Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-06

OI WHICH tHey nave pTdCtltdlly
the wisdom. The kites are known as the
Eddy kites, and the man is Mr.. w. A. Eddy
of Bayonne, N. ]. When the breeze is
strong enough Mr.. Eddy can send his tail
less kites sailing cloudward as long as his
string holds out, and when one gets well
up on its journey he can put another kite
on the string and send that up, too, and
keep this up until he has eight or nine
kites following each other heavenward.
And this is not all.
Pictures From Midafr.
Mr.. Eddy can make his kites take pho
tographic cameras up into the cfrcumam-
bient atmosphere, and by a very simple
method can manipulate them SO that they
can take pictures of selected spots on the
busy earth below. The kites are of differ
ent Sizes the smallest being six feet high
and four feet wide, and the larger ones
seven feet in diameter. The wooden frame
work is made of tough. light wood, and the
covering is of cloth and of two varieties of
MANILA paper. The kites known as the
light flyers, which are sent up when very
little breeze is stirring, are made with very
thin sticks and of very thin MANILA pa
per, and weigh but few ounces each. The
kites are held to mother earth by a block
ing cord, which breaks at n pressure of 200
pounds, and which is wound on powerful
wheel containing steel spindle This reel
is incased in a pox which is securely fas-
tened to the ground by stakes when MIR.
Eddy begins to fly his kites. The full
strain on the cord is never allowed, as ii is
Well known that the strength of the cord is
only as great as its power to resist break
ing at its weakest point, consequently not
more than sixty pounds pull is allowed on
the cord. The Photographic apparatus
which a series of the kites carries up into
the air consists, when the wind is strong of
a revolving table, upon which two cameras
are securely fixed. This table hangs from
the kite cord below the lowest of the kites
which are carried up. When the wind is
light, only a single camera is carried up
The latter equipment weighs about three
pounds, while the double camera table
weighs between seven and eight pounds
When the kites carry the camera TO the
point from which Mr.. Eddy desires to pho
toeraph the scene below, they are held
stationary; small string attached to the
slide of the camera, the lens of which are
pointed downward, is pulled, and a small
instantaneous photograph is taken of what
ever happens to be below.
He also sends up, by the same method. to
very high altitude, an American flag, ten
feet by seven in dimensions, and when con-
ditions are propitious. elevates both the
flag and the Photographic apparatus at the
same time.
Mr.. Eddy's purpose in coming to Wash
1ngton Is to experiment in taking pictures
showing how the Capitol, the White House
and the Washington monument and the
city at large look when gazed upon by the
angels and other lucky Inhabitants of the
upper air. His kites are at the United
states coast and geotetic survey. Satur-
day evening Mr.. Eddy sent up one of his
light-fying kites to a height of l. 100 Feet
fiy1ng 1t from lot Of South Capitol street
near b street southeast, and sent IN anoth-
er on the same string to a lesser height,
but the wind was too weak to permit of
experiments. He would have prosecuted
the latter this morning, but the wind was
again insufficient for his purposes, so he
day. and will begin work systematically to-
morrow morning. Before his departure for
the boat Mr.. Eddy conversed pleasantly
with The Star man on the subject of his
kites and their possibilities
Practical Work of the Kites.
my tailless kites" said Mr. Eddy. "have
long ago proved capable of accomplishing
valuable practical results. There is no
question that their possibilities are of great
Importance. By means of these kites 1
have taken over 400 photographs in midair.
They ere small when first taken, but can
readily be enlarged, and I have enlarged
some to by II inches. The highest aiti-
tide at which a picture has been taken by
me so Tar was at Bayonne, N. J.. Febru-
airy u last year, at an altitude of 1,SOO
feet. do not measure the cord to ascer-
tain the height Of ny kites, but determine
1t by triangulation, taking the base line
and two angles. 1 have successfully photo
graPhed cities. including New York, Phila-
deiphia and Boston, and made picture of
the New England race track near Portland.
Maine, when Joe Patchen was making one
OF his races against time.
Kites of this character" said Mr., Eddy.
will doubtless be of great future value to
parties exploring unknown countries, be-
cause, with the wind in the right direction.
the explorers can send up cameras and take
pictures showing the character Of the coun-
try lying before them. ! have a picture.
taken at the Blue Hill observatory near
Boston, in which the horizon line is forty
miles away. When Professor Libby Of
Princeton University went ont roconti,, -
explore the Enchanted Mesa, he took the
materials out of which to make Eddy Kites
by which he intended to send q small line
over the mesa in case the mortar he car
ried along could not send lifeline high
Ell ough. II the mesa had been twenty feet
higher. the mortar would have failed to
carry the lifeline over. It could have
readily been scaled however, by means Of