Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-01-10
THE ST. LOUIS FLYING PRIZES.
Inducements to Bring Out the Best
/ That Can BE Done In Air Nayiga-


tion. ,,r,
In order to encourage those who are
engaged In that field Of invention, the
directors Of the Louisiana, Purchase
exposition have appropriated the sum
Of 100000, Of which $4,000 will be re-,
J served for expenses connected with the
competition and exhibition, $4,000 will
be given as grand prize to the exhib-
itor Of the most perfect vehicle shown
in the form Of an airship, and $4,000
will be awarded in smaller prizes to
other inventors.
The competition Is open to all COM
ers without limitation as to the power
used or the mechanical principles in
volved, but no one will be admitted
who has not already made flight of
at least one mile and return. A course
has been prescribed within the exposi-
tion inclosure which must be followed
for not less than ten or more than fif-
teen miles at speed of at least twenty
miles an hour.
The trials will take place between
June 1. and September 80. 1904. vari-
GUS prizes are offered for other contests,
which are open to balloons, airships
and other aeronautical vehicles of any
type.
Five thousand dollars for the great
est altitude attained.
Five thousand dollars for the longest
time in the air.
Five thousand dollars for the longest
distance travelled in any direction.
Five thousand dollars to the man
man who starts from st. Louis and
lands nearest the Washington Monu-
ment, in the city Of Washington.
The management Of the contest will
be in the hands Of an international
jury, which will be made up of famous
men Of science. Already notice has
been received that fifteen entries have
been made, including all Of the most
advanced airships yet known. Profess
sor Alexander Graham Bell, the inven-
tor Of the telephone; Professor Lang
ley, Of the Smithsonian institute; DR..
Maxim. who has devised many re-
markable guns; Santos Dumont, the
Brazilian, who has taken the big
prizes In France; Octave Chanute, Mr..
Stevens, an Englishman; Professor
Laurence Rotch, of Blue Hills, Mass;
Count Won zeppelin, a Bavarian, and
other aeronauts in Europe and Amer
lea have already entered or are expec-
ted to enter. The competition is Great
ing more interest on the other side of
the Atlantic than here.
The largest sensation in the way of a
flying ship has been constructed by
Count yon zeppelin, who has been ex-
perimenting all summer from a float
anchored in Lake Constance, Switzer-
land. where he has large open space
without distractions. AS his float
swings with the wind the longitudinal
axis Of the airship is always in the
line Of the direction Of the wind. His
ship is a 24-sided polygon, cigar
shaped, 40 feet long and 80 feet in d.
ameter.
The framework is composed of six
teen rings Of aluminium, 26 feet apart,
fastened to a central rod by wires
radiating like the spokes Of a wheel.
The framework is first covered with a
netting Of ramie FIBRE remarkable for
toughness and tensile strength, then
with a gas and water-tight rubber
composition. and further protected by
an envelope Of tough cloth. The cylin-
der is divided into seventeen compart-
ments like steamer, each Of which is
filled independently with gas, so that
II the ship meets with a collision only
a portion Of 1t will be injured. It has
a capacity Of $50, ,150 cubic feet Of hy-
drogen gas, Is propelled by four BEN
zine motors and steered by four alum
inum propellers, two at each end below
the central axis. The cylinder rests up
on two cars Of aluminium, % feet long,
six feet wide and three feet high, and Is
connected with the axis by coiled
springs to break the force of a fall up
on the ground. If the car should de-
scend in the air, the weight Of the low
er works would keep the wheels be-
meath 1t, and the springs would prevent
the cylinder from being mashed by
contact.
Prof. Bell was experimenting in Nova
Scotia last summer, and there have
been reports Of successful flights by
him. Prof Langley has also been en-
gagged with his flying machine, but
they are not yet prepared to disclose
what they have accomplished.
The St. Louis people have received
many curious suggestions. One man
writes that he is training teams Of
buzzards, eagles and other big birds to
haul a car through the air, and in
quires as to his chances Of winning the
s1O0, 900 prize.-Chicago Record-Herald.
CONDITIONS In VENEzUELA.-The A.
nancial panic here has been momen-
tarily arrested by an agreement be-
tween the leading traders Of Caracas,
LaGuayra, Valencia and Puerto Cabel-
10, and the Bank Of Venezuela, says a