Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-06-04

engine builders, but nowhere could
find one which weighed 80 little as 10
pounds 10 the horse power none as
Eight as that ever having been built.
was then most reluctantly forced TO
undertake 60 build the engine myself
or TO have II built under my super
vision, / say reluctantly as ] ann not
an engineer then secured the ass
slstanCe OF Mr. Charles NJ Manly q
young mechanical engineer graduate
Of Cornell university, and we tried TO
produce q lighter engine than any yet
made. We mnde experiment after eN-
pertinent, until he finally developed a
gas engine much less than half the
weight of the lightest gas engine we
could procure On Europe. This Is the
engine which operates the present ma
chine. ] will not say just how hight II
II, but II weighs less pounds per horse
power At the same time IL is Of won
derful strength IN comparison with its
weight"
You refer to the press. Mr. Langley
Why did you not let the newspaper
men see the machine when you first
took II down the potomac2"
THAT WAS not a matter Of choice
with me- WAS the reply II explained
why at the time. A large part Of the
money employed I'm making the ma
chine was furnished by the war depart
ment with a view to using II, # sue
coSsful, I'm warfare. For this reason
the department wanted IS construction
20 be "a military secret. Suppose. for
instance, that Japan had n successful
dying machine. the secret Of whose
construction was known only to the
Japanese. would not the war depart
ment of that country be anxious to
keep that secret from the Russians?
With such machine they could fly
over the armies IN Manchurla and esti-
mate their size and armament. They
could reconnoiter the country for miles
about their army and prepare to resist
an attack They could look down into
Port Arthur ana perhaps determine
the length Of siege required TO take A.
These are the principal uses Of a flyine
machine in reconnaissance, without
speaking Of it's potentalities as a war
engine I'm dropping dynamite, DO you
wonder that the United states army
does not wish TO give publicity to a
possible invention of this kind made
with its money or that !, as con-
scieutl0us servant OF the government
could not but obey such Instructions
/ looked upon the machine then as "A
military secret, Much Of It's Construc-
YOU, but ] cannot allow you TO make
any scientific or detailed description
Of II for the reasons ! have stated.
II regret much" concluded Sccy.
Langley, that my situation In this
matter has not been understood or fair
ly stated, though | tried to explain It
at the time"
AS TO THE FUTURE,
III It were left to you Mr. Langley,
what would you now like to do as to
the machlne?" | asked.
"If that were the case" he-repled, 81
should like TO put It in order and launch
It under such conditions that II could
show its possibilities Of a flight through
the air, The machine Is not serious
ly injured, and It could easily be re-
paired. Another launching apparatus,
however, would be a matter OF much
experiment and of considerable eX-
pense, which Is beyond my means
would you again use house boat
for such an experiment.
81 cannot say as 20 that" replied Mr..
Langley. "The machine carries a man
in II, and II is hardly fair to the man