The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1896-01-30
A GREAT INVENTION.

A GREAT INVENTION.
Some time in his life every man in
vents a flying machine, and it is we'll if
he gets safely through this mania while
he is yet boy. If the fever takes him
later in life, he is certain to lose money
and reasonably sure of breaking his
neck. 1t is said that there is no law to
prevent q man making fool Of him
self, but in this case there is, and it is
the law Of gravity, which was passed
previous to the time this country took to
making statutes, and it has never been
interfered with by legislative amend
ments, nor has it been overturned by the
action of higher court, except, per-
haps, in the case of Elijah.
Most men who go in for ballooning
take tumble before they get through
with it, but Kulparker came to disaster
through remaining on the ground, which
was unique experience in the aerial
business. I met Kulparker at a health
resort. He was there, he said, for his
nerves. His nerves had gone back on
him. He read to me an article on nerves
from Smiley's Microscopical Journal,
which article said that if you killed
bundle of nerves and then got them to
die you could see them through any
we'll regulated microscope. 1t was evil
dent that Kulparker was now as much
interested in the subject Of nerves as he
had formerly been on balloons
' my nerves went wrong few weeks
ago." he told me, "and by the irony Of
fate the doctor informed me that I
should 60 to Malaga in Spain, and that
place would put me all right.
"Why the irony of fate?" I asked,
land why didn't you 60 to Malaga in
stead Of coming to this placer"
He sighed and said it was all on &C
count Of the Kulparker automatic bal
loon. When he said this, was in the
unenviable position Of the questioner
who wanted to know how the other man
lost his leg, and was informed that it
had been bitten off. / naturally wanted
to hear about the balloon, and Kulpar-
ker was good enough to oblige me, the
account he gave being at once an expla-
nation Of how he lost his nerve and why
ue uaT0u uOG Bo W MuAaSa.
Some men invent flying machines
merely because they want to fly; others,
however, have humanitarian objects in
view, desiring to confer great benefits
upon their fellow beings. Kulparker be-
longed to the latter class. He not only
wanted to bestow lasting benefits, but
also dynamite upon his fellow creatures.
1t would be little rough on humanity
at the beginniDg-even Kulparker ad-
mitted this-but as it would ultimately
abolish war, he thought the experiment
worth trying as long as the dynamite
did not fall ON his own head. Inventors
are somewhat prone, while benefiting
the species, to take good care that they
do not themselves come in for any of
the disadvantages. Such was Kulpar-
ker's intention, but it missed fire.
The Kulparker automatic was very
much like other balloons, except that it
had propeller attached which was
worked by compressed air. The COM
pressed air scheme was very ingenious,
if I understand it Alright. If what Kul-
parker says is true, you can, with the
proper machinery. compress something
like continent Of air into the size of a
drop of water. This drop you can put
into strong but light aluminium boil,
er, if I may call it SO, and the drop OK.
pands into q workable compressed all
that will run motor. If, therefore, you
have bottle full of drops Of compressed
air, and an automatic arrangement thai
will allow q drop to escape into the
boiler as needed you have at your dis,
posal tremendous amount of energy
stored in small compass and Of compar
atively NO weight at all, which is very
desirable when you are dealing with q
balloon. The motor worked the far
which sent the balloon in any given di
rection.
So much for the motive power. Thu
armament consisted Of tube through
which was dropped at satisfactory inter
. walls, regulated by clockwork mechan
ism, dynamite cartridge which explod
ed when it hit the earth. The balloon
when fully loaded, contained so dyna
mite cartridges, and Kulparker's ide,
was that the balloon could be sent il
any direction high above an army. drop
ping dynamite down upon the troop
from its elevation above rife shot, thu
bringing discomfort, confusion and per
haps annihilation upon the enemy