The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1901-11-13
||1RsHIp LIKE A BIRD.
.oe Inventor Has a New
Flying Machine.

wings Are to Be Pro-
.ued Through Space at " Fearful
The Machine Is to BE Com
tod of Aluminium.
,soro is on exhibition in the office OF
,.ool patent attorney the model of an
..,nip. says the Pittsburg Dispatch.
' ror if has been constructed the
does all that it's inventor claims
Fpp tbe birds and the insects which
,,nit the atmosphere and the fishes
lD1 ,rim the seas will find themselves
p' and away outdistanced by this
,orful new aerial monster. In
w. =. Of speed the bats and the hawks
NJ compare with this new airship as
n tbe legendary tortoise to the hare.
'.or, the standpoint of the model it
~ seem that the ship will do good
=. After it has been constructed,
,rover and all of its working gear is
active operation it may possibly be
IND that there is something wrong.
W. Of this danger the inventor, Gener-
'y r Van Vorhis, has no fear. He
nprfectly willing to take chance in
y dizzv heights if somebody in Pitts
NV will take a similar chance in put
~ IN the money to build the ship.
H. confidence is infectious, and
.orhv Pittsburgers who have an in
,io.tiop toward aerial fights are call
n to inspect the model.
General Van Vorhis has been resi-
inf of Kansas for twenty years, but
Il .irnalIy lived in Washington county,
He obtained his military title
srougb appointment by Governor st.
aim Of Kansas. He is not a mechanic.
rt has always had a fancy for scien-
af. affairs, and his ideas have been
mhodipd In the construction of many
,icps now in common use in the
untry.
In fashioning this atmospheric bird
kororol Van Vorhis has taken for his
pDoral ideas the wings of insects and
nor lving creatures and the tail of
IN There are three pairs of wings on
Nh side of the ship. The front pair is
combination of the wings of fly and
osp of a pheasant. Little apertures
r. cut in the wings at regular inter-
Is so that when the ship is in full
cbt the wings will offer no resistance.
h will allow the air to slip right
Trough them. After the forward mo-
OD is made these apertures close. and
the wings make the backward sweep
air comes in contact with solid
4. race and propels the vessel forward
III lightning rapidity.
4. The wings of the second pair are like
@ Of an ordinary bird. They move
ward and downward with an easy,
nh motion, sustaining the vessel in
II air and aiding in keeping up the
d In the extreme end of the vessel
1aal Van VorhiS has brought the
h. like those of some enormous fish.
W action They swish and swash
pugh the air with a violence well
b alarming. The tails bend forward
&tl they almost touch the side OF the
Ssel and then rush backward with
Poke which would put to shame the
4 laeS which dwelt in the North sea.
N bis preliminary steps General Van
rhis used five cranks with which to
opel these wings. Recently he has
de an Improvement by which they
all be operated with one crank. 1t
designed, when the machine is all
81 dy for flight, to have this crank OPP
Pted with a gasoline engine.
10 attain a sufficient elevation Gen
Ia Van Vorhis has modelled a small
s. loon which will be 100 feet in diane
q The gas will be generated right in
81 balloon, and the latter will be con-
ucted with innumerable cells, so that
one goes wrong the gas will be re-
s ned in all of the others.
5 How rapidly will you be able to fly
D this air monster of yours?" Gen