Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-01-19
.---a--s---- $780, .-4--..-
CHEAT RIVERS HERMIT.
A Scientist Who Lives in the Mountains
Devising Flying Machines.

a Scientist Who Lives In the Mountains
Devising Flying Machines
For years Bernard Cressler has lived alone
away up toward the source of the beautiful
Cheat He is known as n scientist and
astronomer Of no mean note in that locality,
and of late uncanny reports have crept
down the mountains of the strange doings
in TIE vicinity of his little cabin.
In the midst OF the widest scenes the sci
enlist, astronomer and hermit was found
OF all the hobbies this man rides one is par
amount and has been the cause of his leav-
ing civilization, that he might study and
experiment alone with nature. That hobby
IS a flying machine. Cressler has spent
years in this study and believes the only
perfect machine is that devised and con
trolted by the Divine Builder, and this he
has taken as his model.
Cressler's model is the enormous hawk OF
these mountains, which is capable with i'm
movable wings to soar for hours, not COM
batting the winds, but utilizing such air
currents as power to lift it higher This
hawk he compares to a skillful skater who
has acquired his momentum artificially,
and then by throwing his body this way
and that by force of gravity continues as he
pleases, his cleverly poised body on the
keen skates being an assistance instead OF
Cressler's contrivance is not machine,
nor is it built to antagonize, but rather to
utilize the forces of nature. He says the
schoolboy's kite comes nearer to the ideal
flying machine than any intricate and
labored effort of a million fond expert
ments. Being taXidermist with won.
derful eye for nature, he has scores OF
hawks in his cabin poised in all the posi-
tions assumed in flying Some of these
attitudes TO layman's eye appear extreme
ly awkward, but the scientists eXplana
tions are plausible and his proofs convinc
ing.
For instance, he has gone so far into tbs
science of the hawk flying that he has dis
| sected the muscles of a score, made drafts
| of each particular set and noted on tht
| drawing their peculiar uses when the birC
| is flying. ue has also closely estimated th'
| strength eXerted by each muscle or set o
muscles, and applying them to the whole
| declares positively that man possesses eacl
| muscle necessary, and besides that has ten
| fold the requisite strength.
His machine is made to be worn like AZ
ordinary suit, hut when dQpped it unfold
| marvellous possibilities 1t fits like
glove and is manipulated instinctively as
| part of the body, each muscle of arm anC
| leg and body eXerting itself at the prope
| time. The wcarcr rises perpendicularly il
| the air, and then throwing out the bar
shaped wings floats or rather scars at ease
| not descending as one would naturally sup
| pose, but if wind is blowing he rathe
rises with it, making no effort to comba
the air current, but adapting his fight t
its strength and fitting his wings, which
are enormous, but light rs possible, t.
| guide his flight. In fact Cressler does no
| fy-he rather scars. To this one end h,
has bent all his energies of mind and bod!
for years and it only remains for practict
10 bring more intelligent flight, coupled
with absolute certainty of direction
| Pittsburg Commercial Gazette