Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-08-07
BALLOONS FOR WAR.
Features of One Which viii Be
Tested at Fort Myer.
SIMPLE IN CONSTRUCTION.

= - - ~ y ~ = HiySis s2sSI
SIMPLE IN CONSTRUCTION.
Captain Baldwin's DirisibIe Is Ninety
Feet Long, With Displacement OF
1850 Pounds--vaIue Of Balloons In
Scouting.
Captain Thomas 3. Baldwin Of Cali.
fornia, one OF the competitors in the
tests to be soon held by the United
States army at Fort Myer, Va, to as.
certain practicable military means oil
aerial navigation, has a balloon which
Is about ninety feet in length and has
only one balloonette in the gas bag. 1t
has displacement Of 1880 pounds and
will carry two men, one to operate and
steer the balloon, while the other
may devote all his time to making OBJ.
servations Of the country traversed.
The gas bag Is OF silk, REINFORCED with
rubber, and is capable Of resisting a
pressure equal to ninety-five pounds to
the square inch. The engine is a.
thirty horse power motor, which will
drive a propeller which will be placed
in the forepart Of the dirigible.. The
construction OF Captain Baldwin's bal.
loon is SO simple that 1t can be as
sembled within thirty-six hours.
The science Of aerial navigation"
said Captain Baldwin to Washing.
ton correspondent of the New York
Sun, "has been practically solved, but
the next few years will see great i'm.
.proyements in airship construction.
Count Won Zeppelin, the German
aeronaut, has had great success with
his large dirigible, and the Wright
brothers, a. NJ. Herring, the associa-
ton which built the June Bug and
many other aeroplane inventors have
demonstrated that heavier than air
machines are also quite successful. I
believe It will be only a short time be-
fore we shall see successful COM
bination OF these two types of airships,
and the problem of aerial navigation
will then be completely solved"
Captain Baldwin's dirigible is unique
because of the fact that the speciica.
tons prepared by the army signal
corps will not allow him to raise and
lower his machine by sliding his posi-.
ton In the framework. He has intro.
duced several box kites for this pur.
pose. Eight kites have been arranged
in sets Of four each fore and aft on
the framework Of the car. They are
controlled by levers and change theil
positions according to the will Of the
operator. Another new feature in Cap
tain Baldwin's dirigible is rubber net
ting which contracts the lower part loi
the gas bag as the gas expands unde,
the influence Of the cooler outside air
"Aeronauts have often made THU
mistake" Captain Baldwin continued
of leaving the mouth of the gas bas
open: In case this is done air enters
the gas bag and weakens the lifting
power of the gas. This happened ii
the Internal ional race from St Louit
last year, where several of the CON
testants were obliged to descend pre-
maturely from waste Of gas. II the
( mouths Of their gas bags had beer
closed they could have remained Ii
the air an indefinite time. With fur
Their improvements In the material Of
the gas bag and additional protection
OF the gas within believe that In .
short space Of time the dirigible bal
looms Of the near future Will be able II
circumnavigate the world without once
landing.
MY dirigible is combination Of dis
coveries made by other aeronauts.
have gathered together what regard
ed as the best Ideas and combined
them in my machine. There are many
axperIme nters nov, gorling Upon the
nreblenl Il 9f aerial lnavtgaiona anda
believe 1t will be only few years be
fore it has been accomplish "" t {. II IA. I'll
Scouting from ttaea sky, photograph
ing the camps and defsnses Of the en-
envy from balloons gaiid sending fif.
formation by wireless to headquarters
aare iseslae t0f the possi bilities of war;
fare s0f sthe future which care being
considered Il by Lieutenant Colonel
George p. Scriven, chief Of the United
States signal corps for for n the Department ni
of the east, K ga "a f5;s
While he does not believe that the
flying machine has vet shown itself .te
be emitted to eonsid Iteration, C0fonel
Scriven said he believes that expert.
ments made in Europe with the dirigi.
Bile balloon as well as with lesser ones
DIN this country show that these ships
Of the air WIN be valuable IN collecting
information about the enemy which
heretofore has been impossible.
In discussing these possibilities Colo
mel Seriren said he is OF the opinion
that baiio scouts may be enabled to
get an almost complete Photographic
picture showing Notifications and the
& distribution Of forces by means of the
telephoto. new Instrument with
which, by the use of an extra lens, II
Is possible to focus on objects at a dis,
lance OF perhaps mile and secure