The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-06-27
y WENT UP ON A KITE.
NEW MODE OF AERIAL NAVIGATION
EXPECTED TO BE A SUCCESS.

Midair and Phenomenal Results Are Ex-
pected From It--Patterns of the Kite
Ordered For an Observatory.
About year ago Charles H. Lamson's
experiments with his mammoth alrship
at Rigby park, Portland, Me-, attracted
general attention. This exploit was re-
garded then by Professor Eddy and other
experts as the most advanced scientific
alrship experiment attained up to that
time The experiments then made were
with dummy. Since that time Mr..
Lamson has been working steadily and
recently, by personal ascension on his
alrship, demonstrated that he has every
reason to hope that before long he will
attain with his invention phenomenal
results i'll aerial navigation.
On the occasion mentioned the most
wonderful part of his experiments was
the steadiness of the ship while in mid
air, and this great feature of the Lam
son ship was again made evident by the
recent trials. Lamson asserted a year
ago that he would one day demonstrate
the feasibility of his plan of aerial nav
lsatlon, and when the latest trials We're
over the critics who watched them
agreed that he had gone long way to-
ward making his claim good.
AT the last attempts which were
made at Falmouth Foreside Lamson as
cended to height of nearly 100 feet OH
one of his airships. He went up easily
and came down all right after spending
time enough up aloft to look about him
and feel the novel sensation of kiting
through the air. Mr.. A. Lawrence
Rotch, founder and director of the Blue
Hill Meteorological observatory, near
Boston, went to Portland, accompanied
by his two assistants, H. II. Clayton
and 5. T. Furguson, to spend the day
with LamsOn aud test some of his newly
constructed kites. The steamer was tax
Ell for Waite's Landing, where Gen
eral j. NJ Brown had given the use of
his big haytields and barns near the
shore The day and wind were favorable,
and many tests were made of the lifting
capacity of the various forms of kites to
lind those having the greatest efficiency
for carrying the weight of self register
ing instruments into the upper atmos-
phere. The visitors We're pleased with
the performance Of two patterns and
have ordered them for the use of the OBJ
gerry atory. Through Professor Langley,
who is greatly interested i'll this work,
the observatory has received an appro-
priatiOn from the Smithsonian institu-
of
several miles of steel piano wire and an
engine or steam winch for winding it
H. and they hope to send up their in
struments to the unprecedented height
OF five miles, using one of Mr.. Lam
sens kites as a leader
Later the same day the mammoth
ship was brought out and very success
fully launched. 1t was allowed to re-
main up several hours. 1t was on this
kite that Mr.. Lamson made the ascent.
He was delighted with the novel expe-
rience and the easy motion of the kite,
and while it was desmed advisable not
to go higher Mr.. Lamson would have
enjoyed a trip still nearer the clouds.
Only three or four other men have gone
up with kites, and some of them have
been raised from the ground by tackle
after the kite was sent up. In this case
the rider started from terra firma with
the kite itself, running along the ground
as the kite was drawp forward to give
it the initial force. This kite may be
taken as a fair illustration of what the
experts who saw the trial declared will
be the coming airship. New York Sun.