The morning call., 1890-10-19

Herald is given the following details OF the
discovery of this enthusiast, whose name is
Charles 6. Loeber His vehicles of trans
poTtation would be arships-n0t gas-filed
balloons that ascend because of their buoy
ancy and then become the playthings of the
wind-but big stately flying vessels. con-
structed of steel and large enough to accom-
modate as many people and as much freight
as one Of the ocean greyhounds. They
would rise or fail, go east or west. remain
stationary or travel through the atmosphere
at the rate of 800 miles or more an hour, at
the will of their commanders.
Is this man crazy? you ask. Surely he
must be well-deYelOped crank, you assert
Well, perhaps he is; but what revolutionizer
has not been considered crank in his own
day ana generation? Charles G. Loeber,
the man in question, certainly does not look
and act other than rational human being,
but he advances some theories in regard to
air navigation that seem on the face to be
improbable enough to be emanation from
disordered brain. Brushing aside the eXper-
fences of aeronauts, who have been trying
fol more than century to solve the prob
lem of placing man Oh par with birds in
the power to sail from point to point on
terra firma through the air. this individual
branches off in an entirely new direction
and boldly affirms that he has discovered
new rover which will not only lift vehicles
weighing hundreds Of tons thousands of feet
toward the blue vault above, but will force
them INTO space at a rale of speed that wOuli
make streak of lightning envious. He
sees, with a yiVidneSS born OF his confidence,
but scarcely shared by those who hear his
promises, the time in the near future when
great, proportion of the freight and pas
seuger traffic will be ION the fly" so to
speak, the carriage being accomplished
much more eXpeditlouSly and economically
than by present modes of conveyance, and
wholly without the liability OF such tragedy
as occurred at Quincy Tuesday.
Having fully satisfied himself as to the
feasibility of his system Of locOmotion, Mr..
LOeber has gone so far as to prepare designs
for The sort of airship he would build and
operate ii he had the requisite money. 1t IS
not Il very attractive locking affair on paper,
and its appearance of great bulk makes the
thought of it, soaring to q lZzy heights rldic-
ulouS in the light of the impression eXtant
as to the lifting power OF the atmosphere.
Its shape is as novel as its inventors ideas
are startling. 1t resembles more tnan any
thing else a monster barrel laid on its side,
with all its slaves running to point at one
eud, and with immense rounded spreads, or
wings, on the sides. II is designed to be con-
structed entirely of steel, with length of
The wings, each CT which is to be 10 feet long
aud q broad, are movably attached to
THE SIDES OF THE VESSEL
And extend inward, where they are adjust
ed To Steam-iriven engine OF peculiar pat
tern IN such a way as to control SuStenta-
ton, ascent and descent. At the stern are
the Tudder and the improved propeller,
which are driven by steam. There are three
decks outlined, all Of which are closed In
with large windows. The lower one con-
iains apartments for the machinery, en-
giues, boilers, fuel, water, provisions, kitch-
ems, freight and quarters tor the crew. The
middle one is fitted with saloons and state
rooms for the passengers, and also has an
outside promenade extending around the
snip except forward, where DrotuberdnceS
| wou offer great resistance to the air pres
| sure due to the sped of the flight. The
| upper deck contains the steering machinery,
| chart room and officers state-rUomS. The
| longitudinal sides of the bottom of the ship
are rounded. so as to insure most easy po-
sltiou and support for IL ON land. The
weight of the ship, machinery and equip
ments is estimated at 500 tons, and her net
tonnage at 1000 tons. With her full compile
ment Of 800 passengers, mail and freight
she would represent dead weight of 1890
tons.
This great load, $500, coo pounds. Mr.. Loe-
be: has the hardihOOd 10 say, can be fOated
upon the air more easily than like weight
carried upon the water. How IS it to be
done? By the aid OF antheeis with the ac
cent on the penujD, replies the inventor.
| And that is where the mystery comes III.
| Anthecis is the mamie that Mr.. LOeber has
| given TO the new force he has found. 1t Is,
| lie SAYS, the development OF the natural re-
| sistance i'll the atmosphere; but just how he
| gets the harness on it and subjects 1T to his
| will lie will not tell until he has thrown the
| protection OF patent offices around him. lie
| is quite willing, however, to elucldate the
general principles upon which he has
grounded his faith III his ability TO travel
| airwatd
In the first place." he told reporter in
] detailing why he had departed from the
theories of Dalloonists in working oLt the
| problem, "Duoyancy Is untitled for air nay-
| CATION, because Il floating air vessel has not
| enough weight OF body III proportion 10 its
volume to effect the degree of adhesion Of
| the vessel to the air that IS necessary for
| speed aud control. Force, to be effective,
requires resistance. This is an axiom or
| natural law The resistance required by
propulsive force in locrmotion is the adj
| hesion of the moving body TO its element
| lOcomotion being the continuous disturb
ance of that adhesion. Such adhesion re-
| suits from the weight Of the moving BODY
| proporti onate to volume, being more or less
| as the volume has more or less weight
| Hence, weight of body IN proportion to vol
ume Is at once the main impeachment and
| Indispensable requirement to locomotion
| Whatever, therefore, may be opned to the
| "
through gas or vacuum, is unfit for Iavi-
| cation, and it characteriZeS the knowledge
| eXtant on the subject that in all the general
| aud extensive consideration it has received
| this
HAS NOT YET BEEN DEMONSTRATED.
why, it does not require much of a
| mathematician 10 show that with the now
| known forces 1860 horsepower, exclusive of
! power required to overcome friction, has TO
| be excl ted to lift 100 tons up into space at
| the slow rate OF three miles an hour.
| 1--WE think we know the air in which we
| live ana the phenomena in it which are of
| common occurrence yet with all our boosted,
| and too often bUastful, science, nothing is
so little understood and SO greatly mlsun-
| derst0Od as the atmosphere In Its character
| as an element of transit. lis tenuity, eva
sion of contact and touch and imperceptible
| resistance to our constant movements in it
| are mistaken Tor weakness, whereas the in
| Sign6can OF that resistance is the very
proof oil the great force inherent in air. The
| air has the attribute of filing the vacu0us
| space with an enormous velocity, estimated
| at 1900 miles an hour. Hence the space
/ vacated by body moving Is instantly filled
with air, and thus the air in front of a NOV
| ing body resists displacement only in pro-
| portion TO the speed of the moving body as
| compared with the velocity of the moving
| air and since that comparison makes any
| speed of our movements insignificant, so also
| is the resistance of the air. But the at
| tribute 10 Hi Vacu0uS space lllpaTtS 10 TIE
air also a great force which, however, is
hidden or latent, because it requires vacuous
space to make it act, the degree of force de-
| pending upon the state OF the vacuum.
| An Illustration OF the great force OF
the air is the pneumatic tube, so-called.
| Let this be horizontal cylinder, one
| foot in diameter and twelve miles long,
closed at one end, and at the other having
piston, fitting alright in the cylinder;
| the piston is held III place until the cylinder
is made completely vacuous; then, being re-
leased, the air will force the piston through
the twelve miles OF cylinder in one minute,
or at the rate of 100 miles an hour, the fric-
ton and resistance of piston covering the
| difference between this speed and that made
by the air in open space. Measured in pres
sure the maximum force OF the air under
complete vacuum is 2l24 horsepower per
square foot, but 1t decreases with altitude.
Now, the air is as able TO resist force as it is
TO exert it. and its resistance is equal to its
force. This resistance is anthecis, and hav-
ing determined how to procure this latent
force, l am in position to assert that its
t. 81