Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-06
Frenchmen Foremost in Trying to
Solve the Problem.
FHE BEUFSCH PRIZE An INCENTIVE
Interesting Review of Experiments
and Attempts.
SANTOS-DU MONT'S BET

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
PARIS, June "a. 1901.
The Aero Club prize for navigable bal
looms and flying machines amounts to lOO,-
900 francs. or 10000. For this reason, II
for no other. Paris has become the center
for their inventors The founder OF the
prize, Deutsch de la Meurthe, has decreed
that until it has been won the annual IN
terest on the sum4.0OO francs or $500
shall be bestowed in prizes of encourage
ment' on those inventors who have shown
the greatest progress" and In Imitation
of this provision two other prizes Of en-
couragement have recently been founded
by the club itself. Thus most things that
are new come to it. and constant effort
to solve the problem of the twentieth CEN
fury is maintained
The Deutsch prize, by the terms Of Its
foundation. is to be won by the aerial
navigator who. starting from Balloon Park
OF the Aero Club, at st. Cloud, within half
an hour shall gain the Eiffel Tower. turn
round 1t and return to the place OF depart
ure The distance is about eleven kilo
meters or seven miles The average speed
of the machine must therefore. be superior
to twenty-five kilometers an hour, because
time Will be lost in turning round the
tower. The contest is open to all kinds OF
navigable balloons and flying machines,
provided the entire trip be made by their
alighting 1t may be tried for In May,
June. September and October Of each year
on two days notice of each attempt be-
ing given to the clubs secretary. Those
who interest themselves most in balloon
ing think the Deutsch prize Will be won
this year.
Undoubtedly the matter Is subject to de-
ceptions- The Zeppelin attempt OF last au-
tumn was heralded complete success
Indeed. American magazine permit ed
one of its promoters to describe It's tri-
umphant trips at the moment when balloon
and enterprise had collapsed Thanks to
the Deutsch foundation. the world now has
a test of the value of all highly praised in
ventions. The sum-100. 900 francs-is worth
the winning The Zeppelin balloon has not
won it. and has made no application to
compete for it.
Half Century of Experiments.
Ever since the pioneer experiments OF
GifTard. In 1851. 1t has been known that
with the aid of screw turned by motor
a cigar-shaped balloon may be navigatetd
in direction different to that of the reign
ing wind. Giffard had no other motor than
the steam engine He could not condense
it's steam. and was therefore unable to en-
ploy II for a serious voyage Then came
the experiments of CASTOR Tissand and
Renari and Krebs with electric motors.
But their weight. shown in the public
trials. was too great to be practical 1t Is
true that by Commandant (or Major) Rem
ards friends It Is asserted that he has per-
use of the French army in the next great
1t Is even more certain that Com
mandant Renard is the individual who has
studied nayigable balloons most, having
had at his service for years the necessary
men and noney-the military employees Of
his Pare de Chalais at Meudon and the
funds annually voted to him in the budget.
Until. however. he sees fit to make it pub
lie the secret of Meudon" cannot be count
ed with Most certainly 1t has not won the
Deutsch prize.
cic shap nod hall To
France. was the first to make a closed chr
cult by its own self-contained (eIectric)
power. returning to the place of starting
This was twenty years ago. Since then
however. has arisen the most modern of
navigable balloon inventors, the first to
imagine a petroleum automobile motor in
place of Gifard'S steam and Renard and
Krebs' electricity. This is Santos Dumont
who in half dozen public trials in the last
three years has navigated closed circles ga
lore In August, 1899, starting from tine
yelodrome in the Bots de BouIogne. he
made the complete circuit Of the Eifrel
Tower. Were IL not for the time limit San
tos- Dumont would long ago have banked
the 100000 francs of the Deutsch prize
With these facts in mind it may well be
asked. What has the Zeppelin balloon done i?
In none of its lights over Lake Constance
last autumn did it return to the place of
starting Twice it broke down. Once II was
carried away forty kiIometers or twenty
three miles. by the wind. What Count Zep-
peiin did was to follow Santos-Dumont with
the petroleum motor He did 1t on a large
scaIe-as the stockholders in this country
we'll know The Zeppelin navigable balloon
may turn out success. but for the present
II must be classed with those which fol-
low-half successes, well deserving of en-
enlargement
The Auto-AviatOf.
That OF which have heard the most
In Paris Is the auto-avfator (or self-fyer)
OF in-Bousson. otherwise called The
Queen of the Air The auto-aviator has
got this far: On the favorable report of the
Count de la Faulx. chairman of the Aero
Club committee. it has been admitted to
try for the Deutsch prize whenever its in
vrntor Is ready This means that 1t has
lett the realm of plans paper. gone in
and out Of the domain of experimental
models and Is certified by an expert to be
worth trying
mum rods and strong silk wings stretched
over other aluminium rods The wings are
moved Dy seven-horse-power petroleum
motor at the rate of two and a half fans
a second Furthermore a screw propeller
al the back and two other screws above
help TO develop the onward forces The
nrst acts as propulsor. while the others
serve TO create the current of air on which
the wings find their support at the moment
OF starting The motor force can also he
switched onto the bicycle wheels which
transports the auto-aviator. to enable II to
make preliminary dash along the surface
or the ground before rising into the air and
nndlnS Its support
1t Didn't Fly.
When the autO-aviator recently had its
first trial it did not fly The aiding balloon
shaped something like long-necked cham
payne bottle. proved itself to be all wrong
The trial took place top of a hill In the
suburbs OF Paris The natural current of
air was present. and in fifteen minutes II
had wrecked the balloon On the other
hand, the wings did everything expected of
them. The preliminary dashing along the
surface of the ground was Accomplished
beautifully The big bird got away at au-
tomobi!e pace, tapped itself across the
neid. charged fence and stopped only
when the power was turned Off Then it
spat petroleum at us. That the auto-ayia-
tor has developed power enough with IT'S
wings and propelers to go against fresh
wind Is a demonstrated fact. Only the
question of the lifting balloons form and
position now remains.
The sibillot Affair.
The French rival of the Zeppelin balloon
is be found In SthiIIot