Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-11-18
FLOATING ON AIR.
Boston Herald.

n Reubl6Ildu, Sdlu a II46uu VI VIC
writer, ''would like to see you. He
wants to talk to you about navigating
the air.
''Who is he?"
ellis name is G. G. Loeber-it is Ger
man name, evidently. He is an intelli-
gent man, speaks English like ma
tive-born American, has a good COM
mand of the language, and is a student,
thinker, worker, and an enthu-
siast."
"YoU interest me. Is he not also "a
excuse me-something of crank?"
"NOt at all, bat quite the reverse. He
has studied aerostatics in way of his
own, and has made new departure in the
science"
"Has he flying machine?"
."NO, but I am satisfied he will have
one before he is two years older. He
has discovered properties or peculiarities
of the atmosphere of the earth which
have heretofore been unknown to science.
And yet that does not express it, for
these properties have been known in a
way, but his discovery has given to them
new significance. He has discovered a
law of motion which will enable any one,
with the proper appliances, and the neces-
sary amount of power, to mount the air
to any desired altitude, as an individual
would mount stairway, or a powerful
locomotive climb steep gradient"
THAT sounds like the modern Arabian
Nights tale. But it is still interesting.
Go on"
eyes, will go on. He has also discov-
ed that air, though highly tenuous sub
stance, is yet
CAPABLE OF WONDERFUL THINGS
when properly excited. That is to say
1t is a substance to be acted upon, as. in
degree, earth and water are, though I'M
Ter varying conditions. For example, he
has demonstrated that it will require al
most as much power to come down to
earth with his flying machine as it will to
mount"
''That is funny. What about gravita-
tion?'
"That, of course, has its effect; but, in
the manner in which he deals with the
atmosphere, the peculiar forces which he
awakens are of a nature to make grayita-
tion almost secondary factor in what he
undertakes"
'But air is practically resistless to fall
ing bodies or to things which have no
support beyond the friction or resistance
of the air to their body. Of course, 1 DO
not mean birds, whose methods of loco
motion fit them for the navigation of the
air."
''Air, in it's normal condition, is unfelt
as we'll as unseen. Disturb this condi-
ton, and your develop its latent powers
that is, you develop in it the powers of
its disturbance. What ARE the sounds we
hear, of whatever nature, but the evil
dences of the disturbance in a degree of the
static condition of atmosphere? We do
not feel any pressure upon our bodies of
the atmosphere and there is none-that
is, none to our perception. But let US
try to pull the atmosphere asunder or
apart, and then note what task we have
undertaken. The press ure against even
a partial vacuum is something enormous,
and, if caused to exist against large
parallel surfaces, would induce collapse,
no matter how strong the material of
which the exhausted chamber was COM
posed"
'Well, what. has Mr.. Loeber got, or what
has he accomplished"
Il cannot tell you definitely, for what
I know has certain reserve which can
not be overstepped. I can, however,
state my conclusions. think he has
made. a most important discovery"
HAS he invented new balloon?"
''No."
"a NEW FLYING MACHINE?"
mo; in the sense you mean. 1t is
something which is altogether new, and
awide departure from all previous efforts
at navigating the air. As have already
stated, he has discovered law that will
enable him to navigate the air as boat
which has submarine capacities can navi-
gate the ocean. Will you understand
me when I tell you that a boat poised in
mid-air, like boat poised in mid-ocean
Il mean under the surface), will require
as much power to descend as to ascend.
In other words, Mr.. Loeber has discover
law which will enable him, by means of
a given amount of power, to ascend into
the air as easily as-after he has attained
a given latitude-to descend
What power will he use?'
''Steam power preferably"
THAT will require the carriage not
only of boiler and engine, but of fuel, like
steamer?"
''To be sure, and that is Just what it
will be-a steamer, to steam through the
air, that will carry its own fuel, carry
passengers, and carry freight, as easily
as water, hotation and propulsion being,
after all, only question of power prop
erIy applied. Of course, there will be
this difference between fotation in air
and in water-in one the resisting of COM
paratively solid nature of the material
on which the ship rests requires no cow
er for 1otation beyondthe natural buoy
ancy Of the material used and its con
struction in the other it requires power
to secure buoyancy, but the amount of
power for propulsion is as nothing COM
pared with that required for
SHIP ON THE SEA.
So that what nature gives to the ship on
the sea IN the way of buoyancy it takes
from it in the resistance of that com par
ativcly solid body, which requires power