The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-23
rNoiSCo LAWYER TELLS Al
STARTLING TALE OF A NEW
INVENTION.
AIR SHIP THAT Is A SUCCESS
SACRAMENTO CITIZENS sroyr,
0HAiM THEY HAVE SEEN 1T
PASS OVER THE CITY.
PROMISES AN EARLY EXHIBITION
oiaims to Be the City OF
Nativity of the New In
vention

SAN FRANCISCO, Cal, Nov %
Inc chronicle prints a story which
would indicate that the airshin in
practicable form is an established
fact. iieu
About l o'clock last Monday morn
ing the inhabitants of Sacra manto
who were astir at that honr oIo;xa ~
nave seen an airship passing ranid1v
over the city Some merely sold 49,
saw bright light while others went
so far as to say they saw cioor
SNAPPED flying machine, and heard
il1an voices from it. The residents
- o"hi@Au' also, say they saw the
same sight few nights ago.
Inc story of the mysterious airship
mas oeen told all over the state and
mas created considerable amusement
% II was generally believed to he a
hoax q
The Cronicle this morning prints an
interview with George D. Collins }
reputable lawyer of this city. who
says that the airship is a reality. At
torney Collins says:
II IS perfectly true that there is AZ
ar5 successful airship in existence
ana that California will have +ha b'olos,
OF bringing it before the world T baIya
SHOWN OF the affair for some time and
I'll actlng as attorney for the inventor
ne is very wealthy man who no.
oeen studying the subject for, fif+nar
eoIS ana VINO came here seven wears
60 llonl maine in order to be able to
perfect his ideas away from the eveS
OF other inventors During tba Iasa
lIVe years he has spent at least S1OO mn
on MS work. He has not vet secured
ms ~ patent but his application is now
~ dshlngton. [ cannot saw much
a1'out the machine he has perfected be-
cause ne is my client, and besides he
fears that the application will he
stoIen from the patent office if people
come 10 know that his invention is
practicable. -
saw the machine one night last
week at the inventors invitation. TT
IS mace OF metal. is about $50 feet long
ana VIII carry fifteen people There
was no motive power as far as T con1d
see, certainly no steam.
IL IS built on the aeropIane system
ana mas two. canvas wings eighteen
rect wide and a rudder, shaped like
q plrds tall The inventor climbed into
the machine and after he had been
moving some of the mechanism for a
moment, l saw the thing begin to
ascend from the earth very gently.
THE WINGS FLAPPED
slowly as it rose and then a little faster
as 1t began to move against the wind.
me machine was under perfect control
all the time. When it got to the height
OF about ninety feet the inventor shout
ed TO me that he was going to make a
series of circles and then descend. He
Immediately did so, beginning by max
Ing a circle about 100 yards In diameter
and then gradually narrowing it until
the machine got within thirty feet of
the ground. 1t then fell straight down,
very gracefully and touched the earth
as lightly as a falling leaf.
'The reports from Sacramento the
other night were true. 1t was my eli
ent's airship that the people saw. It
started from Oroville and flew sixty
miles in straight line directly over
sacramento. After running up and
down once or twice over the capital
my friend came right on a distance OF
another seventy miles and landed at
spot on the Oakland side Of the BAY.
where the machine now lies, guarded
by three men.
'"The inventor found during his trial
trip that his ship had a Wave-like mo-
ton that made him seasick. In anoth
er SIX days this trouble will be done
away with and it is then his intention
to Immediately give the people of San
francisco chance to see his machine.
He Will fly right over the city and
across Market street a dozen times.
l cannot tell you any further particu
lars than that the machine does it's
work perfectly, and will astound the
world and revolutionize travel when it
has been displayed before the public.
The inventor can fly with 1t to New
York tomorrow If he wants to. He
has forsaken the ideas of Maxim and
Langtry entirely in building the ma
chine, and has constructed it on an
absolutely new theory"
In spite Of Mr.. Collins statement,
there are many skeptics who say fiat
ly they do not believe the story. 1t
is almost incredible that an airship
$50 feet long could be secreted in any
building near San Francisco without
the fact being made public. The mys-
ferrous lights seen over Sacramento.
if any were seen, are thought to have
been meteors which passed within
range of the vision of beIated citizens
who thought they saw an airshfp.