Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-23
AerOnautics.

The sirship possesses a fascination tina.
the never had. No one ever
paid an admission fee to see an automobile
make its first slow and devious journey.
Italy is building a military balloon, and
the Inflated British dirigible is being re-
built. in the hope that IL may be made the
equal of the French and German vessels,
Louis Bleriot, the French navigator. who
suffered his fourth or fifth smashup july
q while making a trial Of his new mono
plane, is hard at work constructing a new
machine.
Thomas A. Edison. the famous inventor
denies the report that he will invade the
field Of aeronautics. The report arose
through the visit OF Henry Farman to Edi'
Lieutenant Lahn. L. S. A: j. c.. Mccoy
and A. Holland Forbes have been officially
selected as pilots TO represent the Aero
Club of America i'm the Gordon Bennett
international balloon race from Berlin De-
tOber II.
1t is only necessary to look back to the
automobile Of a decade ago and see what
a propensity il had for going wrong al the
difficulties that beset the path of the avia-
tors OF today.
The Smithsonian institute at Washing
ton, deluged with requests for works on
aerolynamies by the late Prof. Cyrus P.
I Langley, has issued . pamphlet containing
the four principal papers written b. him
on his flying machine.
1t is announced that DIT. r. J. Fielding,
c. A. Coey and DR.. Julian p. Thomas viii
be among the starters in the balloon races
from Columbus. o., August % and from
! Chicago. which is TO be for the ben j. Ar
mold trophy September l..
4 cash prize Of S5.O0 will probably be
offered by the Federation OF American
Aero Clubs for the transcontinentsl balloon
race TO be held in November. Start viii b.
made either from Los Angeles or San Fran
cisco. with the Atlantic sesboard as the
objective point.
As several members Of the Aero club OF
-. Ee,@Ia1a avc aaafrpra NJ haCOTmtnE in
ternatiunsl pilots, North Adams, Mass. the
headquarters Of the organization. lromises
to be a lively place before the end OF M
season. To become an international pilot
one must make ten assertions, TWO 81
which must be alone and one at night.
Captain Ferber, the French seronauticsl
army officer who put both De Ia Grsnse
has Just brought forth his own Tying ma
chine. The most noticeable difference be-
tween the Ferber and the Farman Is that
Ferber's engine carries the propeller on
the front end and On the rear
II IL the intention OF the Board OF Ord
nance Of the United states arulE 10 ask
the next session of congress for an sppro-
ments OF dirigible aiTships. such as are
now being tried out IN Europe. Forty
diTigibles can be built for the COSTS OO0,Vo
of one battleship OF the Connecticut type.
In all probability congress VIII be urged
10 set aside a special paragraph In the next
tariff act for airships- The present tarlti
law contains no provision for airshtps, al
though balloons are specified and pay duty
At the rate Of 80 per cent dd valorem.
FaFman's machine was permitted 10 come
into this country free OF duty under the
! section Of scientific instruments for dem
onstrations or educational purpose, when
the machine IL operated by the OWueT.'
An rXpert French serOnsut who las breu
permitted 70 see the Wright ]seroplane ~
lie Mans, who from Intimate knowledg
OF the FsTman. de ia Grange and other
French aeoplanes Is capable Of forming an
accurate comparison, declares that the
! Wright a%eTOplsue is destined 10 b. The
marvel Of Europe. He ascrlbes its su-
periOrity 10 tho transmission. which is by
/ chain. the wonderful articulation ~ the
apparatus and the methods for governing