Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-09-14
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JAPANESE AlRSHlP.
Secrets In Aerial Navigation In the
Far East.

| Far East.
| Although apparently little public
interest is taken in Japan regarding
aeronautics generally, the government
Is keenly alive to the possibilities OF
the airship, and little excursion into
such an untrodden path Of human ac-
tivity reveals the fact that secretly
much work is being done Of charac-
ter similar to the great efforts Of Zep-
pelin and other experimenters with the
dirigible balloon.
No practical work is being done with
the aeroplane, the usefulness Of which
is doubted in comparison with the pos
sibilities of the dirigible type, but the
progress made in all branches Of avia-
ton is being watched very closely and
| recorded in the archives Of the de-
partment concerned.
For this purpose corps OF transla-
tors is employed by the Japanese gov
ernment and every important article
on the subject of aviation appearing In
European and American journals Is
duly translated and docketed for fu-
ture use.
The principal inventor for the gov
ernment is private citizen, civilian
of whom a good deal may be heard In
the future. He has just patented the
Yamada Kikiu, an airship for which
advantages are claimed.
l1 d.
short and thick set, with the typical
Oriental eye, expressionless, except to
a close observer, and short cropped
hair
In a small Dickensonian sort Of
house in Toxic, crowded in among 9TH
ers, with tramway in front and
railway at the rear, in the midst OF all
sorts Of noises, Mr.. Yamada works out
his intricate calculations untroubled,
with the plans in blue and white of his
airship and airship destroyer before
him, together with third invention
of which he talks little.
The leading idea in Mr.. Yamada's
invention seems simple enough. 1t has
an ordinary deep bellied balloon,
length 35 metres and holding 1000 Gu
bic feet of gas, towed by gasolene
motor of 50-horse power suspended
from the bow or head Of the balloon.
The inventor claims that the shape
of the balloon gives 1t an advantage
over the Zeppelin type in navigating
a strong wind. 1t is better able to re-
sist a wind abeam and can always
keep its head to the wind and yet go
in any direction by means Of the motor
suspended fifty feet below, whose pro-
peller is capable of 600 revolutions
minute.
One man is seated in the motorboat,
in telephone communication with the
commander and others, while In the
basket Immediately below the balloon
is the man in charge Of ammunition,
who drops his shells through hole in
the bottom Of the basket.
The commander and engineer are
in the basket 10 the rear, having with
them a compass and an instrument to
measure the yelocity Of the wind.
There are two compartments in the
balloon, the top containing hydrogen
and the bottom compartment air which
enters through the funnel underneath
the bow and is let out through the
small funnel at the stern.
Mr. Yamada explains that while this
Is a German idea, as far as he Is con-
cerned the idea is original as applied
to balloons.
But it is a very old one in Japan.
For hundreds Of years May s, has been
the date Of the boys festival (Tango
no Kekku), and on this date huge pa
per or cotton fish (carp) float sus-
pended from bamboo poles like flags.
The mouth Of the carp, through
which air enters, is large, the huge
body or balloon is inflated and floats
in the wind, the air finding an exit
through the smaller hole at the tail.
This idea is exemplified in the plan
Of Mr.. Yamada's balloon, and he claims
that it was the floating carp which
suggested it. Two other features Of
the plan are the valves on the roof
of the balloon.
The safety valve is on the right,
while the one to the left Is the escape
valve to enable the balloon to descend.
The Yamada Kikiu, as it is now reg
istered in the patent office of Toxic,
is the fruit Of fifteen years study, but
Is not first invention.
Years ago Mr.. Yamada turned out
a collapsible boat, the hull Of which
was Of the material used in the balloon
bag. At that time he was ordered by
the war department to produce a ma
terial best suited for balloons, and the
result is now in use in the balloon
corps Of the army. 1t consists Of an
outside and inside layer Of silk with
rubber between.
Beyond studying the best balloon
material Mr.. Yamada has also been
engaged in Investigations for the gov
ernment with the object Of producing
rubber
The composite material that Mr.. Va
mada has evolved will be used for the
Kikiu, now under construction in an
outlying district, which will be finish
ed in three months.
Altogether Mr.. Yamada has devoted
fifteen years Of his life to the study
Of aeronautics, and when he secured
his patent in February last the en-
peror at the same time conferred upon
the inventor the sixth class of the Or
der Of the Rising Sun.
simultaneously with the completion
Of his airship the inventor perfected
small engine Of war whose object is
the destruction of what has already
been accomplished after SO much la
bor
A balloon is an easy thing to set
afire if you can drop fire upon it. This
is what the new destroyer will do, but
Mr.. Yamada was reticent on the sub
ject and not so ready to oblige the in
quiring foreigner as when talking
about his airship.
A sketch plan of the invention, how
ever, showed a mass of brilliant star