The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-07
BELLS FLYING MACHINE
INVENTOR OF THE TELEPHONE HAS MADE ONE THAT FLIES.
It Resembles Flock of Birds-Each Bird Being Represented by
 Triangular Box of
Washington Special.

Washington Special
 pr. Alexander Graham Bell. inventor of the telephone, has built flying machine that will really fly. It is a structure composed of what might be termed a multiplicity of silken wings upholding a sort of boat. But perhaps the strangest thing about it is that the boat will fly by itself so great is its buoyancy, when the supporting part of the apparatus mas been taken away.
 The facts here presented are obtained from advance proof sheets of an article by Dr. Bell, which will appear in the forthcoming number of the Natlonal Geo- graphic Magazine.
 The machine is, in effect
 An Artificial Bird
 constructed on the kite principle, but in accordance with an entirely new ioea. II is a multiple kite composed or great number of triangular boxes or SIX neio m shape by sticks. If 1t were not 80 haIu a,r u word it would be better to call the boxes .tetrahedrons," inasmuch as each of them has four triangular sides Put triangles together to make box and YOU will see the idea. Then fasten lot of such skeleton poxes togst1er, cor ner to corner and you will get notion of Dr. Bells arrangement.
 One side of each skel s.on box IS open 10 tho air, the other sides are Of SIX, ana in shape and position suggest the triangular wings of a bird in the act of flying. Thus the whole machine bainS made up of such boxes, is like bird, or. more accurately speaking, like hocK or birds whose flight is directed by single f,npulse The socalled supporting part" of the apparatus is grea. ''aeroplane' composed of these boxes ana the boat suspended beneath is or similar construction. so that as already stated, it will float by itself.
 The Lesson of the Kite.
 CT have had the feeling" says Dr. Bell, fin describing his invention, that nroperly constructed flying machine should be capable of being flown as a kite. and. conversely. that properly constructed kite should be capapie or use es A flying machile when driven py us own propelers. Given Kite so shdpeu ss to be suitable for the body or nyit,s machine, and so efficient that IL VIII ny well ir q good breeze when loaded witn
 1,,s,oht eouiyalent to that of a m an and engine and man in place oi the ,, ioar, cnd driven by its own propellers' snouio he sustained in calm air as nSias ,,acbine So far as the pressure or the air is concerned, it is surely lhiad'e ,lie whether the air moves sgalnst 'iio N-'o or the kite against the air a, To illustrate this point pr. ben he" his flying machine in dead calm oy a' +ocbjne cord Ga strong Manila ropel ta eolloninr horse. The horse fur ,,sbad to the apparatus power or pro- ,o,,Ision equivalent to that which an eh aino roieht have given, and it rose ana scared beautifully. It was an appncd- tion of the same principle as that employ cd bv the small boy who, when the breeze is too light to raise his kite, runs "lla it along the ground.
 A Remarkable Accident.
 On one occasion an attempt, wnlcn which came near to having d disastrous ending. was made to fly the machine in good sailing breeze when a squall came up and struck it, lifting into the air the two men who held it, Of course, they let go instantly. and the gigantlc bird of silk and sticks, carrying the boat beneath it as an eagle pears US prey in it's talons, rose steadily Tn the cir until the rope snapped under the strain. Tremendous oscillations or nitchine character ensued, but the kite was at such an elevation when the accl- dent happened that the oscillations had time to die down before it reached the ground, when it landed safely upon an even keel in an adjoining field
 Bells Guiding Thought.
 Dr. Bell states that the applicability of kite experiments to the flying machine problem has been for long time past the guiding thought in his researches He says:
 .'I have not cared to ascertain how hieh a kite might be flown. The point I have had specially in mind is that the equilibrium of the structure In the air should be perfect; that the kite should fly steadily, and not move about from side to side or dive suddenly when struck by a squall; and that when released IL should drop slowly and gently to the ground. believe that in the form or structure now attained the properties of strength, lightness and steady nignt have been united in a remarkable de- gree.'
 Dr. Bells experiments were made dur ing recent summers on his estate in Nova Scotia and the kites employed assumed hundreds of different forms, though all of the recent ones have been composed Of the "tetrahedral' skeleton boxes already described Such box being recognized as the structural unit, as many of them as might be desired could be put together in all sorts of shapes. Up to date, how ever. the form that has proved most sat- isfactory is the aeroplane upholding a beat.
 Learning from Asiatics.
 "In Asia" says Dr. Bell "kite-hying has been for centuries an amusement of adults, and the Chinese. Japanese and Malays have developed tailless kites very much superior to any form of kite known to us until quite recently. It is only with in the last few years that Improvements in kite structure have been seriously con sidered. and recent developments of the art have been largely due to the efforts of one man-Mr. Laurence Hargrave of Aus tralia Hargrave realized that the struc- ture best adapted for kite would also be suitable as a basis for the construction of a flying machine"
 Dr. Bells First Discovery.
 The simplest form of Hargrave kite which has already become familiar to most American boys, consists of two rec tangular boxes of muslin, with a wide space between. held rigid by sticks. Dr. Bells first discovery was that a marked improvement could be effected by making the boxes triangular. Inside bracing was thereby rendered unnecessary and the kite was stronger and lighter, while offer ing less head-resistance to the wind. She next step was to change the triangular 'cell' into a tetrahedron-a box formed