The Delta independent., 1906-06-15


Ideal City For BalIee.ias Owner
Of Largest AirshiD At Worlds Fair
WSsla Organise aa "Aero Club" -
Parisian MeAeIHow He Sails His
Great Ship.
HIppolyte Francois, the French In.
ventor aud owner Of tho biggest OF MI
the airshlps seen at the st. Louis
worlds fair, now proposes to make St
Louis the first American city to take
up aeronautics A. q permanent science.
says the 81. Louis Post-Dispatch.
He has come from Paris to interest
st. Louis in the sport Of ballooning. He
would organize q st. Louis aero club
similar to the Paris Aero club and
would cause to be constructed big
aerodrome. or balloon garage. equipped
with the apparatus necessary to COM
mon supply Of gas.
The ultimate idea of NJ. Francois 10
quite startling. Like Count de 10
vauix. president Of the Paris Aero
club, he believes that st. Louis will one
day become the homc Of the science Of
acronautics. These Frenchmen believe
this because they say st. Louis is. geo
graphically. an ideal airship city. They
are convinced America. with its great
riches. ID TO work out the flying prob
lem. They say that st. Louis, because
there are no great waters about II to
imperii balioouing. il to be the scene
OF the solution. They say that New
York, Boston. Baltimore. Philadelphia
and the big cities OF the east are i'm
possible for this purpose because OF
their nearness to the Atlantic. Chicago
Offers a like peril In the great lakes.
st. Louis u far from great water.
Count de Ia vaulx during his visit to
the fair said: Il have never seen an
other city 20 admirably located for
baiiooninG as st. Louis. II is no far
inland that 4 balloon could not bs
swept to sen by any within Of the wind.
and you are thus free from the only
real danger confronting US in France"
NJ. Francois sees In 81. Louis the sams
point Of vantage. He came TO the fair
with his big airship late In the fall.
He planned . flight. but accidents to
his ship caused delay until the fair had
almost ended. He returned to France
and rebuilt his ship. A few days ago,
quite to the surprise Of the communi-
~. he returned to 81. Louis. His an
nouuccment was even more surprising
than his temperance. People In st.
Louis had thought they had seen the
last OF the foreign aeronauts. n. Fran.
coils suddenly appeared to say ST. Louis
had only seen the nrst Of them. II the
people Of 81. Louis will respond to his
mission, he says, lie will make this his
home and bring hithcs his- Whips.
~. Francois 10 not planning to leave
bis native land for anything more than
scientific reasons. lie IL patriot. He
proved II during the fair when be an
nounccd that he had not come to try
for the &lOO.O0O prize. but merely to
ny "for the glory Of France" That he
did not A. - wns not his fault. He
tried to. inc caprice Of fortune and
some few little faults In the construc-
ton Of his ship denied him the chance
he hnd thought TO have had Of showing
the world what Frenchman can do.
One day he asccndsd. with his aids
holding the ropes. Tho next day he set
out in earnest. but his great ship did
not clear tho fence aud snag.ed upon
Il. bending the frame. The ncxt day
he started again. but that time nail
In the doorway Of tho acrodrome tore
q rent In his ship. causing It to sink.
That wound up the worlds fair career
Of NJ. Francois. He packed his ship.
badc us adicu and set out for Paris.
~ will come back and show you what
I can do." he said. smiling in that grim
way Of determined men. Long ago st.
Louis forgot him; even longer ago II
forgot his promise to return. II he
had thought himself particularly hum.
blcd or ae all discredited In Its eyes
st. Louis had not thought so. He was
grouped with many that had gone
down in failure, but failure in which
there was no dishonor.
IL have come back" he said q few
days ago. presenting himself before
Calvin NJ. woodward. a member Of the
faculty at Washington university. and
other equally astonished gentlemen
who had enjoyed the acquaintance Of
the aeronaut when he was in st. Louis
with his ship.
II said I would come back and 70.
cover my prestige, and hore am. ]
want to locate here and make aerostat-
les popular science in 81. Louis, We
will build an asrodrome, ] will bring
my big ship over from Paris. and We
will organise an aero club, such 40 they
have over there. We will make o..
Louis tho headquarters for this thing
IN the western hemisphere, Just ~ Par
Is II headquarters for II In Europe"
Count do 10 vaulx says that Ameri-
ca tnkes an incredible view Of asronau.
tics. We look at It, hs says, from the
single viewpoint Of humor. An airshiD
u funny; balloon y funny. The srav.