The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-06-04
A DREAM OF CENTURIES
EVANSVILLE BEHoLDs THE FIRST
AIR SHIP THAT WILL .Go.,
Inventor Farmer Sends Up His SON ON
Trial Trip-Stockholdersi I'm the
Company Wild with JOY.
Evansville Courier.


The air ship made a successful fight late
Saturday night. Amid the cheers OF the half
| frenzied stockholders of the Improved
Aerial Navigation Company. the cigar
shaped balloon rose, moved forward and
turned at the will OF the operator, driving
the aluminium propellers with chain and
sprocket. II was what all had hoped TO
see ana most of them had expected. but the
sight of the yellow balloon sailing there
In the moonlight, the white blades OF the
propellers flashing in the rays OF the silent
mistress Of the night was too much for
them They saw the few dollars they had
invested turn into thousands. they read sue
cess and fortune in every movement OF the
golden egg bathed in the soft moonlight
Old gray-bearded men danced and howled
like school boys and the price of stock
went up like rocket on the 4th OF July.
Inventor Farmer had to suffer the keen
| disappointment of not being. able TO direct
the night OF the creature OF his own genius.
The balloon was inflated until II was
stretched as tight a drum head, but IL
would not lift the inventor anu ms "a
in the person of Gus Muhlhausen, who
weighs 100, but still there was not the lift
ing capacity in the balloon 10 carry the car
interested spectators. Finally Albert
Schlumpf a boy of eighteen. but stock
weighed only lis pounds, but still the bal
loon would not lift him although II almost
p yest and hat We're doffed. but the load WAS
still too heavy. The balance was near
enough to see at least If the machine coulo
be forced up by means OF the fans
The crowd was ordered back and onl,
Inventor Farmer stood by the machine ais
directed the boy The blades were placeo
above the hollow shaft and the boy begar
to pedal rapidly. The basket rose slowly
from the ground and attained a height OF
six or seven feet. Then the shout arose IRON
the delighted investors in the air ship COM
pany. When the attempt was made 70 move
forward the balloon and basket quickly came
down. showing that the revolution OF tns
that kept the machine on the grocn
A BOY CAN SAIL 1T.
To test the ability to move forward, turn
and come down. Farmers little son Doris
about fourteen years old and weighing nine
ty-five pounds, was put in the machine. The
bicycle saddle had "a be taken of and the
boy take his seat on the frame of the basket
to enable him to reach the pedals. Then he
larger person would have got from the
machine. but the success was such there
was no carping on that point. Inc paAoon
quickly rose with the boy, and SAND Dag
was finally hooked TO the bottom of the
cage, but still there was plenty OF buoyancy
TO let the machine quickly rise. The father
tied rope to the bottom of the basket and
the boy went up twenty feet or more The
propeller was set forward and he began
20 revolve the blades. Slowly the machine
began to move across the baseball diamond
toward the grand stand, almost diagonally
| across a breeze of four or five miles an hour,
other cheer Went up from the handful of
| spectators. Even those who had no interest
| in the machine outside of curiosity could not
| machine moving, although slowly. They
could say they had seen an air ship move
and it's movements directed, and that 1t had
/ successfully a
| 1t was the realization OF a dream Of
centuries but still the larger question is 10
| be solved. Can a machine be built or SUM-
cient capacity to carry powerful engines 10
drive the propellers, force the balloon
against the winds make time and carry
IF fo Eo rmer has Ssn worked
change that will be monumental. II not then
the machine is after all only toy. fit for for
breeze, curiosity, perhaps money maker
in that way. but nothing more; Only time
proven that his theories are correct and
most Of those who saw the air snip move
the possibility of something more than toy
in that realized dream
The air ship made several circuits. of the
park with Doris Farmer on the pedals. DC
casionally gusts of wind would blow the air
ship out of it's course. but on the whole the
test was SATISFACTORY i one 'a ha lac , Dedn
TO rise. sink turn and move forward. even
In light breeze, by means OF the propeners
pedals. sprocket and chain of an ordinary
bicycle. And this chain was one OF the dis
appointments of the test 1t slipped on the
sprocket wheels several times. better
gear will have to be placed in the basket
before even the experimental machine Is sat-
isfactory. The other disappointment was
flight. He is familiar with the ma
chinery than any one else and with balloon
capable Of sustaining him could have demon
strated much better than either of the boys
the qualities OF the machirs.
GAS BAG TOO SMALL.
When Baldwin Brothers built the balloon
they guaranteed that II would lift 400 pounds.
The test Saturday night showed IL could not
lift $50 pounds, counting in the weight of the
balloon and net as well as the basket and
net weigh eighty-five pounds. the basket and
machinery seventy-eight pounds and Albert
and ND ysP e sUa could III 5 Do m
this clear from the ground, but only bal
The makers said the balloon would contain
| 1000 cubic feet Of gas. which should sustain
weight of at least ass pounds. Professor
| Speer made calculations Saturday which
| showed that its capacity was but 500 cubic
f! feet. 1t is probable larger balloon will be
| ordered. one capable of sustaining Farmers
Wegnt without question perhaps even
| the inventors shop and several passengers
| In the exalted state In which the stockhold-
ers now feel, nothing is too much for them
| and his machine is unbounded.
Arcidas r. Farmer. whom his enthusiastic
| friends hail as the inventor of the first sue
| cessfu air ship was born near Montreal.
| Canada, forty years age. His father was
| French-Canadian farmer and on his place
had a workshop where nearly everything
| in use on the farm was made and repaired.
/ The boy took naturally to tools and worked
in the shop great deal during his life
| on the farm, which continued until ne was
| twenty-one- AT that age he married and
| started out for himself first embarking as
| a hotelkeeper al Ottawa, Canada.
| He came 10 the United States with his
| family in 1887 and secured employment in
| a machine shop in Chicago. All his spare
| time was spent In studying machinery and
| A little shop of his own at home has al
| ways been his one recreation. He invented
| an elevated electric railway taking the cur
rent from one rail and returning by an
| other. He failed TO interest capital and
| gave IL up without getting a patent. At
| the worlds fair in Chicago he saw his prn-
ciple applied 10 the electric road IN On
| the grounds. He has invented a number OF
/ other things. including filter funnel
1 gas valve to shut of the flow and prevent
/ asphyxiatfon when the gas is blown out
| suspension scale without springs. and gas
| or gasoline engine which generates ten-horse
| power but weighs only go pounds. He ex-
| poets 70 use this when perfected in driving
his air ships.
Farmer first became interested In the air