The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-08-30
Aerial Navigation Again.

a ceTllHcate OF incorporation has been
filed in the office of the Secretary of
State of Illinois for the "Aerial Navi-
cation Company OF Chicago" the object
of the incorporators being, according to
the papers submitted. "the transportation
of passengers and freight through tho
hir.' 1t il said that the machines to be
manufactured by their company are a
perfection Of the one tested ut Hartford
Conn, several years ago. This probably
refers to several trials Of balloon made
by +. F. Rtchel, of Bridgeport, Conn,
who exhibited in Hartford in June, 1878,
a balloon with propelling apparatus at
tached, by which the upward and down
ward movements of the balloon could
be governed and by which, in calm
weather, its course could be directed
The balloon in question was q horizon
tai cylinder OF silk, twelve feet long and
twenty.four inches diameter capable of
containing about 5000 feet Of gas. Sus-
pended to it by cords and steel rods was
fat frame of brass pipe, pointed Ut eaci,
end, and, having u seat for the operator
In front Of the seat was gear wheel
with two cranks, connected by vertical
shaft to two propeller wheels, one as the
lower end OF the vertical shaft under the
frame, and the other in from. Of .he ane.
rator, and this wheel was attached to the
shaft by q universal joint so that it could
be turned distance Of about thirty
degrees from the shaft in horizontal
plane by the feet Of the aeronaut. This
wheel was the propelling power and also
the steering device. The levitating
power OF the balloon was barely suffi-
cient to raise the apparatus and its load,
the vertical propeller assisting if rapid
rise was desired, and bringing the bal
loon down without emitting any of the
gas. At one trial, on a calm day, the
balloon rose from the baseball grounds
at Colts Meadows, Hartford, passed over
Colts factory, aud nearly over the Con.
necticut River, turned about and return
ed, descending to the ground at the
place from which it started, the distance
being probably half mile and return,
the balloons height after rising from the
earth varying from 800 to 400 feet, or
thercabnuL AT another trial, on the
succeeding day, with quite stiff breeze
bl> wlug the aerODaut was unable TO turn
his balloon around. or to stem the wind,
aD'i WAS forced u distance Of nearly nine
miles, when he descended and came back
with his balloon by carriage. But on
this occasion he descended once on his
trip 10 Tie dnoryard Of Il tarmer, procur-
ed glass of water from the we'll and
rose again, hoping tu make II return trip.
No accurate test WAS ever made Of the
propcillng or lifting power OF the two
fans, but they were sufficient, ~ proved
by repeated experiments, TO raise lower
and steer the balloon except in a strong
wind, the operator rotating the cranks 1T
the rate Of 100 revolutions per minute,
producing, by means pinions, revniu-
ton of the fans Of 8 800 turns per minute.
1t is evident that inventors will con-
tinue to work at the problem of aerial
navigation undeterred by ridicule and
countless failures, the more especially
that science does not declare the dream
of such inventors a hopeless one by any
means. The whole question resolves
itself into one of how TO pack power in
small space. Most inventors start out
by taking the bird as model and end
by constructing an artificial bird having
the size and weight of an ostrich with
the power Of chicken. With new tools,
however, new achievements are possible.
Those persons who believe that the next
century will see no great discoveries
because there will be nothipg in nAtnre
to discover, are very wide Of the mark.
On the contrary, man ought no. TO do
more wonderful things than ever because
he has the powerful aids of steam and
electricity to help him. The storage bat.
terry, for instsnce, may be the power for
which the aerial navigator has been
waiting, and If the battery proves to be
too heavy to carry along, perhaps the
power may be conducted to tho balloon
by fine wire trailing behind and deriv.
ing its current from the engines on the
ground. He must be a rash man who
can say that the inventors In quest of q
practical aerial machine are wasting their
time.