Arizona republican., 1894-01-25
A CASTLE IN THE AIR.
Novelty of Great Size for the Ant
werp Exposition.
Six Gigantic Balloons Will Sustain an
Aggregate Weight of Sixty Tons
A Restaurant in the
Clouds.

1t is difficult to conjecture what the
international expositions of the TWEEN
tieth century will offer to the world as
their cardinal attractions. If inven-
lions and schemes multiply at the pres
ent rate the future generations will
cape at surprises that will exceed the
widest imaginations of Baron Mum
chausen, Don Quixote or CULVER.
Paris was initiative with her architec-
tural marvel, the Eiffel tower. Chicago
followed suit with the colossal Ferris
wheel, and now comes Antwerp to the
front with an aluminium air-castle
project, which has ripened in the brain
of the Belgian engineer Tobyanski.
What next? Visitors to the Antwerp
exposition will ascend by elevator to a
cafe swinging in mid-air, 1000 feet
above terra firma. Whether the res
taurant proper will be a financial sue
cess or not remains to be seen. Not
everybody may feel digestively at ease
in this high swinging construction.
Dining-room chairs are conspicuously
vacant on ocean steamers during the
first two days of a voyage. When,
however, the ascent will prove COM
paratively safe, thousands will patron
ize the novelty and will help to enrich
the Air Castle company.
The foundationless edifice will &C
tually be built in the shape of
schloss, 2Ox1OO feet, and what makes
the scheme most possible is the dis
covered usefulness of aluminium.
Large bamboo sticks in conjunction
with this new metal will constitute
the principal building material.
Mannesman steel tubes and other light
material will also be introduced. Steel
netting, lined with China silk, will
cover the whole, which will permit
the mind to pass through and lessen
the otherwise heavy stored pressure
on a solid roof.
After admitting $50 visitors to the
castle it will not weigh much more
than sixty tons. Notwithstanding
this fact, it is stupendous weight to
lift and keep suspended in the air. A
giant composite balloon consisting of
six parts, each one of which is an in
dependent balloon, will perform this
task. -
How to keep this prodigious gas-flled
mass from undertaking an indefinite
tour of aeronautic explorations on its
own account is a question that is
solved by sixteen stout steel cables,
which are securely fastened on the ex-
position grounds. In a similar manner
the castle itself is to be secured by
strong cables and ropes, and it might
be supposed that this would be sufii-
Gent to keep it perfectly rigid. The
! high altitude and the ieXibility of the
steel cables, however, will invite a
perceptible swaying motion in the
| least stormy weather. Two of the bal
looms may happen to get out of repair
at one time without seriously interior
ing with the aerial diversions, since it
only takes four of them to support the
cafe when fully equipped and filled
with people. A gasmaking apparatus
on the grounds will initiate the large
silk balls, which will hold on an aver
age 1880 cubic meters of gas each.
The fine bird's-eye view which will
thus be afforded over the exposition
and over the most picturesque scenery
of Belgium will make the castle a
mecca for artists. 1t will also contain
observatories for astronomical investi-
cations and optical telegraphy. AS it
is to revel at night in maze of cleo
trio lights of endless colors, it will pre-
sent magic and most fantastic spec
tacle to the crowds below.