The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-08-15
New York SUM-

sacrifice his life to his scientific zeal has
been the belief of his family and friends.
The accident which caused his death is
one of Scores in some of which he es-
capped alive only by good luck. Time and
again he has been picked up from the
ground senseless, or groaning from the
pain of sprains or fractures, only to re-
turn to his experiment as soon as he
was able to be about again. To his in
defatigable efforts the science OF aero
nautios owes more than to the work of
any other man now living.
Herr Lilienthal's work wac along strict
ly scientific lines. He did not, as have
Prof. Rangley of Washington and many
Others. endeavor kto construct artificial
birds and send them tapping through
the air. What he essayed to do was to
accomplish flight himself, not to put
forth toy bird to do his flying for him.
With this object in view he strove to
master the principles of air sailing. In
fact he was an aeronaut lin the literary
sense of the term. Study of such birds
as the albatros, which scars for miles
with no visible movement of hthe wings,
and OF such contrivaE ces as the Austral-
ian boomerang, the marvellous flights OF
which no scientist has been able to ex-
plain, convinced him that there arc prin-
ciples of aerostatios of which scientists are
entirely ignorant. By experiment he
determined to find out for himself what
these principles were, and his life for the
last twenty seven years was given up to
that pur suit.
For long time his experiments were
without result. The scientific world
knew nothing of him. The neighbors
considered him a lunatio who would one
day put an end to his own lunaoy with
his contrivanoes. His family begged him
to give up his dangerous hobby. But he
kept at it unweariedly, until one day
the world was astonished with news
that Herr Lilienthal had succeeded in
soaring like bird, with no help from
supporting gases and without motive
power. Incredulity was expressed on all
sides, but it changed to wonder and adj
miration swhen the leading aeronautic
journal of the world, published in Paris
showed the photographs of the German
experimenter in full flight. The con-
trivanoe with which he made his first
flight WAS pair of wings made of strong
sheeting fabric, stretched on light willow
frames. They contained about eighty-six
square feet of sustaining surface. Other
men had experimental with wings of
somewhat similar material before, IN
successfully. The value of Llienthaps
wings lay in the application of his dis
covery IT. at " success in artificial fight
is to be expected only from ooncavo-oon-
vex sustaining surfaces" which has
since became maximsin aeronauitiots.
His wings were ribbed like those Of bat.
At first he began his flight from a
spring board rig ed in the garden, from
which he would jump, after a run, and
launch himsef into the air. It took him
a very long time to find out what was
going to happen Immediately after he
left terra f1rma.
In spite of caution" he wrote about
this time. "the wind frequently played
she mischief with me, and but for the
circumstance that was able to release
myself quickly from my apparatus I
might have had broken neck instead of
he sprains in feet or arms, which al
ways healed in few weeks"
Graduated from the spring board, the
axperimenter selected an abrupt hill at
Rhinow, near Berlin, for the starting
paint of his flights. 1t is here that he was
Rihsd. At first he used to run to the
brow of the hill and throw himself out
in this way he succeeded in soaring 60
to 50 feet. His flights were always
against the wind. which. by its pressure,
furnished the sustaining power that kept
him up. Next he built small tower
twenty feet high at the brink of the hill
and few from that. All this time he
WAS making minor improvements in his
apparatus and was becoming moro ex.
pert In steering. Two tails, one horizon
the other vertical TO act as the Eruddor of
boat acts, hesfound the best continuance
for steering. To rise or fall he used
himself as weight in altering the centre
OF gravity and thus the position of the
wings with relation to the wind, on the
Same principle as the navigator of sail
ing canoe steers without a rudder.
To go up in the air., wrote Herr
Liiienthalf, Sit is necessary for the soarer
to raise himself by making use of the
force acquired by his forward motion
1 have often been compelled to pass over
some suoh obstacle AS a tree or a group
Of people. 1t is easy to go up, and if one
Is not able to throw his weight quickly
to the rear. then the aeroplane swoops
forward and is crushed against the
ground" Sudden squalls also Threatened
this calamity by tossing up the wings
and oyerturning the flyer. Minor diff
culties were experienced from the air
currents caused by unevenness on the
earth's serface. Some very interesting
facts in the flow of air currents have
been adduced by Herr Lilienthal In