The Washington herald., 1909-06-18
CONQUEST OF THE AIR
By FREDERIc ). HAsKIN.

tSenraoge, the injury or Wright, and the
wreck Of the aeropiane. were only tests.
The fulfument OF the contract OF the
Wright brothers with the government viii
yield them $500 with a liberal bonus
for extra speed
The Wright brothers proved IN the
United States their claims as pioneers
in the realm OF the birds. and then pro-
ceeded 20 aS1onish Europe. They are
selling aeroplanes IL France and Italy.
the French government having paid them
SO. coo for their patent rights IN that
country. A company has been organized
IN Germany for the construction o.
Wright aeroplanes. The brothers win re-
turn 70 Europe later this year and give
demonstrations IN England, Germany.
and perhaps other countries. The ms
chimes which they are now building VIII
carry two passengers. but they say the
aeroplaRe eventually may be capable OF
Carrying fourteen or sixteen passengers
SixtX Wright machfnes are being Quilt IN
I France at a cost Of $3.50 each The
I Wrights have already eliminated the awk-
ward starting Se--sce which was z feature
OF their aeroplane, and are said 10 have
about evolved great improvements IN the
steering apparatus.
Miss Katherine Wright is no longer
designated as "the sister cf those crazy
Wright boys She participated IN part
of their European triunphs. and the three
received a royal welcome when they re-
turned 20 America The city OF Dayton.
Ohio, the home OF the aviatOrs. broke all
records for q real home coming" cele-
[
done which would show the pride which
their fellow-citzens and neighbOrs took
in the achievements OF the inventors The
brothers received medals from their STATE
and city. from the Aero Club OF America.
and. finally. from the United States gov
ernment- President Taft himself, IN the
historic East Room Of the White House.
pinned upon the bosOms OF the champion
naviSators OF the air the beautiful gold
medals awarded them by Congress
The records OF the Patent once show
| that over 400 patents on fving machines
/ OF various kinds and their parts have
| been granted. Of which fifty - more
were issued during the last six months.
1 Two OF these were granted &c the Wrights
I for improvements or their aerOplane.
/ Representative Butler Ames. % Masss-
I chusetts. grandson OF Cen 3 F. Butler.
/ has applied Tor a patent On a machine,
I the principal feature OF which IS that the
/ planes revOlve on horizontal axes The
I inventor IS said 20 have obtained the idea
/ for this scheme by watching iutter 70
Z tbs ground a bent pasteboard card
which he had thrown INTO ,ae air.
/ The AerOnautical Experiment AssOcia-
ton. of which the moving spirits were
7 Prof Alexander Graham Bell. inventor
I OF The telephone. and g. c. Curtiss. has
I been dissolved Il vas organized 10 per
| feet a successful heavier-than-air flying
machine After long series OF expert
ments az HammOndsport, y. =, and II
l Nova Scotia, this was accomplished. The
association built and operate7 The June
| Bug" the Red Wing snd the Silver
\ Dart" al successful aeroplales. The Ias-
named was the first heavier-thsn-air ma
/ chine 70 hy in Canada. A factory foi
making similar machines has been es-
tablished IN that country.
| Dr. Bell recently sailed for Europe on
a vacation. but while there he may get
some new IDEAS for improving his tetra-
I hedral kite. 'Cygnet II" This vas sue
/ cessfUlly flown IN Canada last winter. ard
+ DR.. Bel is satisfied that II can compete
I with the aeroplane as soon IS he obtains
I a suitable engine for his machine. n
/ stead OF having large planes, Cygnet u
I Is made up OF a number OF small TRAN
gular cells. which afford a larger surface
I for lifting than mere planes, but which. al
I the same time. confne the air pressure tC
I a small area Of each cell. SO that the ap-
/ paratus is said 70 be very steady IN gusy
weather.
Aeronautics IS. becoming a practical sci
i
! Military experts say their utility IN time
/ OF war FOR scout work for the Quick
I transportation OF dispatches. and possibly
Z for Transporting troops and bombarding
I forts and ships cannot be questioned
( IN France scientists are finding an entire
( " peaceful use for the balloon. On the
! approach OF a hailstorm explosives are
sent I'D IN one OF the big ships OF the
I air, and when az a great elevation are
/ touched of for the purpose Of dissipating
I the storm which threatens the vineyards
Prof Todd. a noted astronomer. nov
( proposes 10 ascend next September 20 a
I height Of ten miles in a balloon equipped
/ with wireless antennae. IN the hope OF
/ catching some OF the signals which he
( supposes the inhabitants OF Mars 10 be
+ trying 10 transmit TO The earth Eventu-
/ ally. It may be possible 70 communicate
with the sister planet. If not to visit il,
/ by means OF an airship- The United
States Signal Corps is equipping the
/ army balloons with wireless apparatus,
and Leo Stevens. the celebrated aero
naut, is using wireless telephone with
some OF the balloons he IS making
{ The United States War Department IS
l far behind the war Offices Of other pow
/ ers in the matter CT ownership Of means
/ OF air navigation. The United States now
( owns but one military airship, q smsu diri-
gibIe. constructed by Capt. Tom Baldwin,
/ and several ordinary free and captive bal
looms Germany, on the other hand. has
seven huge dirigfbles. including one OF the
/ Zeppelin. one OF this type. 40 feet long
not long ago carried a company OF
I twenty-six men across the country on a
twelve-hour run, and only a few days ago
! Zeppelin made a run Of about $50 miles
/ in a similar ship Germany is building
airship harbors and dockyards France
has four big airships OF different types
4 one at each OF her chief fortified cities on
I the German frontier. England has two
! airships. Russia, Italy. and Spain one
each. Belgium and Switzerland are each
/ building an airship
/ Numerous records IN flight have beer
made and broken during the past few
months. Wilbur wright few continuously
for two hours and twenty-one minutes
and attained a height Of $50 feet The
longest trip Of the kind was made by the
| German Gross which left Berlin. car
rying four passengers. aad returned q
the starting point after covering I76 miles
I IN thirteen hours.
/ Europe is ahead OF America in encour-
| aging the air navigator. The Old World
/ has offered S350.o00 IN prizes, not 20 men