The Opelousas courier., 1897-09-18
NOVEL USE FOR KITES.
WILL BE EMPLOYED IN CLIMBING
PREClPIcES BEFORE INACCESSIBLE.

U's~~
PREcIPlcEs BEFORE INACCESSIBLE.
Ruins of a City May Be There-Cables Will
Be Hoisted by Kites and Thrown Across
a Heretofore ~UnconquerabIe Mount
ain over Seven Hundred Feet High.
IF d mountain is too steep to be
climbed by ordinary efforts, try a kite:
That appears to be the latest develop=
ment of the recent application of kites
to various scientific and military pur.
poses.
When Lieutenant Wise, on Cover
nor's Island, a short time ago had him=
self lifted to a height of more than
forty feet from the ground on the
tensely-stretched rope that held a set
of powerful kites careening high above
the bay, it might have been foreseen
that plenty of work would quickly be
found for the new aerial draughthorse.
But it would have required a vivid
imagination to picture mountain-climb-
ing among the tasks to be set forIites.
Yet now it is soberly proposed to
scale a hitherto unconquered mountain
with such aid. The mountain in qrses-
ton is an oddity. 1t is one of THOSE
table-topped, steep-sided uplips, callsl
in Southwest a "mesa." 1t rises out
of the plain near Albuquerque, New
Mexico, and its sandstone sides are
nearly perpendicular all around. Its
fiat top, elevated 700 feet above the
plain, is inaccessible by any ordinary
means, and no white man has ever put
foot upon it.
But, though insurmountable now,
there is reason to think that in past
times people have lived on its summit.
Fragments of pottery resembling that
made by the strange race called the
Cliff Dwellers have been found at the
base of the precipices, having, it is be-
lieved, fallen from the top.
The fascination Of mystery attaches
to the spot, and one of the spurs urg-
ing explorers to devise some means to
mount the cliff is the possibility that
the ruins of an ancient town may lie
up there on the inaccessible height
bleaching in the arid atmosphere and
invisible from below. Discoveries of
the highest interest may await the man
who first steps upon the lofty verge of
the mysterious mesa.
It is characteristic of the Cliff Dwell
ers to place their homes and their
treasures in just such unapproachable
situations. Their caves pierce the YER
teal walls of canyons like SO many
swallows nests, and the people who
dwelt in them would almost seem to
have needed the wings of swallows in
order to make use of such dwelling
places. But the mesa in question, if
it really contains the ruins of a town
or village belonging to this singular
race, will prove to be the most extraor-
binary prehistoric relic in Western
America.
The proposition to attack this sphinx
like mountain and solve its enigma
with the aid of kites comes from Pro-
lessor William Libby, Jr., of Prince
ton. He does not mean to emulate
Lieutenant Wise by pulling himself up
the string Of a kite suspended above
the mesa, but he thinks that strong
ropes or cables can be carried over the
mountain by means of kites and
dropped on the other side. Once hav-
ing a cable lying across the highland
it would be comparatively a simple
matter to arrange tackling by which
men could be lifted. to the top of the
precipices.
Fortunately for this undertaking
the mesa is not of uniform width, but
contracts near the centre, where it is
only a few rods across at the top. The
intention is to drop the cable e this
narrow neck of the table-mountain.
The kites to be employed are to be
furnished by MI. William A. Eddy, of
Bayonne, who has recently accom-
plished surprising feats in the suspen-
sion of telegraph and telephone wires
and Photographic cameras high in the
air with the aid of kites. These kites,
which are without tails, attain an as
tonishing elevation, and are able to
soar in light winds. Their pulling, and
consequently their lifting power, is re-
markable.
The outcome of the experiment in
New Mexico will be awaited with eager
interest, not only ON account Of the
possibility which it presents that i'm
portant discoveries concerning the
ancient inhabitants of this continent
may be made, but also on account of
the promise of future development of
this unique method of getting over or
on top OF a difficulty,
How the old Cliff wellers managed
to ascend their acropolis-if such in
deed it is-may never be known, but
it is safe to say that they did not em-
rloy kites and cables for the purpose.
Probably in former times there were
places where the rocks were less steep
and where a series of steps and lad
ders could be used, but under the
action of the elements the faces of the
cliffs have crumbbed and become gradu-
ally more and more inaccessible Car
rett P. Serviss.