The herald., 1898-12-26

cessful, and 1t Is altogether likely that
the war department will furnish fur
ther capital for carrying out a thorough
investigation Of a subject which has so
important q bearing upon the prac-
tice of warfare in the future.
For a number of years past foreign
nations, particularly France and Ger
many, have been experimenting with
military balloons, and experts in the
latter country have proceeded so far as
to invent new-style contrivance of the
kind called "kite-balloon," which has
q smaller gas-bag for tail, and 80
floats steadily in the air. instead of
lodging and bobbing about. The
French, on the other hand, have sue
ceeded in making balloons that can be
steered and propelled against the wind.
But Professor Langley is of the opinion
that the possibilities of this kind of ap-
paratus are very limited, and that it
can never be developed much beyond
the point already attained. 1t is good
as far as it goes undoubtedly, and the
experience of the recent war proved
that balloons could be used to great
advantage for scouting. If Schley had
had a balloon on board of his flagship,
he would have been able to ascertain
off-hand that Cervera's squadron was
not in the harbor of Cienfuegos, and
would not have wasted precious days
waiting outside of that port while the
Spanish admiral was at Santiago.
Yes, says Professor Langley, the ball
loon Is q great thing for military pur-
poses but it has almost seen its day.
A flying machine, properly so-called Is
capable of uses for which the gas-bag
is not serviceable, and is vastly more
manageable. 1t may be driven at an al
most indefinite rate Of speed, with or
against the wind, and it will carry
heavy loads of explosives or whatever
else may be desired as cargo. That
is to say, it is susceptible of develop
ment to point where it will do these
things, in the belief of the famous ex-
pert quoted, whereas very little more
than what has already been achieved
can be hoped from the balloon. More
than a year ago the professor flew one
of his aerodromes. or "air-runners," as
he calls them, repeatedly for distances
of one-half to three-quarterS of mile,
on the Potomac, the machine, COM
posed almost wholly of steel and run
by steam with propellers, having some-
what the look of a gigantic butterfly.
1t weighed twenty-five pounds, and
measured fourteen feet from tip to tip.
The distance covered might just as we'll
have been 100 miles, If there had been
a sufficient supply of steam; but one
of the problems, as yet unsolved, is to
furnish an adequate steam engine that
shall be light enough.
Now that considerable sum of
money is made available for the pur-
pose, Mr.. Langley will have a chance
to conduct his experiments on a prop
er scale, and important results may be
looked for. Some years ago an enthu-
siastic old gentleman left him a few
thousand dollars with which to make
preliminary investigations in this line,
and the cash was devoted chiefly to
the construction of machine for pro-
ducing an artificial wind, which could
be varied in strength from the gentlest
zephyr to a gale of sixty miles an hour.
Trials with this contrivance threw
much new light on the problem, mas
much as one of the puzzles to be tack
led relates to variations in the power
of air-currents, as well as to the fact
that what is ordinarily termed breeze
Is in reality made up of ever so many
minor currents moving zigzag and
every which way. Thus the most ex-
pert soarers among birds have con-
stantly to adapt and re-adapt the
planes of their wings to the eccentric
movements of the atmosphere by which
they are supported kite-fashion. Now
and then, indeed, even such skilled fly
ers as the gulls are caught unawares
and take an undignified tumble.
Professor Langley argues that man