Omaha daily bee., 1883-06-11
%PETERSEN'S AIR-SHlP.
Claiming to Have Solved the
Problem Of Aerial NaVi-
cation,
n FIviug Machine which is Ex-
peoted to Shoot Through Space
at the Ratio of Ono Hum
drcd ksiles an Hour.

u'eu Ttles an f1eur'
New York Star.
Few men In New York have led
more eventful lives than Captain Carl
w. Petersen. He was born In the
Dachy of S,hleswig, when that province
was part of Denmark, and came to
the United States thirty years ago.
He has been ssilnaker, ship builder,
sea captain and inventor. When on q
vhaler twenty. five years ago Captain
Peterson, with FIVE companions, ex.
plored Cape Cheljusking, tho north
ernmost point In Europe. A year
Latch he visited tho Caroline Archipel
ago, In the Pacific ocean, and fought
the savsges there. His next exploit
was a descent with ten men upon an
Island northeast of New Guinea, the
Inhabitants of which were cannibals.
OF late Captain Peterson has turned
his attention to Inventions. Twelve
years ago he designed a submarine
steamer and q floating dock. BY
means of the latter portions of the
ocean about sunken ships 200 feet IN.
der wster could be pumped dry, and
tho vessels raised by powerful
machines. As "a, coo, 900 capital
would be required for the operation of
the floating dock, the captain WAS
never able to carry out his pre- got.
His latest and greatest invention Is an
air.ship, for which he has obtained
letters patent In the United States and
several European countries. A cor.
poration called "Petersen's Aerial
Navigation Company" with a capital
of 500, 900, divided into shares of 81
each, has been formed to build ana
ruu sir.shlps. The office of the com.
pany is at Hall 4, Cooper Institute,
where a reporter found Captain Peter.
gen a day or two ago. The inventor ia
a benevolent-looking man of middle
age, with q pstriarohsl beard.
"You want to know about my ship,
chi" he said. "Well, let me tell you
in the first place, that my theory Is
altogether different from that of all
other aerial %navigators."
SIN what way2"
"They have chung to the
idea that on air. ship can be propelled
by machinery, although all their ex-
pertinent prove that the machinery
necessary to drive a vessel of q given
size is too heavy for the ship to carry.
1t Is like putting q sixteen. pound
weight to o one pound pigeon, and ex-
pecting him to fly with IT,"
"What is your idea2' the reporter
asked.
"JuSt this" replied Captain Peter.
SOD, pointing to a drawing on the
; table before him, eve have q long,
: reefable balloon, inf ited with street
gas ct q temperature of 100 degrees
= Fahrenheit. Through the balloon pas
. four masts, and about the foot of each
+ # them n cabin Is built. At the bow
8 of the ship Is q vertical rudder used tc
alter the course to right or left. A
horizontal rudder ct the stern serveI
to regulate the angle at which thu
vessel rises or falls. You under
stau62'
Eyer, but I don't see where you
propeliing power m in"
, You will soc It all In a miRute
Just hold up the pamphlet. Thanks
n Now, lot that represent the balloo
a and this envelope the horizontal rud
n der at the stern. When we lot tn
ship loose from the ground tho enveI
o ope Is depressed thus. A current Q
q air, as the pamphlet rises Gust lift
q little), strikes the envelope an
throws the head of the pamphlet at q
n angle upward. Thus we shoot upwar
obliquely."
r "How fast do we sheot2"
. sour initial velocity Isl seven fee
{ four inches per second, but In tn
d eleventh second we make 154 feet
Q that 10 to soy, We are travelling at tn
O rate of 100 miles an hour"
0 At this the reporter dropped tn
d ship to the table, leaving the car
. tain holding the horizontal rudde
aloft.
Q "That strikes you as rather IN
usual, I fancy" obsrrved the In
ventor.
"Just a tr,As," responded the RI
o porter, family.
It "Butyou sect the principle. Bymeau
It of the rudder I oonvert the liftin
8 power of the gas into q force to pull th
n ship forward"
"Yet you still go upward. SUI
pose you should ever want to com
down."
D., "Then We cool the gas by q pater
s. process of mine, and reduce Its volum
rs per cent. 1t becomes a dead weigh
l. and the balloon Is reefed. Grsvitatio
d forces the ship down, while tho resls
'p anoe OF the ~envelope-I mean ii
rudder-c,uses the bow to sink frs
To reascend we simply expand the g.
by heat, and up we 60. In each
the four cabins 10 an apparatus fc
heating and n for cooling the ga
" The angle If ascent can be 30 regulate
10 that the vessel advances horizontal.
81; Go miles, while she goes N mile al
d. ward. She stands on one tack mt
m she has made 400 miles headwsy."
< "Thst would bring her about 81
:" miles above the earth, Captain,
observed the reporter, after maxim
q hurried calculation with his penc
g, upon his cuff "a trick which he learnt
-. in the mental arithmetic class
" school.
ir Exactly"
SLOW are people to breathe at tn
at altitude2" demanded the newspap
= man quickly.
"The cabins are alright, my acu
young friend, and we pump In 9
G; until we have an atmosphere den
'O enough for breathing purposes"
"Won't o velocity Of 100 miles q
hour tear your balloon 10 Pleces2"
"No, sir 1t ia made of stout sill