Evening star., 1897-06-15

strung Q movable parachute. The para
chutes are kept bobbing up and down. in
As they ascend they close themselves auto
mattcally. but open wide a. they 60 down.
ana thus meeting resistance in the air are
supposed to have q tendency to lift the
machine.
Another genius has Just presented
q scheme for a "skycycle"-a pear
shaped balloon, pointed at both ends,
supporting a seat for the operator. CraRks
to be revoived by the feet, actuate a rear
propeller. wave side wings and govern
rudder behind.
A San Francisco man would construct
OF aluminum huge cylindrical balloon,
having on either side a curved aeroplane or
wing, which may be folded against the
cylindrical body, when the contrivance is
to descend
Another rival OF Darius Green would
fhape or fsh-shape principle, with a cabin
end grip In the under half. The grip
grasps the cable which hangs loosely over
log line of T-pcsts. The cable acts as a
The grip Is large drum. kept revolving
with great rapidity. around which the ca
tle Is wrapped several times. Unlike that
OF the street car. the cable Of the Lomax
vessel stands still.
Another would construct an aluminium
BALBOA body shaped like a giant fish. with a
fan tail. The end OF the tail is hollow.
forming sort OF stationary mortal. aimed
StI 0A6ul dSlSfu. CONTINUOUS eXDlOStOpS
rapidly taking place in this, the force of
which, against the air. drives the venicle
through space.
A Virginia inventor lately submit
TED 70 General Greedy, chief signal OIL
Ger of the 1rmy. plans for a military aero
drome. consisting primarily Of three teIe-
scopic and cylindrical gas receptacles. sup-
porting suspended boat-body. The recep-
tacles are to be folded in or out to alter
the buoyaRt force of the contracted or ex-
panded gas inside. while dire slaughter is
to be distributed broadcast on earth by
the hurting forth Of dynamite The hori-
sontai motion of the concern Is to be OBJ
tained from q pair of propellers one fore
and the other aft, revolving upon a COM
mon axle.
A. phenomenon Of inventive genius,
a giant cross, consisting OF two I'M
mense parallel cylinders OF canvas placed
vertically, and two similar ones placed
across them horizontally. In each cylinder
the contrtvance is to be raised in the air
the propellers in the vertical cylinders are
rapidly revolved. When it is to .be moved
latera1ly, those in the horizontal cylinders
are actuated either way.
A very severe and violent attack of aero
dromania. contracted by another man,
shows symptoms in the form of a colossal
cigar-shaped balloon. which would about
equal the size Of the Washington monu-
ment IL the latter were balanced horizon
tally In the air. 1t gradually tapers to a
slim end. like one OF the new-fangled all
tobacco cigarettes. This monstrosity is ex-
pected to sail to such an enormous height
that 1t will be necessary to pad the win
dows and doors to keep out the rarified
atmosphere surrounding. A steam engine
inside drives screw propeller in the rear
and a tall smokestack protrudas through
a fre-procf opening in the center of the
gas envelope.
Violent Symptoms.
These symptoms, however, are equalcd in
violence by those Of an inventor, whose
"Albatross." If in existence. would COM
pare favoIably even with the descriptions
of those mysterious airships'' which have
been ploughing such a network of tracks
through the western skies. The "Albatross"
is to resemble a mammoth ferry boat raised
into free air. An aeroplane projects on
either side and shades a double row of OBJ
servation windows, from which the travel
ers are to view the scenery far below. A
buoyancy chamber is hidden beneath a
tent-like roof. A firing-cup In the rear
constantly explodes huge explosive caps
and thus propels the colossal aerodrome
through space.
Such inventions as these, almost always
provided with means of dropping explosives
upon armies or navies below, are roked
constantly under the noses of officials in
the War Department or patent Office.
In what area Of a mans brain cortex could
be located a disorder which would inspire
him to seriously plan and have patented
an airship to be harnessed to birds? Yet
there was such man. He was French
man named Wulff. who projected his
scheme in this country. The birds were to
be harnessed in tandem to a horizontal
wheel, to be revolved by a pilot, accord
ing to the direction desired for the craft.
These are but few of the wild schemes
which come to the attention of officials and
which have caused the curse of prejudice
to fall upon the heads of the flying ma
chine enthusiasts those desiring ones
of conservative thinking-with even greater
force than ii descended q few years ago
upon the many students of the problem of
perpetual motion.