The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-05


Looking over the files Of United States
patents one finds the name of DR. Beck
ley, whose aerial apparatus Is provided
with a peculiar condenser. The machine
uescehds by Withdrawing gas into che
condenser and asCends by permitting IL
10 expand. ID. II. Carl has "a device ar
slmpller. 1t Is a huge umbrella VITA a
sort or wing attached to the handle I he
operator presents the wing 10 the end AT
oiItfent inclinatiOns, according to The
direction in which he wants 10 travel
hather more surprising is a balloon rig
sed IKE three-masted ship with side
paudie wheels to assist the propulsion
oleieu by the sails. This is the concep-
ton OF d gentleman named q. Francis.
Inc blrd idea Is very popular with aero
hauuc theorists. w. r. Quinby offers a
picture OF himself, In which he is seen IN
the act or managing Outspread wings
much in the manner Of a man
who rows a boat. In another patent "A
cigar-shaped balloon is propelled by six
oarsmen, with winged oars. which col
lapse automatically on the backward
stroke. Thayer is the name of the inven-
ventor whose airship is sustained aloft
by a winged flock of kites while a drag be
nina steadies it. Ii travelling over water,
the drag is "A boat; over land II Is d loaded
wheel cart; over ice it is "A sledge
There are several patents which involve
the use or explosives fired In he rear for
the purpose of propulsion. one of these
requires rockets. A corkscrew balloon As
provided with a continuous spiral fin, and
rs supposed literally to bore its way
through the air, the whole contrvance
rotating. Yet another device is a flying
machine which progresses by sucking air
IN at the bow and forcing IL out at the
stern. Many of the notions described re-
peat themselves in different forms In tie
records Of the patent Office The familiar
parachutes by which aeronauts descend
In exhibitions was patented in 1902,
A remarkable kind OF boat mas a tubu-
lar mast TO the upper end Of which is
attached balloon. Gas Is supplied to the
balloon from tanks in the boat Thanks to
this contrvance. It is impossible for the
boat to sink, even though II should be
nlled with water. Another contrivance is
a cigar-shaped balloon propelled by means
of sort of unicycle. The operator sits
in saddle and works the pedals thus
causing fans to revolVe. Gen. Hutchinson
Of the British army has patented bal
loon that has the form Of a very long ci-
gar, with a metal tube for a back bone
to keep the machine rigid.
Another inventor named LOmaX has
obtained exclusive rights recently in what
he calls cable airship." 1t IS made of
thin sheet aluminium, and carries a pal
ace car fitted up in most luxurious fash
ion. The cable on which II travels is sus-
pended on T posts, and lofty supports are
to be provided where rivers are to be
crossed. The machine Is run by power
full storage battery and IS expected to
cross the continent in a day.
The employment of living birds In con-
nection with machines for aerial navi-
cation is suggested In more than one pat
ent. Marius Michel proposed TO harness
a whole flock of trained pigeons to a
triangular framework, from which the
car is to be suspended The birds are to
be guided by reins.
Another Frenchman, named Wulff pre-
fers to harness his birds so that they
are obliged to fly in a certain direction.
When he wishes to turn he has only to
change the adjustment of the harness.
These inventors who eschew the balloon
as means of support usually rely upon
revolving fans, placed horizontally. The
fans are expected to upllft the aerial We
hicle. There is no question that they
ought to do 1t, but somehow they don't
seem to in practice. One patentee offers
n kite Of vast area, within which sails
reVolve, a basket being suspended under
meath. Another, named Lamboley, has a
giant mechanical bird, the body of which
is occupied by the aeronaut, who waves
the wings with his arms.
A very interesting aeronauticai concep-
ton Is Womans. Her name Is Mar
garet Martin and she proposes to run a
balloon line from Dover to Calais. A
ropes to be suspended for the entire dis
lance at an elevation of 400 feet above
the sea, passing over pulleys at either
end. This endless rope is TO be run by
steam, carrying passenger airships
Another English inventor would employ
a cannon In his balloon car for the pur-
pose OF projecting a harpoon-lilxe graph
Htl INTO the ground Mnen II desired 10
anchor. He would take along with him
also number of inflated canvas bags.
to keep the car afioat in case Of a de-
scent into the sea. One style of war
balloon IS so arranged that explosive
bombs may be conveyed up the rope
by which It Is held captive and dropped
into fort. There is a kind Of balloon
that can be illuminated from within by
electricity for signalling, the current be-
ing furnished by storage battery in the
car or by a wire from the ground
Decidedly strange is the scheme for
taking photographs by means off rock
cts The rocket is projected over the
place which is desired to be photographed
an enemy's fertilization, for example
and on exploding 1t liberates a camera
and parachute. The camera makes the
exposure, and then is drawn back by a
string together with the parachute which
sustains it.
The confidence entertained bv tbe in
ventors in the practicability of their Nv
ing machines Is utter and absolute Not
long ago an old gentleman who had Just
got patent on q new-fashioned pair
of wings decided to make a public trial
of them before leaving Washington He
started to soar with them from a stone
abutment twenty feet high on the south
side of the patent Office, but landed on
his nose on the sidewalk below and dam
aged himself considerably. It would be
mistake to suppose that aeronautical
lunacy is new. In 1910 a Jesuit named
Francis Lana proposed to make four
copper balls. each twenty-five feet in
diameter, thinner than tissue paper.
They were to be rendered buoyant by
exhausting the air from them, and il
was expected that they would carry l. 200
pounds. AS late as ITO Joseph Gaiien,
a professor of philosophy contended that
It was practicable to collect the rarefied
air from a lofty mountain top and in
close 1t in a vessel a mile in diameter
which would carry a weight hfty-fOur
time as great as that of Noah's ark.
Early theorists proposed that the at
mosphere covered the earth like a shall
low ocean, on which the aerial vessels
they had in mind were intended to float
like ships on the sea. Four centuries ago
Lauretus published a statement to the
effect that swans eggs filled with quick
silver would ascend in the air when ex-
posed to the sun; but it is not recorded
that anybody else was ever able to per-
form the experiment successfully.