The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-06-15
A CIVIL WAR A|RSH|P
One Was Made That Act
! ually Lifted Itself.
POWER FROM STEAM.
Gen. Benjamin r. Butler Wanted to
Know About the Movements Of
4 the Eenemy While In Virginia
e and Ordered the Machine to be

e. He Geneny WnlIe IN virginia
E and Ordered the Machine to be
Built.
Wellman Serrell tells about an air
ship Maj. Gen. Benjamin f. Butler,
commander Of the army of the James,
ordered to be built soon after the 10th
army corps moved into Virginia.
All the commanders desired to
know what the enemy was doing, and
Mr.. Serrell says that when the as
tronomer Gen. Mitchell commanded at
Port Royal during the Civil War, the
matter was discussed with his chief
engineer officer. who brought forward
the proposition to make n machine
wit out imitation. and exhibited tin
mod,l that wound up with a string
and handle and spun like a humming
top and would fly into the air 100 feet
or more vertically, according to the
force exerted upon It, and would car
ry bullet or two il the string was
pulled hard enough"
Gen. Mitchell died, and, upon seeing
what the tin toy did, Gen. Butler ex-
pressed the belief that machine
could be built to navigate the air.
Drawings were made, the theory be-
ing ito initiate the little tin model and
add to its gliding planes. The draw
ings," according to Mr.. Serrell, SHOW
ed four fans to lift, two above an en-
gine, two below, and two fans to pro-
pei and steer, one in front and one be-
hind; the rear fan on shaft that
moved in horizontal segment, SO as
to change the direction of the push,
and make the rear fan not only a pro-
peller, but rudder at the same time.
Across the machine was to be a
horizontal shaft, on which on either
side of the machine were to be glid-
ing planes and automatic balancing
balls. These were to slide in and out
SO as to maintain an equilibrium.
The body of the machine was to be
about SO feet long and shaped like a
and water and q high-pressure bo. n
and engine. From the middle of the
body weight was to be hung, so ar
ranged that it might be lifted or low
cred like the legs Of bird. Private
subscribers offered to pay for the ma
chine, and Mr.. Serrell says:
The first thing done was to make
a fan IS inches in diameter, rotate it
at different speeds and see how much
1t would lift. 1t was found that very
considerable weight could be lifted
and to try what could be done on a
large scale, fan about 32 feet in dia-
meter was made, the blades of the
thinnest sheet iron that could be pro-
cured. and rotation by belt was pro-
vided.
Contrary to expectation. when the
fan was first rotated at great speed in
q foundry that had high roof, the
weight that could be lifted was much
more than the wheel itself, some 600
pounds or more, and then within 40
seconds of time the wheel and the
weights would drop back to where
they started from, it mattered not how
fast the fan was driven.
1t was found after long investiga-
ton that the fan wheel of any size,
when rotated in one place, set up a
downward current OF air that soon be-
came nearly or quite as fast as the
pitch of the fan, hence it would lift
nothing.
When, however, the fan was mount
ed at the outer end Of long boom,
which revolved around a mast, so as
to constantly bring the fan into new
air, it's lifting capacity never deserted
1t and bore certain ratio to the veloc-
ity, and data were accumulated for
proportioning the machine.
The questions involved seemed to
be the size Of the fan. the shape Of
the blade, the power required. the
weight of the engine, boiler. fuel and
water to develop the power. There
were no dynamos or storage batteries.
liquid air engines or sources of pow
erful energy using lightweight ma
chimes, and the only prime motor sufii-
ciently reliable was the steam engine.
1t is true that carbonic acid had
been liquefied some years before then,
but no one knew how to harness it.
Having determined the probable
force wanted, the question remained
of how to get and maintain pressure
enough upon the piston of the engine.
A great many experiments were made,
but the "needful force of steam was
not reached before the coming of Ap-
pomatox."
To Make a Compass OF Your Watch.