Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-01-25

| ~A~~~
| and the scientific ex-
| perts of the govern
| ~ ment propose to in
wade it and record observations with in
struments Of precision: The facts thus
| gathered are expected to simplify the busi-
| ness of making weather forecasts and to
render the latter much more accurate than
heretofore. Much may be accomplished
eventually in this way by ascents in bal
| looms but, pending hoped-for improvements
| in such flying apparatus, kites are to be en-
ployed.
Experiments are now being made with
| species of kite which would astonish the
best-irformed small boy. Nobody unac-
qualnted with the higher principles Of
aerostation would imagine that such a thing
could possibly fly. 1t looks more like series
| Of dry goods boxes strung together than like
| kite The boxes, however. are of silk, and
they have no tops or bottoms A string of
five of them weighs only twenty-five ounces,
the framework being of very light sticks of
wood. But you ought to see the machine go
| up. 1t doesn't fly like an ordinary kite: it
| goes up into the air with a rush. and scars
| far aloft like lowering bird, almost with
| out perceptible motion.
The inventor of this strange flying ma
| chine is Mr.. 8. A. Potter of the weather
bureaus stan Recently he invited your
correspondent to go out to his country place
near Washington and see his kites 20 up,
There were number of them, ali con-
structed on the same principle, but having
varying number of boxes or cells" "a
| they are termed. The most seryicabIe ma +
| tern thus far seems to be that which con-
sists OF only two boxes. Stood on end, 1t is
three and half feet high. and its weight is
exactly thirteen ounces It has fifteen
| square feet of silk or muslin, the idea being
that the weight shall not exceed one ounce
for each square foot of lifting surface. Mus
| lin Is used for everyday experiments but
Silk is lighter, and therefore, better
Strong Fuller.
On the crest of a. hill was a huge reel,
| wound like a SPOOL with 1000 feet of strong
| cord. The reel was belted to a table, the
| legs Of the latter being, driven deep into the
| ground, and otherwise secured This ar
| rangement was necessary because of the
! tremendous pull Of the kites, which other
| wise would run away with table reel and
| all. Mr.. Potter tied one of his two-story
| KITES TO the end OF the string. tossed it into
the ar, and up 1T shot as naturally as bird
would rise on the wing. Out ran the cord
from the reel, and up and up scared the
kite into the blue empyrean. where 1t hung
almost motionless at q height of 800 feet.
| perhaps. = 90
1.-The wind is light today" said Potter.
| with a good breeze have sent my kites
| as high as 1900 feet. We are only at the
| beginning Of our experiments, and we shall
| do ever SO much better before long. In the
| first place, this cord i'd very heavy, and q
| few hundred feet Of it weigh good DEAL
| SO as to pull down the kite At the wealth
| er bureau we are getting ready lot of
very fine but strong steel wire, and that is
| to be substituted for the cord 1t Will
weigh not nearly as much. and will be bet
ter for the purpose altogether. With this
Improvement in the apparatus, I expect to
| be able to raise kites to an altitude Of at
least a mile. When we can do that, we
shall be in a position to ascertain import
facts about Of fbo
atmosphere. Eventually we hope to attain
an elevation of two miles more.
1t Is Of the utmost importance that tho
kite shall hang in the air as nearly without
motion as possible, because 1t is intended
| to carry various self-registering instru-
| me nts. Under such circumstances it would
| not DO to have the machine diving and
plunging about One of the Instruments
which we propose to use is for determining
| temperatures in the upper levels Of the air
| 1t weighs about two pounds. being made
emery OF aluminium. and contains a clock
work mechanism by means of which q
| thermometer record is inscribed on a sheet
OF white paper. Other apparatus is now
being devised by Prof. Marvin Of the
Ing wind velocity. humidity and barometrio
pressure-the last being a measure Of
height, OF course Perhaps. also. we shall
make note OF the amount Of electricity
| levels.
When Balloons VIII Be Used.
| knowledge Of all these conditions has
much to do with the science of forecastine
tie weather. 1t may fairly be said that the
key of successful forecasting is to be found
| In acquaintance with the conditions Of the
| upper air. When we are able to make ac-
| curate observations at heights from one
mile to two miles above the surface Of the
| earth, we shall have made a great step
| ahead But, while we hope to accomplish
| much by this exploration Of elevated
| regions OF the atmosphere, respecting which
| almost nothing Is known at present, it Is
too early to speak with confidence. AS yet
we nave scarcely begun our work. Prof.
| Moore, chief of the weather bureau, to
| whom all the credit of this idea is due,
proposes to send Prof. Hazen up in bal
| loon In the midst Of storm some day be-
| servations.
| THAT has nothing to do with kite flying.
| fcweEer Our new reel for the latter pur-
pose will be wound with 10000 feet, or near
| iy two miles, Of steel wire. An important
advantage of the wire is that it offers COM
paratively little resistance to wind. II you
| have 1000 feet of cord thfrty-second of
an inch thick, upheld by kite, the surface
presented by it to the wind is very consid-
| cradle and the resistance to the air cur
| rent thus offered tends to pull the kite
Down: Accordingly, the kite on a wire is
gees the greater the VELOCITY Of wind which
1t finds to uphold tt2for wind velocity in
creases as the higher levels of the atmos-
phere are reacheds Greater wind velocity
means increased lifting power for the kite.
so that 1t can sust tain more wire. 1t is by
figuring on these data that we arrive at a
reasonable expectation Of being able to fly
cur kites at an elevation of two miles when
our arrangements are Completed"
| While he talked Mr.. Potter had not been
idle. The two-story kite still floating in the
ak ak he ne attached 3 separate piece of cord
100 feet In length to another kite Of the
same pattern. The end Of this string he
tied to the main tord near the reel. and
then he tossed kite No. 2 into the air. It
rose rapidly. and moment later there were
two artificial birds Of. muslin and sticks
soaring aloft, one far above the other. This
process was repeated With third kite, and
that sent up ii like manner. The strain
on the cord had become by this time very
| considerable, and Mr.. Potter explained that
In high wind 1t was the hardest kind Of
work to fetch a flock Of his birds to earth
again. the pull being sometimes forty
pounds or more In severe gale it might
1anTUUEXYs