Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1912-05-10
Invisible Airship

Invisibility has long been the dream
of scientists, and though 1t has been
found almost impossible to make
things invisible on land and sea it will
no be so difficult as far as the air
is concerned.
Dark gray is extensively used for
painting battleships, yet though diff
cult to the ordinary eye the skilled
seaman can spot such a warship, when
stationary at a distance of six miles.
When moving and belching forth
smoke, it is practically hopeless for
a big cruiser to expect to hide itself
within range Of telescopes.
The invisible airship has already
been patented by it's inventor, Baron
Roenne. Baron Roenne is well known
as an airship and naval engineer, SO
more respect must be paid to his idyas
than to those who try i%nventing with
out any technical knowledge. He has
already designed and built a number
of dirigibles, and has put forward
many ideas for making airships safer
and more efficient.
Baron Roenre has submitted his
idea to the officials of the Greenwich
Royal Observatory, and they declare
that it is based on scientific principles,
and most certainly practicable. The
way this remarkable airship is mad
invisible is as follows: Take a white
wall and paste a white sheet of paper
on it. At a distance of a few feet you
may be able to detect where the pa
per leaves off and the wall begins. At
100 yards the wall looks all wall. You
would never suspect the paper Of be-
ing there if you did not know already.
That is Baron Roenne's idea.
The outside covering of his airship
is made Of chromium, a metal the CON
position of which is a secret. 1t is
almost as strong Is steel, yet it
weighs only o%ne-fourth as much. No
hydrogen can leak from a vessel made
of it, SO the danger Of an airship ex-
ploding from that disappears.
1t is due to the discovery of chro-
MUM. in fact, that the invisible air.
ship is possible. The most important
thing about the metal as far as Baron
Roenne is concerned, is that 1t pos
sesses a very highly polished surface.
This surface Is covered over with
a thin coating Of transparent varnish.
The whole surface of the dirigible, in
fact, acts as a mirror, and reflects the
same color as its surroundings. II the
! sky is dull, so 70 the airship. If the
sky is blue, SO is the airship. The
/ sides of the keel Of this new airship
are also rejecting mirrors, M by an
ingenious arrangement Of them, the
, darker shade reflected from the earth
is made lighter. The keel will taper
to a point, and thus there wiz, De no
shadow on the bottom of the airship.
In fact, it will be like the chameleon,
and always take the color OF its sur
roundings. In other words, 1t will be
invisible.
Baron Roenne's new terror of the
skies will be as large as the steamship
Olympic.
1t is designed to carry 400 passen-
gers, or their equivalent in cargo, and
it will be fitted with fifteen motors.
developing nearly 1000 horsepower!
What this new sky scraper will
mean in time of war can hardly be
realized. It could carry enough am
munition to utterly wreck any city, or
blow the worlds biggest navy to
pieces. What is the terrible part about
It, the enemy couldn't retaliate, for
they would be unable to detect the air.
shiDA