The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-01

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
According to Prof. Myers. the principal
/ American authority on aerial navigation.
we are very near to solving the problem
/ of air travel
/ Says the professor:
mo trouble to fly. Trouble is to land
safely. II we had as much experience as
birds. if we had generations sack of US
1 spent in floating in the air, adapting our
selves to air currents. we should all fly
now.
1T would not take much strength TO
| fly. Birds do not fly with their wing
muscles. They raise themselves in the air
with those muscles, aud fly simply by
using their wings as aeroplanes.
Man viii fly with less muscular effort
than birds. He will not need to lift him
self Off the ground. Steam or some other
force will do that for him. He will start
from the hight that suits him and calmly
float off to his destination.
Il do not exaggerate when 1 say that
this floating In air will be no more difficult
than skating or riding a bicycle. OF
cause the results of a mistake would be
so much more dangerous. But. in time
all rapid transit will be by floating.
This is what you Will see in the days
to come. For suburban traffic, railroad
trains on all sorts of primitive ground
| conveyances viii be done away with.
In the center of great cities or in the
most convenient spot there will be a great
tower, point of departure for those liv-
ing out of town. Probably in time there
will be a great many of these towers run
by rival concerns. Elevators will take the
travellers to the top for cent or less
| each. The traveller will spread his wings,
point toward his home and float peace
fully.
Il despise whatever is not scientific and
reasonable. This is most reasonable. 1t
| is scientific fact that when man goes
| up 1000 feet into the air he has in himself
| sufficient graVitative force to carry him
| 100 miles. A man starting from the top of
a tower 1000 feet high would float off for
100 miles and land gently without any mus
cular effort whatever.
His aeroplane wings would hold him
up and he would move forward and down
ward at a delightful angle. OF course, if
he went the fun 100 mics from only 1000
| feet, and then wanted to go ony 10 miles
| he would increase the angle and scoot
downward and homeward with the swift
I
will make marvelously rapid flights. They
will be the scorchers of the future, and
! laws will be passed against them. of
| course, after dark fliers will carry lights
and there vii be many restrictions to avoid
midair collisions. These statements will
excite mirth among the unthinking, but
| they are not eXaggerations, and they will
not excite as much mirth as did the first
appearance of the locomotive
THE big birds, the soaring birds, float
along on the air like ship on the water
with the added power of gravitation and
a skill beyond our comprehension to carry
them along. That skill, however is no more
wonderful to us than our bicycling would
be to them.
"Of course the flyer would live near
some returning tower and would fly or
| float back to town in the morning. How
long it will take the human race to get
! used to the air as a travelling medium |
do not know, do not believe 1t will take
| long.
Our present experiments with bags Of
gas suspended above US are exactly similar
to the experiments of the swimmer learn
| ing to swim with a bladder or other life
! preserver holding him up. When he ceases
to be afraid Of the water he swms When
| we cease to be afraid of the air and learn
a.. little more about it. we shall float.
| This is not guess work. 1t is a fact
Prof. Myers has been at work for sew
! enteen years on aerial navigation. He Is
very fond of his profession
1t is not difficult for Prof. Myers to
talk interestingly for two hours. Here
are samples Of his talk:
! THE balloon was a grand thing from
! the start. 1t is the only important dis
! covery that has not been materially I'M
| proved upon in 100 years. BY the balloon
l mean the gas bags for lifting weights
! into the air
THE best balloon would be the balloon
If l1n1 fc-E Hole fl.
| ing at adjust vacuum. But the trouble
! is that the pressure of atmosphere
! amounts to Is pounds to the square inch
| This pressure is exercised in all dIrec-
! lions. That means that a balloon Of 5000
| cubic feet contents must stand a pressure
| of about $4,000 pounds. Nothing hollow
could stand that No brace of the ordi-
nary kind would stand it. But you find in
| hydrogen gas a brace which will stand
| the pressure, and which is lighter than
any other possible brace, being sixteen
! times lighter than the air This gas
makes the best balloon. 1t weighs it
down readily, but it is lighter than the
| air, and is the best possible substitute for
vacuum, which would send the balloon
up better but which cannot be had.
"BallOoning is very safe. I have NOT
made many ascensions-about sixty or
seventy. My wife has made Co., They
were practically free from danger and
very pleasant They are not as danger
GUS as many Broadway crossings Legit-
innate ballooning must not be COMPOUNDED
with hot-aif balloons or parachutes. Para
chute exhibitions are against the law in
this state. The man who has continually
exhibited as a parachute performer does
not live. He must be killed sooner or later.
1t is only a question of time
About the north pole balloon expedi-
ton? No reason why that should not
succeed If the men know their business.
There are all sorts of currents in the
air, and they ought to be able to get the
right ones. 1t is possible for the aero
naut to change from one current to an
other while he is up above the earth.
just as ne would change from one troll
ley car TO another here below. One cur
rent may be going one way and another
a little further down or up may be going
another way. Take the current YOU
want; it is very simple. Birds know
all about this. When they are flying
about for fun you will often see them
drop down or go up. They are then
simply changing to the current that
viii best suit their purpose. They have
to learn how to fly. In the beginning.
just as men viii have to do. They must
learn how 70 regulate their descent SO
as not to hurt Themselves and rnanty