The Iola register., 1891-02-06
The GREAT AIR SHIP.
ONE OF THE WONDERS OF THE NINE
TENTH CENTURY.
An Intesesting Description of the Novel
Motor of Inventor Pennington.

ready famous invention said that ltwould
have been more sensible if the press
of the United States, instead OF ridicu-
ing any discussion whatever of the sub
ject, had as sedulously insisted that the
world had done without it long enough;
or if the national Government had
offered as small a premium as SlOO,OOO
TO the successful inventor.
The man who thus spoke is the inven-
tor of an air ship which he claims has
satisfactorily and practically solved
this old problem. He is but 81 years of
age, tall, nearly six feet in height,
with the build of an athlete and the
quiet. calm manners of a gentleman.
He has a serious face lighted up by a
pair of honest, deep set brown eyes.
His voice is low. his speech unhurried.
his words measured and dispassiOnate.
He claims no honor for his discovery,
he has no scheme to exploit, he button
holes no man-indeed. it is not easy to
get access to him-he wants no nOto-
riety, he has no stock to sell. In word
HE Is NOT A CRANK
| in any ordinary acceptatlon OF the word.
He is a practical mechanic. an inventor
whose inventions have brought him
sufficient wealth to live well, and an
American who thinks that he has been
yble to put in concrete form the thought
4 others and construct a machine which
AN be elevated into the air and then
&c steered in any desired direction and
! It hitherto unknown speed. he says
| that the true solution of the problem
was discovered years ago by Giffard, the
| inventor of the injector, the water rail-
way and many other notable things.
The principles of the ship are this: A
pointed cylindrical vessel is made OF
aluminium, light, tough, non-Oxidiza-
bic metal. 1t is provided with suffi-
! cient number of horizontal propellers
below, and with a propeller at Its bow.
BY means of buoyancy chambers hydro
gen gas can be so introduced that the
weight of the whole apparatus, car, and
passengers is zero. If now the horizon
| tai propellers are set in revolution the
whole vessel will rise vertically. lfthen
the propeller at the bow be operated
the vessel will move forward. In the
briefest terms this is the principal.
The advantages that Mr.. Pennington
has over all previous experimenters Is
that he can get aluminium now in
such quantities as he wishes: he can get
hydrogen gas, and by using an improv-
ed rotary gas engine, using coal gas
carried compressed in cylinders, he has
fuel which occupies but little space and
which weighs practically nothing. He
has already made one small ship seven
teen feet long with which he claims he
has conducted successful experiments.
He has Just completed a ship thirty-one
feet long which he sent to- Chicago in
parts and packed in boxes. The expo
sition building will be secured if posi-
BILE, and then Mr.. Pennington will put
the ship together and practical tests
will be made. This small ship will
carry light man not weighing over
125 pounds.
In the meantime at Mount Carmel
there has been in construction
A FuLLrSIzED SHIP.
Two weeks work would complete it.
An inclosure 300 feet by 100 feet had
to be got and rooted with capyas in
which to construct the big ship. II
will be 170 feet long, and the car will
carry a number of passengers. 1t is be-
ing constructed entirely of aluminium in
every part. The small ship, which in
side of week will be in operation, be-
ing made only as working model, so to
speak, and not intended for outdoor use,
is made partly of aluminium, partly OF
steel, and partly Of silk.
Says Mr.. Pennington: 81 do not seek
advertisement or notOriety. To me
there is nothing marvellous in what l
have done. l have merely combined
modern scientific methods of obtaining
certain needed mechanical factors with
the calculations already made by Gift
fard in plain, common sense, practical
way. That is all. The air is the only
element which is co-extensive with the
surface of the earth. 1t has no hills or
valleys. no streams to be bridged, travel
in it can be in perfectly straight line.
Why should l want advertising? l
have no stock to sell, and l have full
confidence that the problem is solved
completely.
Within few years 1 will be able to
furnish small ships to carry two, three,
or six persons that will cost about $3.50
or $500 apiece. Men can live within
be in town."
THE LANDING PLACE
will be on the top OF the building In
which they work. l must explain that
every ship will be absolutely automatic.
There will be no steering wheel to
watch or any care to be taken. The
passenger will set the machine in GER
tain direction, a certain distance, at a
certain height, and that it will do.
This invention will need no advertis-
ing, but it is unjust and unfair to heap
ridicule and abuse on me because L say
l have succeeded. l grant you it seems
marvellous to say that space Will be
trayersed at 200 miles an hour, and the
results of success will revolutioniZe the
world and the worlds WAYS, no doubt,
but frankly have not thought much
about it. What do think of is this:
Grant that the air ship is success /
can carry passengers for one-half cent
a mile. Here, study on these figures:
From Chicago to New York it is by
rail nearly 800 miles. perhaps more. II
now takes twenty-four hours TO accom-
plish the distance and costs not far
from $50 dollars. The air ship can
make the distance in five hours. 1t can
90 there in the morning and return at
night, and carry nifty passengers each
time. Say that $3.50 is charged each
one. that makes $50. Now the eX-
pense: Fuel gas, say $40, that is extav-
agant: two men, say $40 each, that, too,
is extravagant; add the rent OF the
landing places in each city and all
other expenses, make all that $50 if
you like and there is still a prefit of
xISn