent, it was an
immense kite, made of sail cloth, with
a strong .iOinted frame. 1t was of the
kind known as the "hOuse kite" hexa.
gon in form and when put together.
was twenty-five feet IN length, thus
containing an area of over five hundred
square feet Its cord was about the
thickness Of my little finger, but Of
great strength, having been mauufac-
tured to order. The tail of the kite
was merely a light rope ladder. Mr..
Smith now threw off his linen duster,
and I could scarcely avoid laughing at
bis extraordinary appearance. Be
meath his arm-pits, and extending
round his body, there was q copper
cylndef, foot wide from top to bot
tom, and about two feet IN diameter.
His ordinary clothing had been re-
placed by a tight-htting suit of ribbed !
cloth, made apparently all IN one piece.
Attached to MS arms and body were a I
pair of Webbed wings, of strong ma 6
terial, with q light frame work of steel. /
When at rest, these wings Of ] may so 9
call them) hung loosely about him like 1
q closed umbrella; but when his arms s
were raised they became extended, and '
gave him an odd resemblance to the I
I" Green Monster in the pantomime
Scores of ordinary bladders were fast Z
ened to the suit above mentioned, and
equally in every part Some were close d
10 the body, and others depended at c
various lengths, from to 3 feet From 1
he mouth Of each a hollow flexible 1
lube communicated with the cylinder Il
These, If extended would consequently ?
orm network of air lubes. made J
.hese observations hastily, for Mr. ,
smith at once placed himself upon the o
'Ope ladder and requested that the L
1nite, which had been set up on slight n
elevation, should be raised The Cap "
ain and myself called out together a.
hat he had forgotten his parachute; al
lut he replied impatiently that he did q
lOt need it. We declared, however, e.
hat We would not permit SO fool-haTdy io
N experiment unless this precaution n
we're taken; and after q little parley he 81
A steady breeze wss now u
blowing from the southeast Riley g
md Ward took their place in the wagon n
reside the coil Of rope; McLennan act OF
d as driver, while Captain Cobb and :
emained on the ground as spectators. fe
The horses were started IN gallop, and
he kite rose, slowly and heavily, but al
teadily upward, l glanced at my OF
watch it was twenty minutes past two VI
clock, The kite continued to rise, th
nth a slight sWaying motion, higher 81
nd higher It seemed as though the III
airing asrOnaut must become sick and on
izy &C his lofty height Suddenly | 70
'ss startled by an exclama- 10
ion from my companion, and co
oticed dark object falling al
rom the kite, and futJering slowly ra
ownward 1t was the prachute which ca
mith had thrown away The persons an
D the wagon, which was now a half 60
,ile distant, did not seem to notice n
his occurrence. Obviously Smiths sit
alton, if his invention should fail, had
ecome one of appalling danger; since
is almost impossible to bring a kite q
0 the ground without 8 violent and 81 5.
erking lateral motion. 1t seemed -
qually perilous to stop or to proceed. ~ -
'rembling with anxiety, we watched 81 81
nth straining eyes his fast receding ~
0rm. / had an excellent field glass, ~
lhioh gave me q perfect view OF his - -
very motion. And now we noticed "
hat both the bladders and the wings ~
ad begun to expand Higher he rose, =.
ut We could detect in his attitude no - -
ign of doubt or trePidation The -
ladders soon became distended so as - -
D almost hide the man from view. lie =,
ad now reached an elevation, as near m
8 l could judge, Of 1900 to 500 feet, - -
r q quarter OF q mile. He now de- !.
ached his arms from the ladder, his ~
set remaining upon it, aud waved his
lings upward and downward, a. If 10
~ them. For an instant he stood 81
bus, and then, relinquishing al sup IN
ort, he sprang on into the empty AR.
or q moment my heart stood
till held my breath, expect N
ng to see MIN dashed 70 the earth. an
iut he did not fall he did not even
eem to tend downward His wings 10
layed with great sEifiness, and he al
Dated 10 q horizontal position, with ap- 90
aren't ease. Again ! glanced ct my
Tatch. The hand pointed 70 twenty
even minutes before three The kite, "a
eprived Of its ballast, had sunk % the
round. Watching narrowly Il was ~
vident that Mr. Smith wss slowly NOV an
lg forward It appeared 70 me that
be bladder slightly contracted and ex-
anded alternately, as ones chest does ce
D breathing. OF this I could not feel M
certain, since the appearance =;
hay have resulted from their futtering
notion; yet the. Captains opinion CO. 0o