Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-05-14
0vERCOMES NOISE
Feature of Airship Being Built
by Captain T. S. Bald
win.
HAS BEEN A BIG HANDICAP
One of the Most Serious Drawback
Has Been the Chatter of the
Crafts Machinery.

Captain Thomas :. Baldwin, the Cal.
iforaia aeronaCt whose dirisible air
ship was accepted by the United
States government last year. recently
made !Aa Interesting statement that
the new GiriSib!e now being built for
him ut Hammcndsport. n. Y. will be
4 noi&c!ess machine
y viii make my new machine so de-
void of noise when in operation" said
Captain Baldwin. that two men In
tie machine VIII be able to carry on Il
conversation if necessary in whisper.
This viii be done By muifiing the en-
CINE AID using Ball and roller bearings
for the Iropc.,crs There ought to be
no great difficulty In preventing eX-
the air The solution is one of i'm
proved construction.
Up TO the present time the main
effort has been directed toward get
ting in the ;.ir. Now that this has
been accomplished refuementS in me-
chanical work viii follow, and the
next few years. | predict. will see
scores of improvements which will
make airships highly practicable for
Il number of purposes"
! Added Interest III the future practi-
cib,litF If ;:!rShips has recently been
aroused from the criticisms made by
Prince Henry of Prussia I'm lecture
which he recently gave at the Marine
acadpny at Kiel. describing his trip in
/ the Immense Zeppelin airship. Among
| ether things lie regarded the noise of
! the propellers as serious disadvan-
tage. being calculated to betray the
approach of the ship in wartime. To
send orders from the bridge to men in
other parts of the ship it is necessary
! to write them and send them in car
rier attached to an endless wire, as it
! is impossible to hear voice above the
din of the motors. This difficulty has
been experienced in all similar ma
| chimes.
To permit the man at the motor to
give quick orders TO the man steering
at the rear of the machine Lieutenant
Lahm advised the equipment of the
government airship with speaking
tubes. and this will probably be In use
when the military dirigible resumes its
aerial fight this year,
Only Part of Problems Solved.
| Prince fienry III Summing up the re-
suits OF the Zeppelin invention said
that the problem of reaching fixed
ard not too distant point In not too
unfavorable weather conditions was
solved but he thought that the Ques
ton whether Siderable airships were
at present suitable as regular means
of communication or could be en-
plcyed for purposes of war must be
regarded skeptically.
A Siderable airship. he added, could
not make Roadway against wind above
certain velocity. and. further. the in
ternal combustion engine is not yet ca
nable of undertaking a long distance
Journey. Moreover. the altitude thai
can be attained is limited by the fact
that above certain height, owing t.
the decreasing density OF the atmos
phere, the propellers met with less re
sistance. while the motors give unsatis
fac cory results owing to the decrease
of oxygen.
''An airShip will always. more Of
less. be ut the mercy OF the wind" SAT-
Captain baldwin. "a steamship can
not make its best Roadway in storm
or against adverse head winds, ant