The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-07-20
DARES FATE IN A ROCKET.
McEwen, the Aeronaut, Has a Scheme
for Rapid Transit


for Rapid Transit.
HOUGHTON, Mich, July ia
Michigan man proposes to ascend to
the height Of two miles in the air, in
rocket His idea is not intended as
spectacular means of committing
suicide, for he proposes descending to
earth by means of a parachute, and
neither is the originator of this most
startling fin de steele means Of aerial
navigation backwoods genius of the
sort that studies out perpetual motion
devices. The man who proposes to make
the trip is w. w. McEwen of Jackson,
Mich, a man who has made more
balloon ascensions than any other liv-
ing American. Mr.. McEwen has been
making incursions into the atmosphere
to various heights for the last eighteen
years, and, though on the sunny side
of 40, is easily the oldest living Ameri-
can aerOnaut among the professional
class. The aeronautical trade Is not
conducive to longevity, and the man
who sticks to it for five years without
becoming a candidate for the coroner
is feckoned a veteran.
Mr.. McEWen has been planning for
the last two years to build rocket
that would carry him up safely and al
so allow a safe descent. Various mod
els have been experimental with and
a great deal of careful test work done
with various materials and different
forms of the rocket. At last a model
has been produced, which has made
three highly successful ascensions, and
Mr.. McEwen has begun work upon the
sixty-foot rocket Of aluminium, phos-
phor bronze and other things, which
is to carry him two miles into the air
in fewer seconds by many than ever
mortal man has ever before traversed
that distance on earth or through the
air The giant rocket is now in process
Of construction in Chicago, and the in
ventor, who is also to be its first, and,
perhaps, it's only passenger, is super
vising its building, and from time to
time making slight notifications sug-
gested by the work. though the esSent-
ial details have been most carefully
figured out upon sound mechan1caI
lines The work is necessarily slow, as
1t is an entirely novel sort of machine,
and tests of material are carefully mace
at every stage Of progress upon the
work
In a conversation with a correspond
ent this week Prof. McEwen outlined
his plans and described the gigantic
rocket in detail, but in justice to the in
ventor and in compliance with his re-
quest only an outline Of the machine
can be given. Yankee ingenuity has
ventions which were too fully described
and Mr.. McEwen proposes to both run
the risk himself and personally reap
the glory necessarily attendant upon a
successful ascent and equally success
full return to earth The rocket will be
the largest ever constructed, by far,
ing height of between sixty and
,ncot There will be no stick,
as in the roc..-- 30 l ne Ia, ~ oi.e
patriotic observance - iiioep e.. ny
day, but the main features On 10
indrical body and conical head WIN -
retained in the monster which is des-
tined to either revo1utionize sensational
aeronautics or add one more victim to
mans passion for the spectacular. The
inner mechanism of the skysearcher is,
of course, its most important feature,
and 1T is this portion of the machine
that must be kept secret until the rock
ct is completed. The various devices
for the propulsion of the monster, the
steadying Of it's long flight through the
air, and the provision of air to It's hu-
man occupant and the mechanical fill
ing of the parachute at the crucial Sec
ond when the rocket has reached its
highest fight and would otherwise fall
to the earth at rate fatal to the rider,
all these which are the essential feat
ures of the idea, will be thoroughly
covered by patents in the United States
and the leading foreign countries. But
until the rocket is actually finished and
ready for It's trial flight, nothing will
be filed with the patent office which
could lead piratical appropriations Of
other mems ideas to information that
would enable them to construct a sim
liar machine, and, perhaps. forestall
the inventor. 1t may be said, without
violation Of confidence, that Mr.. Nc
Even has displayed a remarkable
amount of ingenuity and has given the
better portion of the last two years to-
ward working out the many intricate
details, all of which it was necessary to
solve beyond question in order that the
big rocket might prove the huge sue
cess its maker feels assured Of and not
a miserable death-trap.
Chimerical as may sound the idea of
the riding of q rocket through the air
at thirty times the speed of an express
train, there is nothing essentially i'm
possible about the feat. McEwen is an
enthusiast, but not a visionary. His
combination of Scotch pluck and yankee
ingenuity has stood him in good stead
in the past. His early partner, Hogan,
the successor of the Baldwins and DON
aloson, was killed in an accident, but
in his hundreds Of ascensions in the
last eighteen years McEwen has never
met with an accident of any descript-
ion. His success has been due not only
to good luck, but to the most scrupu-
lous preparations for safety, so far as
it can be secured in so dangerous a
business. He has the courage to take
great risks and the prudence to take
no risk whatever that is not neces-
sary factor of aerial flight. 1t is this
courage which makes him insist that
he himself and no other man shall make
the first voyage in a skyrocket and 1t
is his prudence which leads him to ma
ture his plans slowly and build his new
Pegasus with the most minute atten-
ton to detail. The rocket will not make
its initial ascension until 1t is as nearly
perfeat in conception. material and
construction as 1t possibly can be made
by the combined efforts of it's inventors
and the skillful mechanics who are
making the monster
McEwen's eighteen years In the bust
ness and his hundreds of ascensions