St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1869-08-06
4 ETyiHg NUcHiHe.

Mess our san Francisco cOntcmpo.
lares are greatly carried away in Their
expectations, Frederick Marlott's "Avi-
tor, or navlgablc balloon. has inauuu-
rated an era a. interesting as that of the
appearance OF the first steamboat. At
all events the lines says that the inycn-
tor has secured, beyond a doubt. Il firm
foundation around which inventors of all
civilized nations will cast their oiferin--
OF improvements. until the air will be
traversed 10y men as safely as it now Is
lay birds. and that the problem j. solved
-;rrlal navigation Is no lonIer qucs-
non OF doubt. The description gwen of
the machine l. IL follows:
The carriage, which l. merely Il larue
work!n. model. Is Il balloon. shaped like
u cigar, both ends coming to i point. 1t
l. u.lrty seven icct lOuL. eleven tryt from
tip To bottom, and eight feet in width.
ihcec are the measurements "A; the cen
trc OF the balloon. from which point il
gradually taper~ oft toward either end
Around the balloon lyr.thwi>c. and :,
uttlr below the centre. l. Il li"lt franz.
work OF wood and cane. strongly wired
together and braccd. Attached 10 this
frame, and standing up Us they approach
the front OF the carriage, are two WINS.
one ON either side. They are each live
feet wide III Il little back Ot the centre OF
the curIa-c, and do not commence tn
narrow down until they approach the
front. where they come to Il point.
these WING, are made OF white cloth
ta>tcued to Il light framework. which i
braced securely by wires The main
frame l. secured IN place bv mean, of
strong ribbons. which 20 over the bal
loon, and are attached 10 corresponding
portions OF the frame on the other side.
10 the frame ut the hind part of the car
rIa@e l. attached Il ruldpr or steering
Gear, which Is exactly the shape OF the
paper used IN pm darts, four planes at
right angles This. when raised or low
cred, cierateS or ucprcsSeS the head of
the carriage when iii motion and when
turned from side to side. guides the car
rage Is Il rudder does Il boat At the
centre and bottom of the balloon j. an
or space left in the material
OF which 1t Is built, III which the engine
and machinery are placed on frame
work. The engine and boiler are very
specimens. but they do their
work handsomely. The boiler and fur
mace are together only little over six
feet long, four inches wide and five or
SIN inches i'll height. Steam Is generated
by spirit lamps. The cylinder i two
inches i'll diameter and has Il three inch
stroke. The crank connects by means of
coz wheels. with tumbling rods which
lead out TO the propellers on either side
OF the carriage. The propcllers are each
two-Dladed, four feet in diameter. and
are placed in the frame work of the
wings. The boiler Is made to carry
eight pounds OF steam. When not in
tlated the carriage weighs eighty four
pounds. The balloon has capacity for
1900 feet of gas. When inflated and
ready for flight, it is calculated to have
the carriage weigh from tour TO ten
pounds"
The private trial of the balloon on
July s is thus described
The gaSOmcter was fully inflated at
6.l5 O'Clock, and the model was tioatcd
out OF the building and across the race
track to the open space in the centre
In slX minutes steam was got up-thc
rudder set TO give slight curve to the
course Of the veSsel-and the valves
opened. With the first turn of the pro-
pellers she rose slowly into the air, grad
ually increasing her speed until the rate
OF five miles an hour was attained. The
position of the rudder caused her TO de
scribe great circle, around which she
passed twice, occupying about five min
utes each time Lines had been fastened
to both bow and stern, which were held
by two men who followed her track, AID
had sufficient ado TO keep np with her at
a dog trot.' As she completed descrb-
ing the second circle pull given TO the
head line, unintentionally. caused the
rudder to shift to lore-and-ait position,
when the model pursued straight flight
up the race-track about quarter Of a
mile; she was then turned round and
retraced her flight to the point of depart
ure, whence, being duly guided, she en-
tered the building, The fires were
drawn and the first extensive night of
a vessel for aerial navigation was accom-
pllshed. The total distance traversed
was little over a mile"
The public trial which followed ap-