The Detroit times., 1910-11-18

cate problems OF the universe. yet 80
absent-minded that when experiment
ing with the boiling OF an egg ne put
hi- watch into the water and held the
slegg in his hand, has his name con-
nected with the earliest and the latest
efforts at transportation by artinclal
means. At one time he \alieved that
/ the reacting power OF escaping steam
would drive a vehicle. At another
time he worked out, TO his complete
satisfaction. a law OF air-resistance TO
knowing bodies. For generations the
whole scientific world accepted this
. theory, although II the scientists had
stopped TO calculate the speed OF
swallow. they would have found that,
according TO the Newtonian law,
fast flying swallow would need the
strength of a human being TO make
such speed in the air.
II remained for an American genius
10 discover the falsity OF the Newton
+ ian law, and after he succeeded III
f disproving IL under actual expert
ments, II was only question or time
until the heavier-than.air flying ma
chine should become a realized dream.
That man was the late Professor
langley. He determined TO find out
4 6v actual experiment how much horse
mower was needed to sustain surface
OF given weight by means OF Its mo-
lion through the air To do this he
erected a huge whirling table In the
open air at Allegheny. Pennsylvania
. driven by a steam engine. The outer
end OF its revolving arm swept through
a circumference OF two-hundred feet,
fand could be made TO travel as fast
"A 20 miles an hour. At the end or
mis- arm was placed the apparatus to
be tested. including surfaces deposed
ike wings. II soon was discovered
. hat the faster a thing Travelled the
less weight was required 10 sustain It,.
brass plate weighing a pound al
rest was found to weigh only an ou:.ce
when carried around by fast motion.
and the faster the table whirled, the
less power II took TO make the plate
move. Here, then, was the basic
\ principle OF neavier-than-air aero
nautics solvel, and the Newtonian law
proved 10 be twenty-fold removed
from the truth.
Since then thousands OF patents
have been issued for flying machines
and their attachments. The rise OF
the science CT air navigation prom
ses to establish as great a field for
inventors as the rise OF the automobile
! two decades ago. Motors, fixtures,
peed registers, wind gauges, altitude
records, and balancing appliances. are
only a few OF the hundreds of things
which will be 'equired from the brain
IL the inventor As there has been
al Of invention
the past decade than supplying the
wants OF the automobilist, SO all the
signs at the patent Office indicate that
the flying .achine business will have
arst call ring the next decade.
One might trace the art OF transpnr-
tation back to the time when mothers
L strapped their babies to their backs.
when men ade amir l-skin soles Tor
their feet and when humanity bore
on It's dead in sings attached to poles
resting on the shoulders OF the BODY
bearers. But America first became
prominently identified with its devel
opment when oliver Evans buit his
amphibious steam carriage In Phil
az 1lphia about the same time that
| Richard Trevithick first harnessed
steam to transportation in England
One OF Trevithick's engines was known
as THE PuL.ng Devil" In 1903 n
built a circular railroad to London
a. 4 installed on It the Catch Me Who
Can" charging a shilling ride
| Stevenson's several early locomotives
followed In the twenties, and MS
Rocket took the first prize OF $2,OOO
in a contest for the best engine. IL
was this engine which killed the nrst
man who ever lost his life In rail-
road accident.
The first locomotive ever run In
\ America. II we except Oliver Evans
cross between a boat, an automobile
/ and a locomotive, was the Stour-
! bridge Lion on the Delaware and Hud-
4 son. in May. 1929. The famous John
I Bull ran on the Camden and Amboy
/ i'm 1891 and though 1t occupies
Mace of honor in the National Mu-
& scum Il still is At for duty II ever
( called upon. 1t travelled TO the chi
K cago Worlds Fair under Its own
( mower and carried $4,000 people
7 while there. The Baltimore and ONO
I fret was built with the idea that
+ horses would pull the trains. Ihen
Z Peter Cooper wanted them to try his
; engine. which had a keg-like boiler
Z and flues made OF gun barrels. he
\ raced a horse and won. The b.
4 q. then concluded 20 offer $4,000
prize for the best engine, and one OF
& $4,000 Tor the second best engine
superiority TO be determined by
contest similar TO those held lor
fying machines today. II was won
by a Pennsylvania.built engine, called
I the "York." From that date forward
the railroad was on a substantial
footing I'm the United States, and
Yankee ingenuity began to realize
what might be done to improve TINS
method of transportation.
Rumsey, Fitch, and Fulton long oe-
fore had been working on the ques'
4 lion OF steam navigation. Before the
dawn OF the nineteenth century
George Washington had written a let
ter certifying that he had witnessed
trials of the Rumsey boat, and that
although he formerly had but little
faith in Il. he was then convinced
that Rumsey had discovered the art
( OF working boats by mechanism. lie
was called Crazy Rumsey' at home,
exhibited a working boat abroad. and
died I'm 1898. He had controversy
4 before his death with Fitch, whom
he accused OF coming pottering
around" his shop. In letters to Lon