The Red Cloud chief., 1897-03-12
The Air Ship.

Inere mas been q good deal OF tall
and conjecture in this locality owe
an air ship which many people alleg'
they have seen at different times dur
ing the past few weeks And Will,
we are on the subject we reproduc,
an article which recently appeared il
the Woman's Gazette, of Beatrice, b,
Anton Pallardy, a scientist from Tn,
Black Hills, who has recently been
visiting in Beatrice:
"The air ship which has been seen
over Grand Island, Hastings and
Beatrice is no myth. II is a reality.
Where it was built, | dare not tell
you; more than that your readers
know that to the northwest of Ne.
braska is a wierd, lonely and strange
country known as the Mauvais Terres.
There are canyons, caverns, hooks
and crannies in these bad lands that
are so secret and remote from the
ordinary pathways that men can and
have lived there uninterruptedly for
years, with none TO modest or make
afraid. 1t is from these Mauyais
Terres the air ship comes. With nv
three companions w0 have sailed over
Nebraska IN a line from the forks of
the Platte, along the Little Blue
Valley and thence to Manhattan,
Kansas, generally at night, returning
to the Mauvais Terres in the early
morning. Why do we take this route
for our experimental tripy | will tell
you. IL is because of the currents of
air that are almost perpetual at an
altitude OF about one mile. These
currents are almost invariable and
regular the year round. Ii is but a
SIX hours trip from the Mauvais Ter
res to the junction of the Blue with
the Kansas river. 1t was necessary
that we should become familiar with
the earth CONGREGATIONS lying under
our aerial track. Hence I am in your
city to make some necessary investi.
cations, in order that we may obtain
n title to the route ever which we
propose to operate our ship. We make
these experimental trips in order to
familiarize the people beneath us
with our ship so that they may not
become frightened, and should some
accident happen to our ship, that we
should have to descend, that we would
be among friends, and not arrested as
trespassers. We have chosen this
experimental route, because all the
conditions are favorable. Being nearer
the center Of the continent, we are
less subject tn the influences of trade
winds, ocean currents aud the like.
A the surface of the earth and
for half u mile above it occurs at in.
tervals violent winds, tornadoes In
summer and billiards in winter. Al
an altitude of 5000 feet, the air is
comparatively quiet except in the
regular currents that flow frsm the
northwest in the morning.
For prudential reasons | dare not
describe our ship in detail to you.
Those who have seen it, know its
general appearance to be something
like a very large umbrella with n
transparent covering. This large
umbrella is Immediately above Ire
car, which also contains the little
motor for operating the large wings
Immediately above the umbrella.
These wings are expanded and con.
tracted at the pleasure of the engi.
neer. Suspended above and attached
to these wings are tive very thin.
aluminium balloons containing the
new gas, helium Immediately he.
tween the wings is another smaller
umbrella like affair that can be made
to revolve very rapidly, for a purpose
! dare not disclose to you. Then this
is the air ship in brief, and its de.
scription will correspond with the
observations Of those who have OBJ.
tanned a good look at it.
u have shown You why we travel
at night; simply to escape too close
observation, until we have made a
few further improvements that we see
are necessary to the successful and
formal public trial of our air shin,
The kindness that | have received at
Beatrice, though a stranger, has in.
fuenced me to plead with my part
ners to name this first successful air
ship the Beatrice"
II very much regret to announce.
that while we were sailing over the
town Of Odell, in your county, last
Saturday night that a small flask Of
helium fell from the car and exploded
with a loud noise and set fire TO a
barn near or in Odell. The people Of
that section thought Of course. that
II was a winter thunder storm. and
the exploding helium was a flash Of
lightning. This will explain an un.
phenomenon happening
there that evening.