The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-02-23
BAT TIES IN THE AIR
INVENTORS TRYING TO BUILD
BIG AERIAL WAR
SHIP
PROBLEM IS A DIFFICULT ONE
Dynamite to Re Dropped From Deck
of DirigibIe Flying Machine
ON Cities and Ma
Vies.
Special to The Globe.

Special to The Globe.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22.-The man who
proposes to build an aerial warship for
exhibition at the ST. Louis exposition has
given fortunate trend to thought in this
direction which was very much needed.
Since the successful demonstration
made by Dumont and Zeppelin, as Mr..
Cameron, the, gentleman in question re-
marks, there is no doubt that the battles
OF the future will be fought in the air.
From what may be occasionally learned
OF the work accomplished by the balloon
corps of the European armies there is
no doubt that each year is bringing near
er to perfection the plans which they
have long cherished for building large
aerial fleets.
Mr.. Cameron, who will build the first
American aerial war engine, at his own
expense, said recently: Aerial naviga-
ton is government matter. What
propose building is a defensive war aeros-
tat which would hold cities, Notifications
and nayies at its mercy. When such yes
sells come into operation there will be no
more scientific warfare only certain open
air and open sea slaughter MY plan
would be a simple one l would build an
enormous double-hulled air catamaran
four hundred feet long, one hundred and
twenty-five feet wide, leaving a space OF
twenty-five feet between the hulls, Each
would have a cubic capacity of AS 800
feet; giving a total of 837 500 for the en-
tire vessels.
Mr.. Cameron figures on the results of
experiments made by Renard and Kress
with their war balloon and assumes that
the lifting power of this amount of hy-
f71.Oor orac- c
aerostat would be equipped with two en-
gines, run by oil, of 800 horse power each,
giving $4,000 pounds more, total of 3d.
600 pounds
From this lifting capacity q dead
weight OF $500 pounds has to be de-
Quoted. OF this he allows for the two
-huils 10000 pounds; for frame work 4903
mum, 1900; engines, car, water, dynamite
bombs, crew and provisions, 44,700
pounds; oil supply, 1900 pounds, and
water supply as much more, bringing
the total up to $4,000 pounds
Mr.. Cameron states he would drop
dynamite from such vessels from great
heights upon ships, forts and cities One
hundred pounds of dynamite dropped on
the deck of Warship. he says would
blow it to atoms. 1t must be obvious to
Mr.. Cameron that he would not be al
lowed to follow such course of whole
sale destruction as a vessel of this kind
being made by other war departments to
offset his peculiar method OF warfare
The first result of Investigation by such
authorities would demonstrate the fact
from annihilation they must produce
aerial vessels of kind that could com
bat these agents of destruction;
This would be ?. comparatively easy
matter. An areoplane or aerostat de-
pending upon its gaseous support, pro-
tected by only thin sheathing of alum
mum, would be an easy mark for an aer-
1aI running machine. Therefore either an
increased carrying capacity would be
required to allow for Tain-pToof sheath
ing or some way must be found to lesson
the dead weight, as sine qua non OF
the aerial warship would be the sheath
ing of such vessel in arn1or to protect
it from attack OF render 1t available for
defensive purposes.
SO far as the shape of the proposed yes
sci is concerned, Mr.. Cameron is in the
procession, the cigar-shaped ship pre-
sents many advantages, as does also the
dual hull.
An inventor who preceded MI. Cameron
in this line of enterprise, has arranged
that the -hulls should be divided into air
tight compartments on the plan adopted
for transatlantic steamers. He also pro-
posed placing the engines and explosives
in a car between the two hulls, where
they would be most fully protected Be-
Meath this car the propellers were to be
placed. There was to ne located at
the forward end of this vesselt a chisel-
shaped ram of steel Of tae highest tenn
Per. The sheathing proposed for the
hull of this vessel was a very fine tenn
pered steel.
1t is on somewhat such lines as this
probably that the practical war airship
of the future will be built though it's
predecessors will doubtless be constructs
ed somewhat on the basis suggested in
Mr.. Cameron's plans.
The cry Of aeronauts for ages has been
cheap motor power.
The $4,000 prize at Washington await
ing the first air-ship builder who can
that he is entitled to it brought forward
some time ago double hulled dirigible
balloon invented by an ex-off1cer of the
balloon corps of the German army.
After several successful trials the Off
Gals decided that the inventor. Charles
A. Kuenzel, being a German citizen or a
German by birth. was not entitled to
the prize. This deprived him Of obtain
ing the benefit OF his invention
The great merit of the Kuenzil air
ship was its motor power, the highest
ever projected for such a purpose.
When Mr. Kuenzel was defeated in his
purpose of capturing the prize at the be-
stowal of the government he took hts
motor power and applied it to general
manufacturing and transportation pur-
poses.
This power is a dry gas. produced by
a combination of Is per cent oil and IS
per cent atmospheric air.
No electric motor of the present day
could begin to compare in weight and
power with this simple arrangement. The
Use such a power as this for propul
sion would reduce the dead weight over
10. 0e0 pounds and would thus leave neat
margin for the additional weight caused
by the proper sheathing of the hull.
For experimental purposes Mr.. Kuen-
zei would doubtless allow his dry gas
patents to be temporarily infringed by
Mr.. Cameron and in that case we might
see at the St. Louis exposition an aerial
war-ship worthy of the name and prove
ourselves once more in the van of prog
ress, in aeronautics, as in other things