The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1896-12-05
SAILED AN AIR SHIP.
CLAIM A MACHINE HAS BEEN IN
VENTED AND OPERATED.
Mysterious Client Perfected n Ship
and Nnvigated the Ether Above
Sacramento.

San Francisco. Nov. 22.-The Chronicle
prints a story which would indicate that
the air ship in practicable form is an es-
tablished fact
About l o'clock last Monday morning
the inhabitants OF sacramento who were
astir at that hour, claim TO have seen
an air ship passing rapidly over the city
Some merely said they saw a bright
light, while others went so far as. to say
they saw a cigar-shaped flying machine
and heard human voices from it. The |
residents of Oakland also say they saw |
the same sight a few nights ago.
The story of the mysterious air ship |
has been told ali over the state and has |
created considerable amusement. as 1t
was generally peneved TO be a hoax. The
Chronicle this morning prints an inter-
view with George d. Collins, a reputable
lawyer of this city, who says that the
air ship is a reality. Attorney Collins
says
ut is perfectly true that there Is at
least a successful air ship in existence
and that California will have the honor
Of bringing it before the world. have
known of the affair for some time and am
acting as attorney for the inventor. He
| is very wealthy man, who has been
studying the subject of flying machines
for Is years and who came here seven
years ago from the state of Maine in
order to be able to perfect his ideas
away from the eyes of other inventors.
During the last five years he has spent
at least 100000 on his work. He has
not yet secured his patent. but his APP
plication is now in Washington. 1 can
not say anything about the machine he
has perfected, because he is my client,
and because he fears that the application
will be stolen from the patent office if
people come to know that his invention
is practicable.
Description of 1t.
II saw the machine one night last
week at the inventors invitation. 1t is
made of metal is about $50 feet long and
is built to carry Is persons There was
no motive power as far as 1 could see,
certainly no steam. 1t is built on the
aeroplane system and has two canvas
wings IS feet wide and a rudder shaped
like a birds tail. The inventor climbed
into the machine and after he had moved
: some of the mechanism for a moment /
saw the thing begin to ascend from the
earth, very gently. The wings tapped
! slowly as it rose and then little faster
as it began to move against the wind. The
l machine was Hnder l~erfect control al
2 the time.
when it got to a height of about 81
feet the inventor shouted to me that he
was going to make a series OF circles
He Immediately did So beginning by
e making a circle about 100 yards in di-
ameter and gradually narrowing it til
e the machine got within 80 feet of the
a ground. 1t then fell straight down, very
e gracefully, and touched the earth a.
s | lightly as a falling leaf.
Flew Over Sacramento.
THE reports from Sacramento the 9th
d.. err night were true. 1t was my client
= airship that the people saw. 1t stare,
from Oroville, in Butte county, and flew
6 miles in a straight line directly owe
- Sacramento. After running up and dow
once or twice over the capitol, my frien
= came right on a distance of another
= miles, and landed at a spot on the Oak
land side of the bay, where the machn
@ now lies, guarded by so men. The in
7, ventor said during his trial trip that hi
ship had a wave-like motion that mad
e him seasick. 1t is this defect that he
It new remedying.
# in another six days the trouble W,
5, be done away with, and it is then his in
# tention to Immediately give the peopl
s OF San Francisco a chance to see his md
h chine. He will fly right over the city an
n cross Market street a dozen times. 1 ca
d not tell where he is housing the ship {
q what his name is, as 1 am under a pledg
10 of secrecy, but it is a fact that the ms
n chine does its work perfectly, and WI
20 astound the world and revolutionize tray
- ell when it has been displayed before tt
public.
= 1.-The inventor can go with it to Ne
=, York if he wants to. He has forsaken tt
- ideas of Maxim and Langley entirely
y building the machine, and has construc
cd 1t on an absolutely new theory"
In spite of Mr.. Collins statement the
~ are many skeptics who say fatty they
-, not believe his story. 1t is almost il
credible that an air ship $50 feet loI
e. could be secreted in any building ne
San Francisco without the fact beil
p made public. The mysterious lights SCI
g, | over Sacramento if any were seen, q
90 thought to have been meteors WIFI
he passed within the range of vision of T.
ID, belated citizens who thought they sa
IS. an air ship.
lr- OroviIIe Wise Men Silent.
as Oroville Cal, Nov. 22-The rumor tn
al the air ship which is alleged to ha
m passed over Sacramento was construct
ed near this town seems to have a grain
i'm truth in it, The parties who could gi
he information if they would, however, a
aw extremely reticent. They give evasive a
nd swers or assert they know absolute
he nothing about it. Not a single pers