The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-11-18
AEKIIL NAYIGaTIOR.
The Prob en- Has Mt Last Been solved by u
Young Inventor.

aerial navigation has been ACCOMPLISH
Cd, and not later than 1898 you viii see
an air ship mail line between Washington
and San Francisco" The above remark
was made with earnest conviction to-day
by a youLS scientist, inventor and PM
losOpher, whom destiny seems to have
indicated as the one to solve the problem
which has bafiled scientists for ages
the problem of sailing i'm the air Walter
A. Mercer, a former Cincinndtan, well
known for his inventions and scientific
research. has invented an air shl.. OuHS
Mercer is but q years Of age ana la
made a successful trip Of nearly forty
miles in the Albatross. constructed Who'll
- by himself.
The wonderful voyage was made near
Trenton. y. j., the Zfth OF last August,
by the boy inventor, alone ana almost
unOhserVad. Yet the strange craft was
seen and a Trenton paper stated the day
following that an Illuminated balloon
pas, cd over the city, going III an caster
ly direction. late on Sunday night That
"nlumihated balloon was the carefully
constructed ship of this young man.
Mercer, when "A boy, attracted the at
tenton Of President Ingalls,, OF the bis
Four and while engaged IN the SHOPS o.
;hat road al Brehtwood. ma, ne worked
ont his first model With money to PACK
him he built large model in lSi3, but
to secure greater secrecy ne anu ~
friend, Macquithy, went TO the -. "oHIl
River i'm Florida, and lullt another snip
on an improved plan and with tho as
sistauce of Thon as \. Edison. IL was
completed and ready for trl9l on SUNDAY
Mercer refused 10 make tue irlal lheil
ana left IL In charge or me NehtH t9"ihc
Macquilhy. who trying 70 make an eN-
cusion worked the engine too rapldE
and broke The ship. Walter Mercer was
later elected member without appH-
Caiou OF the American Electrical lnSu-
tutC of Philadelphia.
1T was bright moonlight night, the
eth OF August, when ] uuauN got start
ed" said he. The ship l constructed
in a barn ia Ydrdly, Ia. quiet bttle
village across the Delaware River from
Trerton | made the start sunday
night considerably after midnight. be-
cause 1 wanted the utm0s: secrecy.
When outside the shed 1 got in and
turned on the current and the ship Wci-
up Professor Langley, OF the Smithso-
MAN Institute, furnished me with ma
Iiuer'S compass a barometer ana thcr-
mometer TO make tests. / 40 not know
to inst what height l was, but / think
about two hundred feet part OF the time.
/ crossed the Jersey meadows. INTENDED
10 land in the Orange Mountains, but
missed them. l was scared when II came
10 lowering the ship, for / dld not know
what would happen. ! opened tue huge
silk parachutes but they worked badly.
/ landed with a hard bump. winch scrap
ed the ship and tore on the springs.
tOuched ground on the OUTSKIRTS OF
little town not many miles from New
York after making a trip OF about tmrty
miles. | Immediately covered the snip
with canvas and had II hauled away
The Albatross is II feet inches long
and feet wide when the two silk wing
parachutes are open The ship is built Of
aluminium and weighs 1SS pounds and 8
ounces IL has one rear propeller ana
four propellers on top, used 10 elevate
the ship. Inside there was an aluminium
electrical engine of l-2 initial horse
power; the armature and four motors
were cleverly arranged with an idea Of
econOmizing space. me light which gave
rise TO the theory of the Illuminated bal
loon was caused by an arc light shining
through the peep-hole in the bottom
Mercer stood on the bottom in the centre
and worked everything on a switchboard
Chicago Herald.