Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-26
An ideal BOOMERANG.


Prof. Lsnsieys Interesting Exp~~ss.sus, -
the ssnithsonian fnstftution-
INCIDENTALLY TO HIS INVESTIGATIONS
l. respecting flying machines Secretary Lang
ley OF the Smithsonian Institution hes been
making some most interesting srperimeus,
with boomerangs. which he regards a. llustrat-
ing certain problems having reference 70
serostation-
For this purpose he recently had made 10
order number OF ideal boone rangs. based %
binary boomerangs. such 40 are employed by
The natives Of Australia, would not serve.
There are ffty Of them in the National Mo-
scum, manufactured for actual use in the land
OF the kangaroo. but not one in the lot viii do
What the typical boomer sng Is advertised 10
oo-nAmely, return 10 the thrower. They are
AZ very rudely shaped curved sticks, doubtless
enectve missles, but nothing more. No won
Ger that travellers in the island continent have
S SeeiAIeo tns return boomerang 10 be . myth
Yet 10 10 not %.
TEE RKAL ARTICLE.
These boomsrsngs Of Prof LAnslsy's do ~
turn. One Of his assistants. Prof ots T.
Mason the famous snthropologist. has attained
such sIpertness through praeticiug with them
that, although = small man, he can throw them
100 yards and they will come back 20 his feet
every time. Several sets Of them were made
on different patterns for trial The perfect
ones are esch . dat strip OF hard wood, bent In
It's own plane ct an angle OF about i20 degrees
one-third Of an inch thick and slightly tapered
toward the rounded ends thinued gradually 20
sharp edges in every part and polished Two
pieces, neatly mortised together, are used 20
make the angle. Such 10 the ideal boomerans
q small counterfeit Of which, cut out Of card
board, will afford amusing ILLUSTRATION Of
the principle involved. The real INSTRUMENT ID
held by one end horizontally and 'tkimmed'
through the air.
THE ssMr wrrH cARDa
Perhaps you have seen Hermann o. some
other adept In seight-of-hsnd throw playing
cards from the stage into the fourth gallery Of
q big theater. Itisa remarkable feat and vet
the only difficulty lies In 90 finging the card
that upon leaving the fingers 10 shall revoive
once IN its own plane. IL 10 ''wobbles" the re-
sistsnoe Of the air will stop It. But once
started revolving in the manner described, %
must keep on flying edge first until the force
which propelled It is used up. The boomerang
does the same thing. II similarly cast Being
sufficiently heavy of admirable shape for throw
Ing, and yet thin and sharp edged, IL travels
wonderfully far.
Bot WIZ DOES IT RrruRx7
Nothing could be more simple. Did you
ever see boy at school place scrap Of card
board beneath his thumb nail, snap Il with his
other fore-fnger and send il flying across the
class room? Strangely enough. when il has
reached the end OF its fight supposing that it
has struck nothing, it starts 20 come back.
Prof. Hermann will in like manner throw 4
card half way across the theater and IL will re-
turn TO his feet 1t does 90 because Il IL easier
for IL 10 do that than 70 do anything else.
Being light the air sustains il somewhat, sad.
gravity acting upon At, IL slides down the came
plane by which Il went up. To 90 in any other
direction than back TO the throwsr it would
have to change its plane, turning its edge In
another direction. Try il yourself by skim
ming playing card part way across the room
and you viii find that 1t returns part way 70
your feet
THE PRIScIPLK OF THE BOOMERANG rs rHs sAnE
1t Ii not the curve In the stick that causes 10
TO come back. The instrument 10 made IN
that shape merely because it can be moro
easily revolved In lie own plane than IL it had
any other FORM Because il does 80 revolve,
meeting the least resistance by the air, ID
travels the maximum distance with Q given ex-
penditure OF force, and IL properly cast re-
turns like the card TO the feet Of the throwsr.
II flies 90 swiftly, being light in proportion 70
Its surface, that gravity does not have much
time TO act upon it. OF course when flung
great distance IL must reach the ground before
getting back TO the throwcr, unless aimed
somewhat upward.
IN AusrRALfA
How did the 'black fellows" d Australia,
lowest Of savages in the scale Of humanity,
discover such principle a. that Of the boom
ersng? Doubtless BY accident They have
found the weapon useful for killing ducks and
other water fowl on the marshes, where mis-
siles thrown were not easily recovered. II The
game was struck the stick fell with 10 and Ne
hunter could wade in and recover both. Other-
wise the boomerang came back and was ready
for another shot Properly made boomsranes
would do this, at all events, and some Of those
possessed by the natives must be Constructed
on more or less correct principles, but most q
them are merely bent clubs, somewhat rsssn-
bling the rabbit sticks which the Zuni
Indians fling at jack rabbits, breaking the lsgs
Of the animals az they jump over the tall prais3s
grass. On ancient Egyptian monuments men
are Represented in the act OF throwing curved
sticks. Probably they were employed FOR knl-
ing big birds in the sedges Of the Nile. There
Is no reason for supposing that they returned
Owing to its shape the trajectory OF the Boon
erang 10 sweeping oval