Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-11
EXPERTS IN TROUBLE
Storm Struck Their House
boat Hard.
DRIFTED HALF A MILE
ALARMED.
Party Moved Their Belongings From
Quantico to Clifton Beach
Last Night.
DRIFTED HALF A MILE

Special Dispatch to The Evening Star
Underwater, Va, August 11.-Again
the elements interfered with Prof. Lang
ley's plans for the location of his house.
boat. About 1 o'clock this morning ter
rifle electrical storm, accompanied by
heavy wind, struck the Potomac off here.
Buffeted for an hour or more the house.
boat yielded to the pressure Of wind and
sea. Despite her heavy anchors she was
driven in a southeasterly direction toward
Liverpool Point. When the storm subsided
It was found that she had Travelled about
half a mile Thoroughly equipped with
anchors and long cables it was believed
that the craft would be able to hold her po-
sition against any storm likely to occur at
this season. After the first fright the
scientists had, when Their ark was rapi dly
driven up the river before a strong south.
caster. they took every precauton aga nst
repetition. That they believed tnem-
selves absolutely secure In the new moor
ings Is testified by boast one of the MEM
bers of the expedition was heard to indulge
in to the effect that neither md nor sea
would be likely to drag the vessel from its
hold on the mud bottom at that pont.
! But the experience last night shows that
the houSeboat is yet to some extent at the
mercy OF severe weather. There were sew
eral men aboard during the storm, and to
Say tney were dppIcHcASiSc puto ~
mildly.
Three Wrecks in Sight.
Just three miles below is a high coast
line fringed with rocks and crowned with
tall bleak pines.
Upon this desolate beach, when the water
is low. may be seen, punched together the
wrecks of three big schooners which were
driven ashore six years ago in the MEM
orabie hurricane of that tall. They were
good vessels, owned by three brothers, and
The rough coast where they went to pieces
3noldS something OF dread TO the local liver
men in storm.
SNVhether the airship people knew of this
pleasant bit of history this morning when
their boat was drifting toward the fated
spot is not known, but it is certain that the
possibilities of disaster to the houseboat
were alarming.
!. No attempt was made in the forenoon to-
day to remove the housebOat. The men
were brought up to work this morning
from Clifton Beach, their new headquaf~
ters, on,sthe tug Key. 1t then left for a
trip to Quantico. There was no appear
ance of any work being done on the OUT
side this morning
Last evening a strange hotilla was seen
slowly covering the distance from Quantico
Island to Clifton Beach 1t consisted of
tug in front, moving laboriously, small
launch and several batteaus strung out in
line. Upon these craft. in addition to the
passengers, was piled various kinds of
III,
cession was not the flight of a Tartar
tribe" 1t was the moving of the Smith
sonian scientists to their new house.
Experience With Model.
Prof. Langleys chief assistant, Mr..
Chas r. Manley. is making all possible
use of the experience gained in the flight of
the model aerodrome Saturday to insure
much greater degree of success in the ex-
periments yet to be made with models, as
well as the crucial test with the big sixty
foot flying machine. Though the entire
period during which the small aerodrome
was in the air was considerably less than
a minute it's behavior at every stage was
critically studied and valuable lessons in
aerial navigation were learned. These were
not all gratifying to the scientists, but in
the way of furnishing data for guidance
in subsequent experiments the first flight
of the present series might be said to be a
success. No one outside the Langley party
claims that the machine went precisely
over the course mapped out by the experts.
No one believes that her trip was designed
to end as abruptly and violently as it did
in the mud bottom of the Potomac. and it
would be hard to convince any outside OBJ
server that there had not developed a Sc
rious defect in the working of the wings as
well as disappointing failure in the steer
ing arrangement. Having been set for
fight of from a thousand to fifteen hundred
yards in a really straight line from the
.houseboat. the machine scarcely covered
third of this approximate distance and the
last portion of the aerial journey was made
In a wide curve.
+ Can Account for the Defect.
Mr.. Manley and his assistants, it may be
stated. are not at a loss to account for the
unfortunate behavior Of the machine.
Though they refuse to make any further
statements it is clearly understood that the
main trouble lay in the system of balancing
In the air COliOled with insufficient
strength of the wings. Right over these
two problemS-that of balancing and giving
the wings adequate firmness-Prof. Langley
has labored with all his energies. After
embracing his theory of the possibility of
Transporting in the air body whose spe-
cific gravity Is many times greater than the
air itself, he investigated the laws of aerial
balancing, and later, having made an
aerodrOme, spent years in endeavoriEg to
combine durability with hghtness in the
wings. Very carefully and earnestly did he
seek to ascertain all the laws governing the
center of gravity in relation to the line OF
thrust from the propellers as well as in re-
lation to the center of pressure When, in
1896, Prof. Langley succeeded in getting
his machines to course through the air in
their designed position, he believed that he
had practically solved the problem of bal
ancing. But the recent experiment is CIV
ing the scientists much painful food for
thought in this connection. They are face
to face with the fact that even the slight
est oversight. untoward circumstance or
mlScalculatlon concerning the balancing OF
the aerodrome Is quite sufficient to mar
what might otherwise be the success of an
experiment. And the same they have
found to be true with the wings Let these
be detected but a little and disaster will
occur. 1t is safe to predict that some very
important work upon the wings and in con-
nectiOn with the system Of balancing will be
done on the big sixty-foot aerodrome before
she Is launched-the direct result of the
lessons learned in the experiment Saturday
! EXPENSES MAY BE PAID.