The sun., 1901-07-28
R0BJ0HN'S OLD AIRSHIp
RECALLED To OLD NEW Y0RKERs NJ
SANTOS M NOSTs FLIGHT.

TIE Model Made fifty Year, Ass by q Bov.,,
Jewslier Was shewn IN the Old Mereh.,,..
Exchange seemed 70 Fly All RI,s,
Mach Like the latest flying Msesins
The successful aerial voyage of,L San,os-
Dumont's nying machine In Paris recall,
to some old New Workers the exhibition q,
Thomas Robjohns airship model in ths
old Merchants Exchange Building more
than fifty years ago. The young Brazil.
ian's airship has many points OF striking
similarity to the old model. and 1t is boa.
sible that had Robjohn known Of gasolens
as motor power and substituted il 70,
the many times heavier steam machlns-v
which he used he might have had NOR,
success than he did.
A scientist having Laboratories In mi,
city at once thought OF Robjohns model
when he read the account of the recent
trial in Paris.
Il was very much interested in TIM
SUNS description of the airship in which
NJ. Santos Dumont made his trip" he
said yesterday. 1t brought TO my mind
tho model OF similar aiship which /
saw exhibited in this city more than half
q century ago. was then an Office boy in
Wall street. While returning from an
errand one day l noticed large crowd
In front OF the old Merchants Exchange
What's going on? l asked Of q man
near me.
Flying machine exhibition he re-
piled.
Having always been interested in thing.
OF that sort | worked my way inside. and
there, soaring gracefully around h tho
rotunda / saw the airship model. which
some people then thought. would eventually
revOlutionize travel The designer wa,
Thomas Robjohn, a Bowery jeweller and an
organ builder OF considerable note. Hs
intention was to attract enough attention
by the exhibition OF his model to build
big airship for practical Use. His circulars
headed To California in "a Hours caused
quite q STIR az this was about the time
that Lieut. Beals Of the navy had r7lshed
into the exchange with the nrst large gold
nugget from California and the gold fever
was at It's height
The model. as I remember It. consisted
Of a cigar-shaped balloon about 20 feet
long. from which was suspended an open
platform. An odd thing about the balloon
which l learned several years later when
in the employ Of RObjohn. was that It was
made OF 400 bladders glued together. The
expense Of this must have been very great
But to return to the model There were
two propellers in the stern These were
operated by the steam generated in a cyiin-
drical boiler fired by an alcohol lamp The
rudder worked laterally and was attached
| to the stern end OF the balloon. An upward
| or downward course could be given TO the
ship by shifting movable ballast This
model worked perfectly in the still air OF
| the rotunda. Whether or not il would
have been able to contend with the air cur
rents outside Is OF course another matter
From the description given in THR
nj NH pppt
machine and Of the Robjohn model are Of
| the same shape. Behind the motor and
about midway between the platform and
| the balloon proper the modern machine
has two-flanged screw. Robiohn's ma
chine had two screws in about the same
position. The difference between a steam
motor and a petroleum motor seems TO be
the only radical one.
| "Robjohn started TO build his big flying
machine. but never completed 1t. ! after
ward saw the two engines which he had in
| tended for It, An organ builder in Bedford
street for whom | worked bought them
10 use in his business. They were two
button-valve oscillating cylinders. with
a o.. inch bore and an is-lnch stroke. They
we're strong and light, being made OF gun
metal a quarter Of an inch thick.
The two boilers were about feet long
and IL inches In diameter. They were
made OF copper and were what are known
as thousand leg bugs. having four rows
OF pipes reaching into the fires. This
gave very great fire surface and as the
| steam domes were small the steam was
used almost as fast as 1t was made
The engines were placed on a wooden
| drum from 10 feet in diameter, having
room for two 4-inch belts side by side
From this II IL evident that Robjohn meant
TO have two screws on the big machine rs
| on the model The balloon was built in New
| Jersey 1t was made Of some cotton ma
| terial and was about 400 feet long. almost
three times the length Of Mr.. Santoe-Du-
mont's. The preparation which he put
on the balloon to make IL alright rotted
the cloth and for some reason, probably
financial, he never undertook to construct
another"