The Newtown bee., 1894-11-09
Washington Letter.
 FLYING MACHINES.
SOME OF THE NOVEL DEVICES THAT HAVE
 PROBLEM OF AERIAL NAVIGATION.

A more intelligent interest is being taken at the present time in the subject of navigating the air than ever before. The quest has been taken from the hands of the imaginative "Darius Greens" and is being pursued thorough ly by some of the most scientific men of our times. Among the foremost of Americans who are devoting their ener- gies to the solution of the problem are 5. P. Langley of the Smithsonian Insti- tute and Hiram Maxim, the inventor of the death-dealing rapid-fire gun which bears his name.
 The latter has been at work for years in his present English home in studying the question, and has spent many thou sand dollars in experiments and in the construction of a machine, purely me- chanical in every detail, which shall sail in the air. Just at this moment the eyes of the world are upon this prolific inventor on account of the apparent suc- cess which greeted his trial of July 2S, As recorded in the papers. The machine constructed has number of aeropianes about 20 feet wide and 100 feet long and set at an angle of about seven degrees, The idea is to have this device forced upwardly upon the opposing air by pow erful propeller wheels, in the same way | that kite is drawn up against the wind by string, the propeller merely taking | the place of the string,
 in diameter, are driven by light but pow erful engine using oil as fuel. The use of aluminium has been almost wholly dis pensed with as it has been found diff cult to make good joints capable of standing the working pressure of some 300 pounds. Considering strength and lightness together thin steel is found far superior. Leading across the meadow from the building in which the machine is stored is track having double rails ore above the other. The machine has wheels running between these rails and a set of delicate instruments will tell a, | any moment the weight which rests upon the lower rail- As improvements have been made from time to time it has beer found that the weight recorded was less and less, showing that the inventor wal approaching the longed-for moment when the apparatus would be able tt rise in the air.
 The engine develops about 300 horse power and together with supply o1 fuel, the weight to be raised is 7,00t pounds. When running upon the leve tracks speed of from 20 to 40 miles al hour has been often obtained. At last upon the day mentioned above, July 2S
 MT Maxim was able to actually ris, from the earth, the machine tearing away the upper rails of the track. Th' flight was short one, however, as thu ging of the air ship and caused it to fal to the ground.
 Still another class of investigators
 represented by Lillienthsl in German, and Mouillard in Egypt, seek to imitat,
 the sailing flight of birds, The forme
 has within year achieved some re
 markable results. His apparatus con
 sists of pair of rigid sails or aeroplane
 secured to the person. With these h.
 runs down hill towards the wind an, then leaps from the ground holding tn wings in such way that the wind vii
 strike the under side of them. Afte , many fall and scores of bruises to ga, nothing of a few broken bones, Nj