The Washington times., 1911-04-13
A[ROPtANE T0BE
PLANELESS, PLAN
OF AGED INVENTOR
New York Man Has Scheme
to Sustain Flyer by Series
of Explosions"

NEW YORK, April 13.-At the corner
of Henry and Oliver streets stands
brick ediice, spacious, massive, and
tall, and still seeming to bear "a sense
of its lost dignity, a dignity, due to the
fact that it Is a reproduction of the old
Treasury building on Wall street. lack
ing only the heroic statue 1t has the
big stone steps and the Grecian pillars
under the impressive, protruding. bal
cony. In place of the statue there is
large sign, Illuminated at night and dis
playing only lot of perforations by
day. but spelling in plain words Gospel
Preached Every Night And an eX-
2ressruan. who is engaged in moving
motion picture machine down the stone
STEPS informs you ithat this. is the
Mariners Temple. t....
The number on the dooplate is the
same which the reporter has IN his note
book and he must enter, notwtthstand-
ing the fact that he Is looking, not for
a mister, nor for soul-yrecked sail
or, but for an inventor, an inventor who
ID heralded as having revolutionized the
art of flying to such an extent that
neither wings nor planes Will be neces-
sary. -. .-. go.
Works In Church. +. :
Cautiously the reporter passes through
the door, which the eXpressman has left
open behind him., He sees nothing but
empty pews, but continues walking un>
til he finds a winding staircase in the
rear of the improvised chapel. Up this
he wanders, hearing no sound other
than the creak of the stairs, and at the
very top his progress is impeded by a
closed door. He does not think to
knock, finds the door unlocked. and
AI.-x ~feYr
Of an elderly, white-haired man, bend
ing over soc work in his lap. And
this is the inventor Of planeless aero
planes.
William Henry Harrison is his name.
and@he is-Seventy=Seven years old. All
day-he works in the belfry of the Mari
ners' Temple making coat and trousers
hangers, his own inventions. At night
he goes to his home. S41 Thirty-ninth
street, Brooklyn. where he lives with
his wife and grandchildren. He chose
the little workshop in the church, he
said, because he found 1t so quiet, and
the only place he knew of where the
curious gaze of the multitude could not
be directed to him All day he sits IN
a low basket chair, twisting and cutting
the soft copper wire into shapely and
useful contrivances. His hands, crippled
by rheumatism, still serve him to good
purpose in this work, but tremble with
rest3essness when not employed. Though
absolutely alone all day. he is never
lonely. And during the last ten years
of silent work he has found tune 10
evolve a revolutionary theory OF nylng'
which. he says, will make the wright.
Curtiss, Bleriot, and other models looh
like foolish toys"
Tells Secret.
The inventors patent is dated March
7, 1911. and he carries a copy of 1t with
him wherever he goes. Cautiously ne
revealed his treasure, but not until he
was assured that the reporters mission
was sincere did he consent to become
communicative.
NV theory is this" he finally said:
Il have discovered that the reaction OF
the gaseous matter elected in great vol
,Jnes at high velocity from explosive
engines can, by proper construction and
mapagement, be made to lift and main
tainTin an elevated position for travel
inE light structure adapted TO carry
the machinery and one or more persons.
MY motive power is peculiar, in that
] utilize the force of the explosion after
1t has left the engine cylinder. The car
buretor and chamber for retaining the
mixed gas are both unusually large, as
the success of my device depends upon
its ability to explode large quantities OF
gaseous mixture in rapid succession
Mr.. Harrison then explained how he
had tested his theory. He constructed
OF TN ana paper a tIlouel dlISHlp WeIS "
ing four pounds. All along the sides OF
the ship, in close proximity, he bored
holes, in which he fitted cartridges OF
black powder All these cartridges he
connected with a single fuse. Taking
the device into an open field, he lit the
fuse, setting off series of several hun
dred explosions in rapid sequence. ':The
airship," he said enthusiastically, "act'
ing Sunder the lifting pressure Of the
successive explosions, few straight into
the air, and at the height of thirty feet
while the explosions were still going on
took fire and fell TO the earth. But
had proved my theory"