Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1907-09-21

/ when the airship is common we will
probably have air warship destroyers
and some inventor will produce a gun
capable of perforating the vessel, We
might even have artificial clouds by
sending up smoke, and perhaps thus
spoil the game of the enemy spying
out the land"
But another authority, whose
name for obvious reasons must not
be revealed, told something that evil
IDENTIFY Baden-Powell does not know.
Present Types Useless?
"'In my opinion" he began, "the
cigar shaped dirigible balloon on
which the French and German mill
tary authorities place so much store
will become obsolete in a few years.
! 1t is the aeroplane that is to be the
| fighting machine of the air, and it is
toward the perfection Of the aero
plane that Great Britain is now work.
ing. The sheds at the north camp
| at Aldershot contain machine which
when finished will dim the glOTies of
La Patrie and the new German air
ship.
1.-The original plan of Great Brit
aims air fleet, which was submitted
to a committee of national defence,
included sentry kites and dirigible
balloons to act as depot ships and
supply stores to the naval fleet and
| fighting aeroplanes. So far as kites
are concerned, Great Britain is ahead
of other countries. Every day ex-
periments are being carried out at
Aldershot, and three or four Of these
box kites are frequently seen carrying
man, black speck two thousand
feet above the earth. Although no
dirigible balloon has yet circled St.
Paurs, it must not be supposed that
the War Office is behindhand in this
matter.
But the chief hope of the British
aerial navy lies in the aeroplane."
This authority also remarked that
a great bulk, such as the Patrie, can
not travel more than twenty-four
miles an hour. An aeroplane of the
same size could fly through the air at
more than a hundred miles an hour.
At the Aldershot factory there are
two designs of aeroplane, but one
which is practically completed is built
on the principle of the Wright broth
built on the gliding principle. The
| speed will be at least forty miles an
| hour. In about two months time 1t
| is hoped experiments will be made
! with it outdoors, but for the moment
it remains in the great. shed, where
the machinery is being tested.
The strictest secrecy is maintained
among the workers in camp, and
men and women take an oath not to
divulge anything. The walls of every
building are placarded with the the
Official Secrets act, which warns them
that the penalty may be Imprisonment
for life and warns equally those who
incite the workers to betray the Sc
cret.
Santos-Dumont, who will make
! further aeroplane experiments, is
| adopting some new Ideas in making
his new model. He IL already in pos
session of a specially built motor
which will propel 1t. This motor,
which gives 122-horse power, or
twenty-five more than estimated, and
weighs 1870 kilogrammes, will be
mounted lower down than in the old
models.
The aeroplane itself will be raised
| from the ground on metal sunnOrts
mounted by bicycle wheels. There
are two of these supports. aided by
a small wheel in the rear for stabil-
ity. The propeller will have three
blades, instead of two, and will have
a smaller diameter than the one for
merly used, although made on the
same principle.
M. Santos-Dumont says of the hy-
droplane he is making, in which he
hopes to attain tremendous speed:
This craft will be made of oiled silk,
stretched over frame. 1t will be of
most simple description. 1 shall
mount the 1O0-horse power motor
used on my flying machine together
with the aerial propeller. In this way
hope to attain velocity of 100 kilo-
metres an hour. If do the perform
ance will be more in the nature of
flying than sailing. New York Her.
aid.