The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-12-16
PROGRESS MADE IN BUILDING A|RSH|PS The AeropIane is Not a Modern
 Device FLIGHT OF AN EARLY MONK spaniard Sailed From Top of a Tall Tower In the Fifteenth Century. The United States Is Max
 ing Good Showing.

| From the Boston Globe.
 There is steady progress being made in air navigation. The inventions connected
 with it. however, like many other pro-
 duets of genius, are leading already to
 heated disputes concerning priority or
 usefulness of the invention.
 Drigible balloons, that is those which
 can be controlled easily, have been used
 quite extensively of late years and are a fad in ultra fashionable circles But all would-be navigators in the air are
 the most interested in the speedy con struetion of aeroplanes that can be used
 to skim through the atmosphere with safety.
 An aeroplane. or flying machine invent ed by Victor Tatin, was tried success fully at the French experiment station | Of Chalais-Mendon in 1879. It consisted l of a cylindrical receiver for compressed
 air used to drive two air propelers, two 1 latterally extended wings, and a tail for l steering.
 M. Tatin was merely following in the l footsteps of others who tried to con l struet aeroplanes centuries ago. ,some of
 whom met with partial success. A Spanish monk, for instance, is said to have sailed l POO yards from the top of a tall tower l by means of an aeroplane as early as the | fifteenth century.
 Many Failures. There have been many failures by aero ] plane inventors since early times, and as l late as 1896 the United States govern ment which was interested in an eXperi- 1 ment by Professor Langley of the Smith,
 sonian institution, witnessed another ex- hibition of an aeroplane which failed to perform what was expected of it. The preliminary model which Professor Langley produced Is said to have been l success, as it was sent by steam pressure 1 over the Potomac river for three quarters l of mile. The failure of the professor S full-sized man-carrying apparatus was due, it is claimed not to fault in de- i sign or miscalculation of the necessary l power, but to the difficulty of starting the machine. In order to safeguard the life of the operator and prevent damage to the mechanism in case of a possible fall | the experiment was conducted over the ] Potomac river. With view to giving the
 machine a good start a sort of catapult was rigged up on the upper deck of l float, and this was used to literally shoot l the machine into the air. Unfortunately 1 the catapult failed to work properly, and | on several occasions the machine was 1 thrown into the water. These failures and l the lack of further appropria tions by the United States government ended Pro- lessor Langley's experiments.
 United States May Lead.
 It is now possible that the United States
 may lead all the nations in the invention of a successful aeroplane, even If the government has ceased to make eXperi-
 ments upon airships. The credit for pro- ducing the best airship has been thought
 to belong to France through the really : excellent work of Santos-Dumont. Ac- cording to common report. three years ago. as attested by many affdavits, Or xFiI nd wriU Of Dayton, O., made successful flight with
 an aeroplane propelled by a gasoline en-
 zine. The achievement was kept secret,
 but their experiments were continued un-
 til last year, when it is asserted, d flight
 of twenty-four miles was made. Other
 flights have not been made, as the in-
 ventors declare they desire to keep the
 secret of their success.
 There has been considerable skepticlsm
 over this alleged flight by the Ohio aero
 plane, but now comes Maj Baden-Powell
 to the support of the claim of the
 Wrights, and in cable dispatch 10 the
 New York Herald says that he considers
 the Wright brothers have done more than
 has Santos-Dumont He does not desire
 to eriticise the French inventor unfairly,
 but contends that the trouble with the
 French arship is that it is always falling
 to the ground; that credit is due to the
 public trials, but until the Frenchman flies for a few miles and guides his ma
 chine just as he wants, it will be time
 enough to challenge others. The Wrlghts
 are poor men and desire to wait until
 they can sell their secret. and 1t is re-
 ported Great Britain is negotiating to
 buy it.
 It would not be surprising, therefore. if
 the United States produced the best air
 ship, after all the praise has been show
 cred upon foreign inventors