The herald., 1896-03-21

pointed by the secretary of war, demon
strate Within or near the city of Wash
ington, the practicability of safely navi-
eating the air at a speed of not less than
30 miles per hour. and capable of carry,
ing freight and passengers. weighing a
total of not less than 400 pounds.
Section 2 provides: That the secre
tary Of the Treasury shall pay the sum
of $4,000 to any person from whatever
part OF the world. who shall at any time
prior to the first Of January. 1900, con-
struct an apparatus that will on the
same veriiication conditions demon
strate the safety OF naviga ting the air
in free flight for distance of one mile
on mere i'll descending line, the point of
alighting to he not more than &C feet
lower than the point of starting
Boston has peculiarly become the cen
tire of flying machine interest. The BOS-
ton Aeronautical society. which was or
ganized last May with Prof. William ii.
Pickering, Harvard's well known astro-
nomer, as president, and Albert A. Mer-
rill secretary. has taken up the inves-
tigation with renewed vigor. Mr.. James
Means. who is a graduate of the Insti-
'bi' VI 10 di>o an oiiieNi III
the new society. Mr.. Means has just is
sued the second number of "rhe Aer-
onautical Annual" The volume shows
great advance over the first number is
sued IL year ago. in its contents. Otto
Lilienthal the famous Berlin aerial sci
enlist. contributes an interesting article
to its columns.
PROPOSED UNIQUE EXHIBITION.
The Boston Aeronautical Society pro-
poses to erect a laboratory near the city.
where well paid men may be employed
in that line of experimenting. 1t will
probably be a barnike structure. near
the centre Of Il level tract. with large
sheet of water not far away. Such Il
building would answer the two-fold puI-
pose of Il workshop and Il place for the
storage of apparatus. For the year 1896
a part of the money raised will be paid
out to the worlds eXperimenterS in the
form of>cash prizes. These are to be
awarded for certain kinds of apparatus
which are much needed. The sum al
ready guaranteed to the fund is suffi-
cieht to provide prizes we'll worth con
tending for. but. as it is hoped that the
fund will be constantly increased, the
Qtllultt dlilpuit VI Tue DlILtS VIII uOt Dt
made public unit! the first of next May
| The competitive trials will probably
take place at Il field meeting of the so,
ciety TO be held next autumn. in the vi
cinity of Boston. Designers unable tc
xlttend are invited to send apparatus,
which will be tested by Il committee OF
the society. Five prizes will be offered
as follows: For the kite showing the
maximum of lift to the minimum of
! drift in II breeze having velocity of
more than fifteen miles an hour.and a,so
in breeze of less than fifteen mics an
hour; for Il kite Keeping its equilibrium
through the greatest extremes of wind
velocity: also. for the soaring machine
in free fight, which. after gaining We
locity, shall make the best course.
THE LILIENTHAL AEROPLANE
The Lilenthal Aeroplane is a remark
ably clever device. and while it is not
yet of practical value for making pro,
tacted journeys in mid-air, it is. never.
theless. a hopeful indication of the pro
gress made. Its purpose is to initiate
the soaring of birds. us well as their or.
dinary flight. which is effected by the
Tapping of their wings. The improved
machine comprises two wings, viii