Daily camera., 1901-12-27
NAVIGATES THE AIR.
Feats of n. Santos -Dumont In HiS
Hazardous Pursuit.
Early Training and Education 81 the
Most Daring and Successful
Asronaut of Modern
Times,

Times.
An authorized article on the Bra.
lillian aeronaut, NJ. Santos-Dumont.
appears in the Century from the pen
of Sterling Heilig:
This young Brazilian inventor works
for the love of the thing. not for lucre.
He has never felt moved to apply for
q single patent. He Is a son of tho
"coffee king" of Brazil, the proprietor
of the Santos -Dumont plantations OF
Sac Paulo, the friend OF the former
Emperor Dom Pedro and the bene-
factor and adviser of whole popula-
tions. Santos-Dumont, the father, al
though'a Brazilian by birth and ma
tionality, was French by descent, and
had his technical education at the
Ecole Centrale (arts and industries)
in Paris. Thanks to his education,
he was the first to apply scientific
methods to Brazilian coffee-culture.
so that his plantations became the
most fiourishing in the land, having
1900, 900 cofYee-plants, occupying 5000
laborers. comprising towns. manufac-
tories, docks and steamships, and
served by LAG miles OF private rail
roads. 1t was on these railroads that
the Young Santos -Dumont, before he
was II years Of age, drove locomotive
engines for his pleasure, and devel-
oped the taste for mechanics and in
vention which saved him, coming
young and rich to Paris, from life
OF mere sporting leisure. Until IS
years of age, when he completed his
education ut the University of Rio
de Janeiro. he remained in Brazil, al
ways returning in vacation-time to
the wild back-country Of the planta-
ton, where he became mighty hunt
er. killing wild pigs and small tigers
by preference. and great snakes out
of sense Of duty.
Arriving in Europe In 1871. he made
n tourist trip. and axcended Mont
Blanc. a part of 1891 and 1892 he
spent between London and Brighton,
perfecting his English, which he now
speaks as well and us often as French;
but he always returned to Paris. where
in 1892 he was already driving auto
mobiles. In 1894 he made short trip |
to the United States, visiting New
York. Chicago and Boston. He did not |
begin ballooning until 1897. in the sum
mer Of which year he made his first
ascent in company with the late N.
Nachuron. In the same year he made |
90 other ascensions, n number Of the III |
unaccompanicd. and became reliable
pilot Of spherical balloons. He has. |
indeed. an ideal figure for the sport. |
uniting remarkable strength, agility |
scarcely 100 pounds. For this reason
he was able to lower the volume OF
the Brazil" his hrst spherical bal |
loon, TO the unusual minimum of lib |
cubic meters. The little BRAZIL wa.
always filled with hydrogen, and after
each ascension he never failed to bring
It back with him in his valse.
This Brazilian has neither the struc-
ture. the complexion nor the exubersnt
gestures Of the men OF his country.
He Is pale, cold and ph!egmatic, even,
II the words may be applied to one so
active. In his moments Of greatest en-
,husiasm and OF most lively disap-
pointment he is always the same; and |
he is as free from ahectation as a
child. He has a weakness for driving |
dog-cart tandems. and - something |
which has had vital influence over his |
career as belloonist-he has been an |
intrepid automobile chauffeur from
the first
He began with . Peugot roadster Of
2h horsepower. He has since owned |
and driven half a dozen automobiles Of |
continually increasing speed and power,
his longest trip without stop being |
taken in 1895, between Nice and Paris,
and accomplished with six horse
power Panhard in 81 hours. Latterly |
he has abandoned petroleum in favor
Of electricity In a dainty light-run-
ming American buggy manufactured in
Chicago. 1t serves him, he says. better
than the more troublesome teuf-teuf |
for his morning spin through the Bois !
and his afternoon errands from the |
balloon-maker's at Vaugirard to his
apartment in the Avenue des Champs
Elysee. and from the Aero clubs |
ground at St. Cloud to the Automobile |
club in the Place de Ia Concorde. II
was once enamoured Of petroleum au-
tomobiles. because Of their Freedom"
he explains. "You can buy the essence
everywhere: and so, al a moments no.
tice, one is at liberty to start of for
Rome or ST. Petersburg. But when |
discovered that l did not want to 60 |
to Rome or ST. Petersburg. but only to
take short trips about Paris, went
in for the electric buggy.
81 got my first idea OF putting an
automobile motor under cigar-shaped !
balloon filled with hydrogen gas while |
returning from the Paris-Amsterdam
automo mobile race in 1897" hs said, when |
he began giving me this interview.
"From the beginning everybody was
against the idea. l was told that an
explosive gaS-engine would ignite the |
hydrogen in :he balloon above it, and |
that the resulting explosion would end
the experiment with my life. Lacham-
bre, my balloon constructor, went to |
work without enthusiasm. So far from |
others convincing me that their no.
tions were worth taking up ~ has
been said, I met with nothing but dis !
couraRment."