Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1901-09-12
PRIZE TRIALS
f ofmer Inventors and Tests of
- Dirigible Balloons.
EsANTos,DUMoNTs OTHER AsoENTs

{ Young Navigator, Who Is an En-
I gineer by Profession-Expert's De-
| scrapfion of the Construction of
Balloon That Was Wrecked.
! The Deutsch prize, which NJ. Santos
EDumont, who has just narrowly es-
capped death in attempting to circle the
EEifel tower in his dirgfble balloon.
has been trying for two summers TO
Twin, was offered in March, 1900, says
THE New York Tribune. The conditions
Df the contest were these: The aero
maui should start from Suresner, about
three and one-half miles from the Elf
Tel tower, make a voyage around that
colossal structure n return to the
point of departure inside Of 30 min
Eutes. To do so it would be necessary
to travel at the rate Of IA miles OF
more an hour for full sever miles and
Edemonstrate the feasibility Of propel-
ling. steering and otherwise success
fully managing his craft. The sum to
he given Is $4,000.
t. M. Santos-Dumont got his airsh1p up
several times in b spring and sum-
imer Of 1900 and made the attempt in
kformal1y-that is, without summoning
the Judges to witness the performance.
Finally he made a trial under official
scrutiny. This was in September. But
something went wrong with his ap-
sparatus, and he descended before COM
pleting the journey. His first notable
ascent this ear was not made over the
fSuresner-Eifel tower course and ENC
twas not an attempt to secure the prize.
He sailed from st. Cloud to the Long
tchamps race course and simply maneu
Dered in the air.
EThe general plan which this daring
young navigator pursues is much like
that Of Captain Krebs and Renard OF
the French army in 1885. They en-
pIoyed a gas bag to sustain their ap-
paratus and shaped it like a cigar in or
der to reduce atmospheric resistance.
with a screw propeller, driven by an
electric motor and storage battery,
Krebs and Renard developed a speed
of IA miles an hour, but this was main-
tained for only a few minutes.
EAmong those who have followed this
Evel known precedent was the German
Count Won Zeppelin, who tried his air
ship over Lake Constance last year
both In July and October. The enor-
unOuS size OL lie CIdlC-1k was otC1 EOO
feet .long-and the mans own promi-
hence as a military officer and friend OF
the King of Wurttemberg attracted so
much attention to the venture that
scarcely anybody noticed Santos-Du-
mont, whose work was teal1y much
more promising. Won Zeppelin had d
lbig. ship With a feeble engine, d small
gasoline motor, while the modest young
Brazilian in Paris had a small ship,
with a motor which was relatively
much more powerful. In certain de-
tails perhaps his craft was superior.
Won Zeppelin was doomed to failure
from the outset. He made eight or ten
miles an hour for a few minutes, but
could not peat the record. He spent a
good deal of money, mostly his own,
and has definitely retired from the
field.
y Santos- Dumont is an engineer by pro
fession and about &c years old. His
gasoline motor is a marvel Of lightness
1T was designed especially by the
Messrs. Daimler, develops seven horse
power and weighs 20 pounds. The gas
Oline tanks are cigar shaped. But ever
with this beautiful equipment, in som
respects unequaled, Santos-Dumont ha'
mot yet beaten the record Of Krebs ant
Renard.
EsThis accident, which resulted so hap
pily, reminds one Of the fate Of Her
Lilientha1, who lost his life in August
1896, through the wrecking of his fyin,
machine. That device was practical.
a pair Of large wings and meant to sus
tain him while he slid down an aeria
lclopo from q ho11co ton or q cliff TT
had made 1000 such flights before hi
death.
a young Englishman, Pitcher, VIII
initiated Lilienthal to some extent, blu
exhibited much originality, met a simi
lar fate in 1899. His plan was to star
from the surface and rise very gentl
while horses towed him. Evidently b
meant to drive his %aeroplane with a ga
motor.
The construction Of M. Santos-Dt
mont's balloon is thus closely describe
in the current number of The Scientif
American:
f"The balloon proper is cylindrics
and is covered with silk, it's extrem
ties being pointed. 1t is Ill feet long
and its cubical capacity is 1890 fee
Suspended by piano wire some 35 O. 4
feet below the balloon is a light frame
work whose profile very much resen
ables that Of the balloon proper. Th
framework is triangular in section an
lis formed Of three long pieces of zoe
secured at the end and strengthened b
cross bracing and steel wires. TIL
framework supports a four cylinder,
horsepower motor of the Dion-Bouto
type, the fuel reservoir, b shaft an
the propeller. The engine is place
well toward one end, and the aerona,
rides in a light basket at the other en-
Here he has under his control all Of tt