The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-12-01
SAILED OVER
Los ANGELES
Three Strange Lights Seen
Above the City of
Angels.
BACK ON THEIR COURSE
Hart Tells Why His Clients
Airship Takes to Great
Attitudes.
S MUCH EASIER. TO OPERATE
The Attorney G yes an Account of
Wonderful Electric Storage
Battery.

Every day and every night add more
testimony from those who have seen or
claim to know something about the
mysterious lights that for the past two
weeks have appeared in the sky from
Central to Southern California. Every
day and every. night add to the number
of those who are converted from skep-
ticism. TO a. belief that these lights are
attached to an alrship or aerial craft such
as the world has never seen before.
Whatever all these mysterious things
NAV be it stands to reason. that the
mystery cannot exist for ever, and in all
proba bility the truth will be known ere
many days or weeks pass. 1t is the pur-
pose of The CALL TO secure this knowl-
edge and present it to the public be 1t air.
ship or hoax.'
The telegraphic dispatches published in
yesterdays CALL gave accounts of the APP
pearance of strange lights making rapid
flights over the San Fernando Valley, in
Los Angeles County. last night the peo-
pie Of Los Angeles City we're treated to
the strange sight. Two Headlights passed
over the city at high rate of speed and at
very great distance from the earth. A
third light that appeared to have all the
characteristics OF a searchlight in the
hands of a skillful manipulation was
also seen in conjunction with
the two fixed lights. These passed
according to reports from the northwest
to the southeast, and two hours later they
reappeared, passing from the southeast to
the northwest. A number who witnessed
the phenomenon were inclined to believe
that some practical Joker was sending, up
toy balloons from the hills, but those who
believed in the airship theory were unable
to understand how toy balloons could
pass in opposite directions over the same
course, or what kind of toy balloon was
used that could stay up at d high altitude
with lights ablaze for over two hours.
Ex-Attorney-G General w. H. II. Hart,
the attorney for the inventor, while dis
cussing the power that could be or is used
for airships, made public some very in
teresting Information regarding the new
Fargo storage battery in which he is in
terested. He stated that the whole ap-
paratus of twenty-horsepower storage
battery weighs only about 125 or 100
pounds The receiving jars proper have
been reduced to such small compass that
they weigh less than three pounds, and
that jar of this size can be charged from
an ordinary incandesceht lisht wire.
Under such circumstances the master
of an airship would have but
little trouble in taking in .''fueP' that
would enable him to travel great many
miles. He could have his ship secreted in
the hills, walk into any town along the
route on which he might chose to travel,
hire room in a hotel, tap wire, ill his
soda bottles with chain lightning and
resume his voyage through the upper air
for another hundred miles or more.
The proposition seems almost too gigan-
tic to be true, but stranger things have
happened in the realm of science within
the last few years.
A late dispatch received last night from
Los Angeles reads as follows: =
1.-The mysterious airship was seen again
here tonight. The thing moved about
over the city for an hour. There is no
doubt as to the genuineness of the phe-
nomenon, whatever it. might be. Jack
Faulkner, Richard Sweet and other repu-
table citizens, who were directly under
the strange visitor, state that they saw
its wings. 1t created great excitement on
the streets tonight"