The sun., 1901-08-13
"TBE coNoUERoR or rHE AIs."
Csmmsss Upsn sansss.IDumcats Expert.
ences by Q New Ysrk Iaventsr.


repeats itself. with variations. Of course.
Therefore It's lessons should be needed and
remembered. Therefore II Is now high
time TO scatter broadcast a new edition
Of the antique but truly classic story Of
the bull which gave battle to a railroad train
and consequently passed into NirvAna.
The bull was hero. Of course-because ho
didn't know better. because he had no
idea that he was opposing his one-bull
power TO 'o00sOC0!!l horse power on wheels.
His ignorance absolves him from any
charge OF brayado; man involintarfly
utters q -Bravo!' In memory Of the spunky
beast. But have the psychologists Of
the past and Of the present duly considered
the responsibility OF those Of supposedly
higher intelli igence. who. instead Of trying
to prevent the final catastrophe. patted the
bull, tied ribbons to his tail and garlands
TO his horns and intoxicated him with
adulatory caresses. after his preliminary
rushes' Let US hope for oharity's sake
that those champions. too, were stepped
In ignorance: that they repented truly.
and amended their knowledge and their
ways. And let us be wiser In our generation.
And let US be candid In considering.
A monstrotis. unwisldy. habby gas bag
contssting King Boreas's right Of way 10
but Q variant OF tho bull-and-sngins
tragedy. Yet, Just now. hosts are thought
lsssly spplauding tho budding Of such .
tragedy, believing that. although his efforts
have invariably been marred by mishaps.
OF aerial navigation. To be sure the pub
lie at large cannot be expected to know
better NO long as those who. assuming any
authority In guiding the public mind sun
protesting faith In the plucky Brazilian's
ultimate success, are guilty Of almost
criminally wilful blindness to at Least the
following conclusive facts:
That what Santos-Dimont has done
has been done far better by Krebs and
Renard. with the military balloon LA
France In 1884,
That whatever seeming success Santos
Dumont achieved Is accreditable TO the
petroleum motor employed by him; motor
SO obviously dangerous in close proximity
to a huge reservoir Of inhamrnable gas
that the foremost maker Of balloons re-
fused TO make the balloon TO he propelled
by that motor;
That the balloonist's latest and most
serious mishap ia directly due 70 inability
TO cope with a moderate wind. and
That VI. Henri Deutsch, who offered the
500 900 prize for which Santos-Dumont is
competing, has. through the latter's e1-
periments, reached the conclusion that his
balloon Is not the ideal aarial vehicle looked
for. NJ Deutsch would now like TO with
draw his offer OF the prize, II he could honor
ably do 30, and likewise Enthusiastically
Expresses fear that further encouragement
win lead to Santos-D -Dumont's tragic death,
The Santos-Dumont case Is the Zeppelin
case over again only. and fortunately 50.
81. In. thx, rod ,nn
tinue his experiments. while the Brazilian
is enabled To pursue his mad career.
During the past seven years 't has again
| and again been pointed out In The Sun
that II Is wholly irrational 70 expect salts
factory dirigibility OF balloons through
the means now available The dictum Is
based on facts absolute, 40 clear and simple
| that they cannot fail to convince even a
ten-year-old boy Of common intelligence:
The carrying capacity Of balloon Ia a
| fixed quantity; for instance, the Santos
Dumont balloon. sixty-five feet long and
twenty y-fve feet In diameter. could not
carry a motor weighing over 200 pounds.
| The propulsive force developed by means
! OF screw propellers is also n fixed quantity,
amounting at best, according TO Prof.
langley and Mr. Maxim's unimpeachable
experiments, to a little over five pounds
pressure per horse power expanded. The
\ Santos-Dumont propeller. driven by
4
able at best TO develop propulsive
pressure Of 100 lbs. Five pounds per horse
| power, remember. A wind Of. say, twenty
miles an hour-j,Ist a good breeze-exerts
| a pressure Of over pound on every square
foot Of a surface like that presented by the
| side Of a cigar-shaped balloon. IL follows
easily that dirigibility of any screw-pro-
| PEELED clgar-shaped balloon is possible
only in calm or only slightly disturbed air.
| But the facts above stated do not exclude
| the possibility OF rational aerial navigation
| The following shows that this possibility
| has ample room:
The centre Of pressure OF balloon screw
| propeller blades may reasonably be assumed
| 10 rotate with a speed OF at least twenty
| miles per hour. Inclined fat planes NOV ed
| normally through the air develop press ure
| OF over one pound per square foot OF plane,
while the resistance TO be overcome may be
put, according to the common law OF the
| inclined plane, at about one-tenth. To de-
velop a pressure OF five pounds, the blades
must overcome a resistance of about one
! half pound Then we have
saasoo 40 s. abou, i-ao horse power.
That is, applied directly, ono -fortieth OF
] a horse power Cnstead Of a whole horse
| power, as now expended would suffice to
| produce five pounds pressure. Further
more, periodically curved inclined planes
give 40 much more favorable results tnal
| Il may boldly he said that one-hundredth
| Of horse power. applied directly, suffices
| TO produce a pressure of five pounds. OF
| course tho change 70 rotary motion, and
the very unfavorable leverage due To dis
| parity between the length OF the piston
stroke and the length OF the propeller
/ blades accounts for most OF the enormous
| expenditure Of power In operating screw
! propellers: still. there Is obviously ample
| room for device far superior TO the screw
| propeller. bridging the yawning chasn be-
| tween -one-hundredth' and "one. In
| deed. sober review Of the facts established
| by the fathers OF atrodynamics warrants
| the positive assertion that II Is possible TO
| provide propeller at least twenty times
| more effective than the screw propeller
| operating on the air. with the same expen-
| dlture Of power.
such device would make balloon fairly
| dirigible and would make aaroplanes avail
able for practical navigation. But this
perfectly sober claim, being United States
product and appealing to the pocket. OF
! course, cannot compete with any fsnciful
foreign claim not appealing to the pocket.
! Allah II Allah What Is to be will be
what isn't TO he will not be. Tho flying
machine will be because 1t is clearly pos
sible. and only lack Of living faith In this
| possibility will prevent our country from
| carrying oif the prize in this field. too,
J Il. ZUBERBtHLRR,
New YORK. Aug. II.
| 0. This . True Accusation?
| To THE EDITOR oP TINS SIN sv' why 90
| ~ p.py n,oblr .usr hnyng achieved financial sue.