Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-19
TRAVEL BY AIR SHIPS.
Its Possibilities Considered as to Safety,
Speed, Comfort and Cost.

snip from these three points OF view. To IN
] sure absolute safety the practical air ship must
| be constructed in most substantial manner.
| 1t must be provided with life-boats in case an
| accident occurs near deep water. It must have
| a full complement of parachutes, SO that Off
| GERS or passengers can be dropped off, when
1t Is necessary. 1t must have light but power
full engines to drive the vertical and horizontal
propellers, with a reserve set to put in service
In case OF accident. and must be provided with
ample generators to manufacture gas en- route.
The envelope which shall contain the buoyant
gas must be rigid in shape and designed 30 as
TO give the least resistance possible to head
winds. 1t must be air-tight-imperviou to
moisture and not reasonably affected by heat
or cold. 1t must be divided into compart-
ments, so that in case the envelope is damaged
| only portion of the gas will escape.
LIGHT BOILERS AND ENGINES.
Recent progress in constructing boilers and
| engines of the Copeland" type gives great
encouragement to the aeronaut who requires
the hghtest possible engine for his air ship. A
four-horse power Copeland marine engine
weighs n pounds, occupying floor space iO
inches square, and is only 81 inches high over
all, and with boiler for petroleum fuel. 70
| inches in diameter and "a inches high, weighs
very much less than the average man. The
motorcycle Copeland engine is light and
powerful that attached to a tricycle., with fuel
and water for a four hours trip, the whole ma
chine weighs little more than 200 pounds. built
to carry two passengers at a speed of or 10
miles an hour upon ordinary carriage roads.
The perfection recently reached in construct
ing thin steel tubes (less than Lie of an inch
thlck) several inches in diameter, which will
stand pressure from 700 to 1000 pounds per
square inch. make it possible for the aeronaut
to carry with him large quantities of gas in
highly condensed form to be used i'll operating
steering machinery and for other pur-
poses. To this add the service which
light electrical machines can do toward moving
valves and performing other duties of a like
nature and we can form some idea of the ad-
vantages that the aerOnaut of the present time
has over his predecessors. With the present
condition of mechanical science there is no
reason why n successful machine could not be
designed and if a series of experiments were
lnaugurated by practical men who should de-
vote only as much thought and money to the
subject as has been given to one matter of in
terest to the railway service-the perfection Of
the car coupler-there Is every reason to be-
lleve that an air-ship could be constructed
and, after some experience, could be manned
by crew in whose hands passenger would
De as safe as on a transatlantic steamship on
the bolsterous ocean-an air-ship which could
with reasonable certainty be made to rise and
fall to any desired altitude and remain in the
atmosphere for any reasonable length of time.
AS TO THE MATTER OF SPEED
i. e., the ability to proceed given number
OF miles in desired direction in certain
number of hours, the problem is much more
difficult. After half century of experience no
combination of railway appliances has been de-
vlsed by which a car can be propelled hour
after honr at a speed of over 40 or so miles an
hour-and this speed is visibly decreased in
the face of a contrary wind blowing at an equal
velocity-and the best twin screw steamship
tr1na DIN audi ha
proved machinery Is unable to stem a tide
flowing more than 20 or 25 miles an hour
How then shall we hope to drive orr air ship
against head winds blowing so or 100 miles an
hour! 10 similar question propounded by
the Scientific American over forty years ago.
John Wise made the following reply:
THE GREATEST OBSTACLE
to the perfection of aerial navigation is in the
lost OF buoyant power required in rising and
falling into currents that will watt the vessel
toward its port of destination. am not theo-
rizing when say that nature is profuse in its
variety of currents; know it from the exper-
rience Of over a hundred arial excursions By
the aid OF these contrary and various currents
nave avoided the necessity of descending into
rivers, forests. lakes, seas and BAYS The up
permost current have always found to blow
from west to east. While aloft. have within
the visible length of Irvine string suspended
from car, seen the effects of two currents
the que tudt moved tDe balloon. These
strings were 500 feet long. You may often see
as you no doubt have seen, two. three and four
different currents OF air within the range of the
cloud region, when clouds exist. l have found
these various currents just numerous in
perfectly clear atmosphere The greatest
desideratum, in aerial navigation. is a power
adaptable to raising and lowering the balloon
without expending any Of its buoyant gas"
Wise's experience, gained during 100 vow
ages Is valuable IN explaining how an air-ship
might go in desired direction, but not in
showing how 1t might stop and land at desired
point with surface current blowing a gale
But this condition of the wind is exceptional;
the ocean steamship is frequently driven out
OF its course and detained by storm the dan
gers OF which have been circumvented by the
ingenuity of man. Why should not the aerial
sailor succeed In overcoming similar obstacles !?
THE MATTER OF COMFORT
for the passenger en- route has from the begin
ming of the history of transportation attracted
the attention Of the common carrier. Our
luxurious steam vessels and palatial cars are
the climax of the development of artistic effort
to make the environment OF the traveller pleas
ing. But every pound Of furniture. every
ounce OF heating apparatus must be considered
In designing our air ship. The appliances for
obviating the difficulties of breathing the at
mosphere at great attitudes, as well as those for
providing against the unpleasant electrical con-
ditions which will be found among the clouds
! must be as light possible. OF course there
will be no grade crossings, no dust or cinders,
no tunnels, no laying up" at sidings waiting
for opposing trains, no collisions, no sea sick
ness, no Storage passengers, no quarantine.
no waiting for high tide to ge.
over the bar, no fog except below, no
| stopping for pilot no slow tug boat. The
absence of all these annoyances will add TO the
comfort of the aerial voyage. And its pleasures
none can know save those who have undergone
the experiences of passing through the clouds
above the mountain tops, over seas-taking a
birds-eye view of cities and states, and viewing
| for hours at a time the ever-changing panorama
OF nature, to obtain single glance of which
| others climb high mountains with weary foot
steps, only resting when 1.-THE SUBMITS gained
and other giories burst in view." ,.t.
THE COST.
Assuming, then, that the difficulties Of con-
| struction have been overcome, and that safety,
| speed and comfort equal in amount to that
| enjoyed on the ocean steamship can be guar
| an,eed to the passenger who desires to make
an aerial voyage of several thousand miles
| what amount OF freight or what number of
passengers can be carried by an air-ship? And
what will 1t cost? Let us make some calcula-
| ton as to size buoyancy, &C. Assuming that
| Iightest strong metal. cylinder 500 feet long
and 100 feet in diameter mot unlike trans,
| atlantic steamship in dimensions) would con-
tain about ,000, 900 cubic feet of hydrogen gas
| with buoyancy of about 100 tons The en-
velope, if made 1-10th of an inch thick. would
| weigh about 100 tons. Allowing two tons for
than