Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-23
Sovereignty Of the Air.

The cable tells of airship which has
sailed over London recently. 1t rose to a
height of three hundred feet. Its place of
ascent was Crystal Palace and the point Of
descent Eastcote The distance traversed
was thirty miles and the time consumed
was three hours. 1t Is reported that the
ship readily obeyed the helm Of the aero
naut. Stanley Spencer.
Aero-dynamics would appear to engross
an increasing number of men The balloon
has become a recognized agent In war and
meteorology, and has recently been suggest
ed by Paris physician as an agent in by
Creme. The airship which shall be effective.
responsive and safe, continues to be the as
piration Of many scientists. the hope of
many cranks and the means of notoriety
for some adventures.
The dawning Importance of the balloon
is evidenced by the recent birth of a publ
cation devoted entirely to aeronautical sub
jects' and in which 1t is claimed that great
and rapid improvements have been made in
mans attempt to obtain sovereignty over
the aerial regions, such as he now possesses
over the land and waters of the EARTH
Some students Of aeronauttcs do not dis
guise their Impotence with those men who
persist in experiments along the lines of en-
deavor begun by the Mongofier brothers in
1888 These were the pioneer practitioners
of the gas-bag principle and In their wake
thousands of men have fruitlessly followed.
1t is now commended that no form of aerial
craft which rises by its own buoyancy or
relative lightness can ever be made safely
dirigible. 1t must ever be at the sport Of
the wind and can never. it Is claimed. at
tain to commercial utility. 1t is the convic
ton of many students Of this subject that
the only aerial machine which will be prac-
teal will be one heavier than the air it
displaces and possessing series Of fixed
wing-like surfaces having their angles of in
cidence altered simultaneously by their CEN
ters of gravity.
Mechanical flight is a fascinating theme
for many men, and some progress has been
made. Hundreds Of years before the first
gas balloon men sought to navigate the air
with artificial wings tapped by arms and
legs. Long observation has made men IA
miiar with the mechanical movements Of
bird flight, but at that point human knowl-
edge on this subject seems to end. There
are birds which weigh seven hundred times
the weight of the air they displace and
which normally carry three pounds to each
square foot of their wing surface, but ma
ture keeps the secret of how they do it.
The "airships' of Santos Dumont Won Zep-
pelin DR.. Barton and Stanley Spencer are
amplifications Of the Mongolf1er gas-bag
principle, while the "airships' of Professor
Langley. Chanute and Irish are of the aero
plane or aerodrome principle. An Ameri-
can experimenter. by name Stanley, is seek
ing to combine the two principles, using an
aluminium cylinder, gas inflated and fitted
with side planes.
One of the curious phases of the balloon
idea has developed in France, where 1t has
been seriously proposed to make the at
tempt to restore anaemic persons to health
by giving them balloon ascensions to great
heights. 1t is argued that rarifed air can
thus be enjoyed at but slight inconvenience
in travel and expense