Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-11-17
SCHROEDER,S AERIAL SHIP.
A Description of the Working Apparatus--
What the Inventor Says He Can Do
How the North Pole IL to be Discovered.
From the Cincinnati Commercial.

w nat the 1DVtUtOr says lie Gan Do
How the North Pole is to be Discovered.
From the Cincinnati Commercial.
Work has been commenced on the
ship, and is confidently expecting that
she will be ready for her trial trip in
about two weeks. The skeleton of the
ship is made of double 0 wire, braced
lengthwise by single o wire. The ship
itself is IS feet long, 9 feet high, and 8
feet wide, and in shape resembles long
steamship hull, with tie exception that
the fore and aft projections extend about
7 feet from the body of the ship. The iron
shaft runs lengthwise, the pushing pro-
peller being attached to one end, and
the pulling propeller to the other, in
order that they can be worked to the
best advantage, and to allow the ship to
turn around on it's own pivot in the air.
Underneath are two rudders, one fore
and one aft, for steering purposes. On
making the ascent, the pulling propel-
Ter will be put in motion, assisted by the
pushing propeller, and the ru6ders,
and thus the inventor confidently ex-
poets to be able to go whithersoever he
will.
The ship is attached to the balloon
by 1,496 ropes, situated at equal dis
tances apart, in order to preserve as
exact balance as possible. The Ca
pacity of the balloon is 265, 919 cubic
feet. Hydrogen gas will be used, and
this substance is so light that it is cal
culated that / cubic foot will have a
lifting power of Ii ounces, thus making
the lifting power of the balloon about
%, 900 pounds, or nearly Is tons. It is
not probable that the balloon will be
inflated to it's full capacity, mas
much as the extreme rarefaction of the
air at great attitudes tends to withdraw
the outside pressure from the balloon,
and the hydrogen inside, thus relieved
of outward pressure, will expand the
more readily, and perhaps burst the
balloon. But, estimating the capacity
at an amount less than half that given,
the balloon will easily have a lifting
power of 10 tons, while the weight of
the apparatus, the gas, the balloon,
netting, ship, and machinery is but
1890 pounds, or 2 2-5 tons.
The balloon is fastened to the ship in
such manner that it cannot sway to
and fro, SO that it is impossible for the
balloon to get out of perpendicular
position. The ship has two masts, fore
and aft, which reach up to the equator
of the balloon. On the top of each
mast large wire-cap is fastened to the
netting perpendicularly, and the bal
loon itself is fastened to the netting all
around it's equator. In case of an ex-
plosion, the lower part of the balloon
ascends, falls into the netting, and half
of the balloon forms a large para
chute. The balloon descends
for short distance with great rapidity,
when the air presses up underneath,
the parachute spreads out, and the de-
scent is made more gradually. The
steering apparatus and propeller are set
in motion, the rotary movement COM
mences, and the balloon goes down in a
circle like an eagle spreading it's wings.
The balloon is made of cambria muslin,
of which 18, 900 yards have been used
III It's manufacture, and the length of
the rope used is nearly 81 miles.
The pulling and pushing propellers
are worked by cranks, four men at each
crank, and work In the lower currents
about $50 revolutions minute, increas-
AuS UllC uuAOOl VI I0fO1ublOuS Will bIlo
increase in height. Aided by the pull
ing and pushing power, the inventor
claims that he will be capable of
making the ship stand still in the
air over any given point. Practical use
will be made Of this advantage by tax
ing aphotographer along for the pur-
pose of securing Photographic views of
certain sections of the country. From
a certain height in the air he says he
can see the bottom of any body of wa
ter, No matter how deep. The photo
graphic views which he proposes to
have taken will be chiefly useful to the
Typographical Corps
Mr.. Schroeder says that his expert
ence has proven to him that in the high
er atmospheres approaching the North
Pole, where the lower currents increase
in cold the upper currents increase in
warmth, and he is therefore confident
that he is capable of sailing over this
region, and finding that for which mill
ions have been spent and many valua-
BILE lives lost "a passage to the open
Polar Sea. a
The first ascent will be made in about
two weeks. a sci saa
Some Scottish Proverbs.