The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1874-11-05
AERONAUTICAL MACHINES.

known to the ancients. The aeronautit
flight of the Cretan philosopher, and thu
luckless fate of his son in the Icariar
Sea, is tale we'll known to all school
boys. Strabo tells of a people of Scythis
| who had method of elevating them
selves in the air by means of smoke, al
though he does not mention in what man
ner, or whether by the intervention o
any mechanical continuance. Roger Ba
con alludes to flying machine, although
he confesses that he has not seen it, ant
seems to have known little of it beyond
the inventors name. The first historical
flying experiment was made IN Scotland
by an Italian friar, whom James Nv. haG
made prior of Tongland. The man, who
was great favorite of the Kings from
his presumed scientific attachments and
his supposed successes in alchemy, was
commonly believed to he in league with
"Auld Hornie" Thinking that he had
discovered method of flying through
the air, the prior appointed certain day
in 1910 for an aerial ascension, and in.
vited the King and his court to witness
the feat. At the appointed time the
Italian, bedcckcd with an enormous pair
of wings, assembled one of the battle
mcnts of Stirling Castle, and in the pres
ence of King James and his court spread
his plumes and vaulted into the air. Tn
fortunately for the prior's reputation, the
experiment was Il complete failure.
Amid the laughter and dcrision of the
whole assembly the would-bc aeronaut
came tumbling headlong down; and al
though manurc-hcap luckily saved his
neck, his thigh bone was broken. AS is
invariably the case, the hapless expert
mentalist had an excuse for his nOn-suc-
cess; it was to be attributed, he asserted,
to the fact that his wings included some
feathers from common fowls, instead of
having all been from eagles and other
noble birds.
In 1917, unwarncd by this disaster, a
monk of Tubingcn manufactured for
himself wings of parchment and leapcd
with them into the air from a high tower
he fell to the ground and was killed. In
1870 the first really scientific project for
navigating the air was devised by Fran
els Lana, IA Jesuit. His plan was to use
globes made of exceedingly attcnuatcd
metal, the interior of which was exhaust
ed of the air. The specific gravity of
these globes being much less than that of
the surrounding atmosphere, they must
necessarily rise. Upon this hint one of
the Montgoltiers would appear to have
based his experiments, although a publ
cation, contemporary with him, asserts
that he first conceived the idea of IA bal
loon from seeing an open paper globe,
into which he had accidentally let some
smoke, slip from his hands and mount
into the air. Acting upon this chance
experiment he pursued his studies in
that direction until, on the 5th of June,
1888, he was enabled to let off in the
presence of his townsfolk paper balloon
of more than hundred feet in circum-
ference. This experiment was the first
successful one ever made. The balloons
ascension was caused by the expansion
of the air in it through the agency of a
fire underneath. The fame of Montgol-
tier's discovery spread rapidly and pro-
duccd an almost incredible sensation.
Everybody fancied that the navigation of
the air was about to become an easy
task
On the eth Of August, 1888, Messrs.
Charles and Robert set off on an aero
static globe from Paris. 1t was twelve
feet in diameter, and only weighed forty
pounds. 1t was made of Il kind of taf
fcta, coated with gum, and filled with
intlammable gas, obtained by the dissolu-
ton of iron filings in vitriOlic acid. Es-
timated to have attained an elevation of
$4,000 feet, it descended, after voyage
of only three-quarters of an hour, at
Concise, a village about twelve miles
from Paris. Other and more daring ex-
periments followed until, on Sept.
- of the same year, the Montgolticrs
started balloon weighing 700 pounds,
to the neck of which was suspended a
cage, carrying the first living voyagers
that had yet travelled the air, in the
shape of a sheep and two fowls. The
success Of this journey tempted its pro-
jectors into still more hazardous ex-
pertinent, and on the 2lst of the follow
ing November balloon was sent off
from Paris to which was appended a
car, containing two human beings, the
Marquis dArlandes and NJ. Pilatre de
RoZier. The aerial navigators soon dis
appeared from the sight of the anxious
spectators, and after i voyage OF twenty
five minutes duration descended in the
open country, several miles from the city.
The balloon was raised by means of rare
fed air, created by stove-fire carried IN
the car and fed by the voyagers from
time to time with straw. The machine
was seventy feet high and fOrty-six feet
in diameter; it contained 10000 cubic
feet of air, and weighed with all its con-
tents( between sixteen and seventeen
The success Of this ex-
pertinent was deemed so marvellous that
a report of it was drawn up on the spot
and signed by Franklin and several no.
liabilities who were present.
On the I'd of December following a
still more remarkable aerial journey was
performed by Messieurs Charles and
Robert, junior. They terminated their
aerial journey without any mishap; and
from his success NJ. Charles was led to
conceive, as he himself says, perhaps =
to steer ones course through the air.
navigation, was at once caught at by the
public, and on the very day of the last
named ascent the Lyons Academy Of
ON this subject: ITO find the
of directing the air balloon horizontally
and at pleasure" To accomplish this
feat is what the empirical are still striv-
ing at.
Whilst these really scientific expert
AICAtS WOiC SoluS AoI " diu III IAduCC q
Mr.. Miller was exhibiting in London a
soi-disant tlying.machine, made in the
form of West Indian crow, with wings
acted upon by mechanical ROVER, "in a
perfect imitation of nature" The turn
ing of winch gave motion to a small
wheel, which then set in action other
wheels to the right and left, and gave
play to the two wings. THE person
who turns this WINCH" says a contem-
porary of its inventor, being seated at
the aerial helm, guides, at the same time,
a fine-spreading tail or rudder, which
may be moved with case las may the
wings) in any direction, perpendicular,
horizontal or oblique. The wings, the
pinions of which are formed of steel, so
finely tempered by an invention of the
ingenious artist that file will not touch
them, are at present covered with GRIM
son silk; but when brought into action
will be covered with the strongest
gummed silk. The whole machine
weighs 500 pounds, and will carry 800.
The artist has been employed upon it