The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1888-09-01
AIR-sH1P BUILDING.

child of his fault.
A1R.sH1P BUILDING.
Although it is only hundred
years since the first balloons were
made, it would take books enough
to fill good-sized library to record
in detail the myriad styles of flying
machines and balloons that have
been invented, most of them within
a comparatively few years. 1t is
scarcely necessary to say that all
the flying machines have proved
utter failures. because of their being
based on natural law. Balloons in
Aated by hydrogen or coal gas have
not materially advanced in utility
since the days of the Montgolher.
With all our boasted skill in other
fields, we have been obliged to sub
NIT to the caprices of the wind when
in the air. There has been no meth
cd found of propelling or guiding
a balloon filled with gas. The great
surface which bag containing
hundreds of thousands of cubic
feet of gas offers, precludes this.
But man is going to navigate the
air at will. 1t will be accomplished
by the vacuum system. This meth
cd allows firm structure, shaped
so as to offer as little resistance to
the wind as the hull of vessel for
instance. The vacuum method is
to be used by DR.. A. De Bousset as
the ascensional power of the ,vacu-
um air-ship designed by him, and
for which a House committee has
reported favorably bill appropri-
ating $150,OOO to aid in its con-
struction. The vacuum theory is
not new by any means, and is based
on an unalterable law of physics,
which proves the practicability of
its ascensional force. The immense
advantage of the system over all
others is the opportunity it offers
to build a firm structure, shaped so
as to offer the least resistance to the
wind. De Bousset's machine will
consist of steel cylinder 654 feet
long, with diameter of 1873 feet.
The ends will be cone shaped. 1t
will be propelled and steered by air
screws capable Of exhausting 30O,-
600 cubic feet of air per minute,
which, it is calculated, will give a
speed of IS miles an hour. A 100
horse power electric motor will drive
these screws, and that, in turn, will
derive it's energy from storage bat
teries. 1t is estimated that but one
third of this power will be necessary
to propel the ship, the rest being
held in reserve. The cylinder will
be built of steel plate, one forty
fourth of an inch thick. These
plates have already been tested and
found capable of sustaining double
the pressure they will be called
upon to bear. The interior Of the
vessel will be divided into compart-
ments, which, together with braces,
will give the proper strength to the
structure. The whole is. intended
to weigh 26O, $50 pounds.
The volume of air contained in
the sylinder would weigh 719,7O7
pounds, which would give lifting
power, were the vacuum complete,
of 459 ,O27 pounds outside of the
cylinder itself. Even if the vacuum
is not complete-say within third
still the lifting power would be
3O6,O1S pounds, or $4,000 tons
quite sufficient to carry nearly T.
coo passengers. There will be what
might be termed superstructure
under the cylinder, on which the
engines for exhausting the air and
propelling it will be placed, and
upon which the freight and passen-
gers will also be carried. 1t. is by
aid of the exhausting pumps that
the machine is to be raised and
lowered. The altitude attained will
depend entirely on the complete
ness of the vacuum. A greater
height can be reached with this air
ship than with the hydrogen meth
cd, because there is no danger of
the thing bursting, as has often oc-
CURED in the old style, by the ex-
panding of the hydrogen.
The bill describes the vessel as
being a medium for rapid transpor-
tation of freight and passengers for
long and short distances, overland
or trans-oceanic; for purposes OF
commerce and for exploration, OBJ
servation, etc. The constantly-in-
creasing cheapness Of aluminium,
which is three times lighter and
three times stronger than steel,
gives great promise for the future
of the vacuum system, and 1t will
reduce the weight of the structures
to almost Is per cent. OF that OF
steel-Boston Transcript.
Cant Depend on the Clock
Charles asks: "When young