The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-10-18

I iG SSiiSidl I'upliN lbs COile u lOOk
upon France as the headquarters OF
aeronautic science. but. as Il matter of
| fact it is American inventors who are
TO-DAY making the most progress with
/, the tiying-machine problem. To be
sure. adventurous spirits in our sister
republic have lately been accomplish
ing wonders with ballcns as vehicles
OF sport and as adjunc1s OF warfare,
but in so far as a serious solution of
the problem of commercially practi-
cable flying machine is concerned the
French aeronauts are virtually resting
on their oars. The Yankees. on the
other hand, have taken up this task
where the French dropped it and there
appears to be every chance that the
final conquest of the air will take
place under the Star and Stripes.
The present pre-eminence of Ameri-
can inventive genius obtains in both
branches of the field of aerial naviga-
ton. AS many OF our readers are
doubtless aware there are two general
classes of airships. One of these divi-
slons comprises the various forms of
dirigible balloons such as those of
Santcs-Dumont. the Brazilian and Cap
tain Thomas Baldwin, knabenshue and
alrship of this type we have the prin-
clple OF cigar-shaped gas bag or bal
loon utilized to lift the machinery AMI
appliances for propelling the craft
through the air and for steering it. In
this field Santos-Dumont and other
French aerOnauts led the way. The
Yankees merely copied them at first
but latterly they have improved upon
OF American-built dirigible balloons
are now superior In many respects to
anything that navigates the air near
Paris.
The second division of airships is
made UP OF aeroplanes such as that de-
yised by the late Prof. Langley, head of
the Smithsonian institution, and in this
held the Americans are far ahead of all
foreign competitors. Indeed, the
French government has recently pur-
chased for large sum the remarkable
aeroplane invented by the famous
Wright Brothers of Dayton, Ohio. and
which, in the eyes of scientists, is re-
garded as the most highly perfected
and most successful flying machine
mat has yet been devised anywhere in
the world. The experiments with
kites by Prof. A. Graham Bell. inventor
OF the telephone, are also expected to
result in the near future in an import
ant addition to the American airships
of the aeroplane type.
Experiments Are Costly.
Experiments with new airships in
America are greatly retarded by the
question OF expense. The late Profess
sor Langley, to whom belongs the hon
or of being the first to study out the
scientific principles of navigating the
air and the first to build an actual aer-
oplane dependent solely on power for
hifiht, was allowed $4,000 by the Unit
ed States war department for tests of
his most recently designed airship, but
for the most part Yankee inventors and
nayigators OF the air are compelled to
do what they can on comparatively
limited means
Few persons who have not had ex-
perience In building an airship have
any conception of the financial outlay
entailed. Every part of the machinery,
for instance, must be specially de-
signed and manufactured in accord
ance with special patterns and speci-
fications by the most skilled mechan-
les who, of course, receive high pay.
Captain Thomas Baldwin, the we'll
known California inventor, who has
built six different airships during the
past half decade, stated the other day
that the average first cost of each
was not less than $1,000. In order to
generate the gas to initiate the cigar
shaped bag and provide other essen
tial utilities an average outlay Of $3.50
must be made for each ascension, and
seldom does an airship conclude a
fight without sustaining damages
which require repairs that cost any
where from few dollars to several
hundred dollars.
At the same time it may be noted
that the development of the automo-
bile has simplified the problem OF
building airships tremendously. Not
SO many years ago horse power in
propelling machinery represented In
construction pretty nearly the weight
of horse. Gradually the weight oil
engines was reduced until with the
perfecting of the gasoline engine II
came down first to twenty pounds pei
horse power and then by successive
steps it was still further reduced until
1t Is now possible to produce an en-.
CINE with an approximate weight OF
only four pounds per horse power.
AS Indicating up-tO-date practice In
this field it may be cited that Captain
Baldwin has proven 1t possible In the