New-York tribune., 1901-07-14

s,srtators gathered at ST. Cloud. The sixteen
,orsepower petroleum motor "aeronef WAS in
sated with hydrogen, and exactly at Gal the
.sronaut gave the command, "Lachez toutr'
There was great difficulty in making a good
s,a-t because the moment the aerolef rose
obore the level of the hill the wind blew il
sosn again Nearly all the ballast thrown
overboard al the very start The aeronef. more
aver. was insufficiently inflated with hydrogen
50 that the ends of the cigar shaped airship
,reubled and sagged Finally she started off
with plunge diagonally 10 the wind. end
-ounded the EiffeI Tower at 6:54. and at 7:22
was back again and lowering over the starting
mint, but the wind. suddenly veering. caught
the saeronef broadside and swept il half mile
away. Santos Dumont. fearing that a catas-
,rophe might ensue if the descent should be
made in a street of Paris. pulled the safety
valve which tears a small rent in the silk. al
loving the gas to escape The drag line caught
,r tree and the aeronef came down like
dead pheasant in a garden belonging TO Baron
Edmond de Rothschild, which adjoins the park
Of the Countess d'Eu. of Brazil
The balloon upon which Senior Santos-D
mont has expended about $4,000 was somewhat
damaged, but can be repaired in a few Gays.
The aeronaut's only injury slight scratch
OF the right hand, received in rounding the
EineI Tower. The aeronef passed 40 yards
from the tower on the windward side, but on
the ieeward came within twenty yards of it.
passing at the level Of the third platform of the
tower.
During my conversation with Senior Santos
Dumont after the experiment, he told me that
be had implicit confidence that he on the
right track to solve the problem of aerial naviga-
ton The great difficulty" he said was that
during the start to-day two of my four pisto1s
got out OF working order. and the reason I
,ailed was that with the two remaining pistons
ny sixteen horsepower machine was not power
ful enough. Mr. Deutsch shares my confidence
the best proof of which is that he himself is al
rtady building a sixty horsepower aeronef after
the same model. He told me that when it was
finished he would lend it TO TO enable me 70
win his $4,000 prize
DO you think" asked, that you Will ever
be able TO accomplish the trip around the Eiffel
Tower and back in half an hour with your
present. airship?''
doing so. and shall try again in two or three
weeks"
What would happen If you got caught In
rain or thunder Storm
'Oh, then I suppose there would be a ship
wreck because even the weight of the -ain relt-
Ing down is sufficient to beat the aeronef TO the
ground"
Senior Santos-Dumont is a very modest little
man He weighs only 100 pounds. is wiry ner-
Fous and alert. He closed the conversation by
saying:
Please dissuade Tribune readers from in
'srring that profess to have solved The prob
lem The only thing 1 have accom- olished in
fifteen years Of experimenting. during which /
nave wrecked four aeronefs, is to be able with
ioerable certainty. in fine weather and with
Ilc breeze, TO start from a given point ard
navigate through the air in any direction, right
aeft up or down To anything more than this
4naVe no pretensions. We are at the beginning
q the problem, which, however, am absolutely
eoaident will some day be solved on ;he lines 1
nave been patiently following" GLIB