The herald. (Big Stone City, Dak. [S.D.]) 1883-1890, 1889-05-03
De Bausset's Mammoth Airship.

Jules Verne's "Robur the Con-
queror," may yet live in flesh and
blood. At any rate, Arthur de Baus-
set, compatrot of the famous roman
Ger, produced charts, formulas. and a
discourse before the Chicago Electric
Club recently.
Arthur de Bausset is a physician, a
man OF science and an enthusiast, and
he would have started for the North
Pole last June in an air-ship with POO
summer tourists if $l5O.OOO had been
forthcoming and no screw turned out
to be loose
He hopes yet to raise the money,
show that his screws will hold tight
and make the trip. Moreover, on his
return he expects to carry the mails
Of this country and establish new
system of transportation in genral.
"Navigation Of the air by balloons
inflated with gas said DR.. de Bausset
in his address, "is a failure. Harve
Mango, servant of the French Acade-
my, and his companion De rHoste,
lost their lives five months ago by the
contraction of their balloon in cold
current.
II introduce new principle. l dis
card the yielding balloon. ! do not
use gas at all. l construct a cylinder
wholly Of steel. | make it rise by ex-
hausting it of air and producing a
vacuum. | call my cylinder the aero
plane.'"
The "aero-plane" is to be no small
affair. According to Dr. de Rausset's
plans it is cigar shaped ship, 654 feet
long by LA feet in diameter-as big as
the Exposition Building.
"The steel plates of the cylinder,
said DR.. de Bausset, going into de-
tails, ARE one-forty-fourth of an inch
in thickness, and, braced by cross-b bars
Of tubular steel and hollow fiange
bands, are capable. according to Fair
bairn's formula, of withstanding an
atmospheric pressure Of sixteen and
one-tcnth pounds in the maximum
pressure to which they will in fact be
subjected, as the cylinder will be ex-
hausted Of only from one-half to three
fourths of its air. The pressure of the
air at sea level against total vacuum
being fourteen and two-third pounds,
safe allowance is made which will
render the collapse of the cylinder i'm
| possible. Such will be the ascensional
power OF the 'aero-plane, owing to the
volume of air its large proportions will
displace, that it will carry 200 passen-
gers, their baggage and provisions,
and leave a surplus of fifty tons for
merchandise.
Passengers and freight will be
accommodated in car constructed OF
steel and papier mache suspended be-
| meath the cylinder. In this car will
also be located the motor power and
steering apparatus. The power will
be furnished by electric auto-accumu-
lators and dvnamos, operated by gas
steam engines. The auto-accumulator
| intend using is as yet secret in my
laboratory. With the power thus sup
piled will run Kttoe ventilating
exhaust wheel, which will at once re-
move the air from the cylinder and
throw a current backward in the rear
of the car. This backward current will
propel the ship forward at The rate OF
seventy miles an hour"
Then Dr.. de Bausset went elaborate
" into the mechanics and mathematics
of his invention.
1T has been placed before the Naval
Committee Of the Senate" he said.
"and have my reason TO think their
report will be favorable"
w. H. Dyrenforth and several Of
the thirty other members of the club
present pronounced the scheme pracli-
cable.