The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-02-01

held by kite, the surface presented by it
to the wind is very considerable, and the
resistance to the air current thus offered
tends to pull the kite down. Accordingly,
the kite on a wire is able to rise much
higher, and the higher 1t goes the greater
velocity of wind which it finds to uphold
it-for wind velocity increases as the
higher levels of the atmosphere are
reached. Greater wind velocity means
increased lifting power tor the kite, so
that it can sustain more wire. 1t is by
| figuring on these data that we arrive at
a reasonable expectation of being able to
fly our 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 float
ed in the air. He attached 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 cord near the
reel, and then he tossed kite No. 3 into
the air. 1t rose rapidly, and moment
later there were two artificial birds of
muslin and sticks soaring aloft, one far
above the other. This process WAS re-
peatad with a third kite. and that WAS
sent up IN like manner. The strain on
the cord had become by this time very
considerable, and Mr.. Potter explained
that in a high wind it was the hardest
kind of work to fetch flock of his birds
to earth again, the pull boing sometimes
forty pounds or more. In severe gale
it might run up to 100 pounds, with half
dozen kites thus strung in tandem
fashion.
A KITES LIFTING POWER.
"You see, said Mr. Potter, s'by mr.
ranging them in this way we can get any
amount of lifting power that we want,
and heavy Instruments may be carried to
great height. In order to make stimuli
taneous observations at different levels,
we have only to arrange the supplement
tary kites along the main cord at deter
mined intervals. We know just how
much wire has run off the reel. and by
taking into account the angle of the wire
| to the earths surface and making allow
ance for the slack we can calculate plett5
closely the elevation Of each kite. A
two-cell kite in fair breeze will lift
three pounds; in gale it will carry
eight pounds.
What is the cause of that peculiar,
purring noiso which the kites make all
the timer" asked your correspondent.
1T is the vibration of the muslin. due
to the wind" rel lied Mr.. Potte-. "I
could show you something more interest
stead of cord. I have flown my kites re-
peatedly with wire, and always an elsc-
trio current along the wire has been
noticeable. Sometimes it is very slight,
while at other times it has been SO strong
as to give severe shouks and send out
sparks half an inch in length. To avoid
the shocks have been obliged repeatedly
to gound the wire by hanging another
piece of wire over it. This electr cal ac-
ton is due to differences in the amounts
of electricity present at various atmos-
pheric levels. 1t is very odd, by the way,
to notice the way in which crows behdvs
with regard to kites. Close by here, in
the neighborhood Of the Nationa, GENE
terry at Arlington, is one of the greatest
crow roosts in the country. and often
the birds fly around the kites in flocks,
squawking and exhibiting every symp-
| tom CT curiosity
Though the new kite is Mr. Potter's
own invention, the idea from which it
is derived was original with an Austral-
| ;o TOW II Fyl.
Hargrave kite, however. is heavy ana
very difficult to start a. flying. Like the
| Potter kite it consists in it's simplest
| form Of two boxes, topless and bolt 1mless,
| Joined together by frame Of wood. But
the boxes are rectangular, whereas those
of Mr.. Potter's kite are acknowledgement
| By this mobilization of form Mr. Potter
| is enabled to make his frame ever so
much lighter, SO that the whole affair
weighs scarcely more than pound Any
| hoy can make suoh kite ami fly it far
more easily than one of the ordinary
sort. 1t flies itself, one might say, re-
curing only to be tossed into the air
when there is fair bree re blowing. The
Potter kite has several times the lifting
power of the common kite, possessing
| four plane surfaces instead of one.
KITES WITHOUT TAILS.
The scientific kite, like man in his
descent from the apes, has lost its tail.
Before the new Potter kite was invented
the weather bureau experimental with
Malay kites five feet high, of muslin.
| The Malay kite is built on the same plan
as an ordinary boys kite, though some
what simpler, having only two sticks
instead of three. As many as dozen
kites Of this kind were flown on one cord,
| tandem fashion, like the Potter kites.
They were constructed ON mathematical
principles, and thus got along without
tails; but they Owed and plunged great
deal, and were by no means satisfactory
forpurposes of mo Biological observation.
Recently experiments have been made
with sending up kites Of the Potter type
with cameras, by which photographs
were taken from considerable elevations
A noticeable point about these photo