Mower County transcript., 1871-08-10
How the Inventor Of Flying Ma
chine Didn't Fly.

Our reporter was yesterday notified that
an item OF no small cous qucnce would
await him at the corner of Fort and
Bcaubcn streets ut nOnn and appeared
there to tind a select party of half dozen
gentlemen, who were about to witness
trial of what might have been "Fulgcr's
patent WINGS but which may never be,
owing to circumstances related further ON.
About five years ago, 4 man named Ful
ger, employed in a machine shop ut Buf-
talo, conceived tho idea that he had solved
| the question of II hulnan being navigat-
ing the air like Il bird lie bad read and
prn,icrtd, drafted and experimental, and
! at length brought out pair Of "ilycrs,'
ing to the clouds, but which didn't. The
wings were in the shape Of fans, com
posed uf whalcbonc and oiled. silk, and
fastened to the shoulders. by means of Il
large srring "lich held the two together,
ami Il sort of handle falling over the head
and clasptd by the hands, the wings
| could hi worked fast or slow, and with
j ease. AS tn. y would not raise the inventor
from the ground, he suspected that cur
! rent ot air was fast necessary, and climbed
! upon a shed TO lake his flight. His select
audience shouted ";imr,' the wings com
,nc>lrcu to flop, and Fu'gcr went on his
head, getting l, bump which made him see
stars tor an hour. lie tried his invention
! twice alteIwar,i, hui tho result was the
same each time, and then, rs his life was
not insured, he concluded to preserve it
by walking the earth with the gifts which
nature gave him. But his bumps had
hardly ceased to ache when Fulycrs ideas
began to return to the old channel, and
! he has wasted months OF time and y con.
/ .(<,~.
the dclusiyc vision. Six months ago, on
coming TO Detroit, he was taken sick,
and not being able to do heavy work
i and having several hundred dollars by
| him, he has spent the last four months in
pcrfcciing another pair of wings, and these
he had With him Yesterday. lie was very
enthusiastic, and promised our reporter hc
would telegraph him from Grand
/ Rapids before shutdown, having no doubt
that he would arise on the noon day
breeze ard sail the air like a buzzard. 1t
] was at first proposed to go up the all. y
and let him try the cNpcrime mt by jumping
/ off u barn. hut u crowd began to gather,
and his ,nodcsty Obliged the invited guests
! to follow him nearly a mile up Beaubicn
street to tn" commons, close On which
stands a tumble down story and a half
! house. The audience made q bait here,
/
thirty newspapers and brought out the
wings Each one measured exactly seven
feet III l.ngth, and The broadcst part was
three feet and eight inches, looking in
shape like the wings of an eagle. At the
| butt OF the wing was piece of cork, say
six incht square; from this eight strips Of
Rattan, not quite rs large around as lead
! pencil, ran the whole length. being bound
together at certain places. with light wires
| At the butt each rattan was fastened with
the cork with small screw. The wings
/ were male to tastCn directly under the
arms, stout co,ds running up over the
! shoulders to hold them. The covering
was oil skin, being the same material as
that which usc.l to be worn to protect la
dies bonpcts from injury The weight Of
the two was just two pounds and half.
On the upper side of each wing, just where
the hands could handily grasp them, u strip
of stout rubber was fastened, and the fly
ing was to l'c done by the man grasping
these handles and working the wings up
and down, the hands first pu ,hing and
then pulling.
At last, after every body had admired,
doubted and congratulated, Mr.. Fulger
shook hands all around and announced
that he rs about 10 pay visit to the SUI,
having changed his mind in regard to
going to't'rand Rapids With the wings
hanging down behind, he mounted to the
roof, & distance of about fourteen feet, ami
then warned his audience not to jar his
nerves by any remarks. Standing on the
extreme end of the ridge, just over a bed
Of rank grass and tall weeds, the bird
seized the wings firmly, threw out a quid
of fine cut and took the leap. Exactly
what took place cannot be described, as
every one was laughing 50 that his eyes
refused to see; but this much our reporter
will swear to, there was jump, a flop, two
or three kecl-ovcrs, a 1us'ling Of tilk, and
the audience saw Mr.. Fulger lying on his
stomach ON the ground, the spreading
wings making him figure comic beyond
description. fie was raised up, turned
over. and soon opened his eyes and wanted
to know what had occurreu, and was soon
leaning against the house and breathing
hard. lie claimed that he lost his balance
at the ciiticai moment, or else he would
have sailed away like Il Mu:covy duck, but
declined to repeat tn" experiment again,
saying that he didn't feel wcll. sympathy
for his failure kept the gentlemen from
laughing all they wanted to, but MIR. Ful-
ger lett them with the assertion that he
should soon have the pleasure of calling
on the same audience TO witness him tax
ing moonlight excursion above their
heads -Uetg'0lt Free Press