The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-02-01
SOME CURIOUS KITES.
Which Are Being Experimental with
by the Weather Bureau.

W A~ASAA al u OStn3 EApCl
by the Weather Bureau.
They Go Up With Rush and Have No
Tails.
There surely never was anything quite
SO remarkable in it's way as the new Kite
W h1ch is about to be employed by the
weather bureau for studying the almost
unknown regions of the upper air. This
Is an entirely new field of exploration,
and the scientific experts of the govern
ment propose to invade it and record OBJ
serVations with Instruments of pre-
cision. The facts thus gathered are ex-
peoted to simplify the business of making
weather forecasts, and to render the lat
ter much more accurate than heretofore.
Much may be accomplished eventually in
this way by ascents in balloons, but
pending hoped-for improvements in such
Tying apparatus, kites are to be en-
ployed.
| Exeriments are now being made with
a species of kite which would astonish
the best-informed small boy. Nobody
unacquainted with the higher principles
or aerostation would imagine that such
thing could possibly fly. 1t looks more
like series of dry goods boxes strung
together than like kite. The boxes,
however, are of silk, and they have no
tops or bottoms. A string OF five of them
| walOnE nn1V fivo he
framework being of very light sticks of
wood. But you ought to see the machine
go up. 1t doesn't fly like an ordinary
kite; it goes up into tn 10 air with rush,
and scars far aloft like lowering bird,
almost without perceptible motion.
The inventor of this strange flying ma
chine is Mr.. S. A. Potter of the weather
bureaus staff. Recently he invited your
correspondent to go out to his country
place near Washington and see his kites
go up. There were q number of them, all
constructed on the same principle, but
having varying number of boxes or
"oells, /" as they are termed. The most
| serviceable pattern thus far seems to be
that which consists of only two boxes
Stood on end, it is three and half feet
high, and its weight is exactly thirteen
ounces. 1t has flfteen square feet of silk
or muslin. the idea being that the weight
shall not exceed one ounce for each
square foot of lifting surface.
Muslin is used for every day experiments
but silk Is lighter, and, therefore, better.
A STRONG FULLER
On the crest of hill was huge reel,
wound like a spool, with 1000 feet of
strong cord. The reel was bolted to a
table. the legs of the latter being driven
deep into the ground, and otherwise se-
cured. This arrangement was necessary
because of the tremendous pull of the
kites, which otherwise would run away
with table, reel and all Mr. Potter tied
one of his two-story kites to the end of
| the string, tossed 1t into the air, and up
t shot as naturally as bird would rise
| = the wing. Out ran the cord from the
81, and up and up scared the kite into
the blue empyrean, where 1t hung almost
motionless at a height of 800 feet, per-
haps.
1.-THE wind is light today" said Potter.
with good breeze 1 have sent my
kites as high as 3, GOO feet. We are only
at tho beginning Of our experiments, and
we shall do ever SO much batter before
long. In the first place, this cord is very
heavy, and few hundred feet of it
weighs good deal, so as to pull down the
kite. At the weather bureau we are get
ting ready a lot of very fine but strong
steel wire. and that is to be substituted
for the cord. 1t will weigh not nearly
as much, and will be better for the pur-
pose altogether. With this improvement
in the apparatus, | expect to be able to
raise kites to an altitude of at least a
mile. When we can do that, we shall be
in position to ascertain important facts
about the upper regions of the atmos-
phere. Eventually we hope to attain an
elevation of two miles OF more.
SIT IS of the utmost importance that
the kite shall hang in the air as nearly
without motion as possible, because it is
intended to carry various self-registering
instruments. Under such circumstances
ing and plCnging about. One of the in
struments which we propose to use is for
determining temperatures in the upper
levels of the air. 1t weighs about two
pounds, being made chiefly of alumni
mum, and contains a clookwork mechan-
ism, by means of which a thermometer
record is inscribed on sheet of white
paper. Other apparatus is now being
devised by. Prof. Marvin Of the weather
bureau, for automatically registering
wind velocity. humidity and barometric
pressure-the last being measure of
height, of course. Perhaps, also, we shall
make note of the amount of electricity
present in the atmosphere at different
levels.
WHEN BALLOONS WILL BE USED.
knowledge of all these conditions has
much to do W it'll tie science of forecast
ing the weather. 1t may fairly be said
that tho key of successful forecasting is
to be found in acquaintance with the
conditions of the upper air. When we
are able to make acourafa obSarystionc