River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-10-29

The members moved slightly and
whispered as in expectation.
Gotz alone spoke aloud. Young
man, just where do you hail from?"
From Utah." said Stillman in ready
reply.
What are your polite!
II know almost nothing about poll
tics. l suppose if took an active in
terest I would adopt my fathers par
ty," laughed Stillman.
J. c.. chuckled. "Just wanted to get
you placed, son. he declared slowly.
Harter frowned slightly. A faint
smile twitched the lips of Commodore
Seaton, and he glanced at Monsel, who
dropped an eyelid.
Gotz met the evident displeasure of
his martial companions with slow
grin. ''Ill keep my oar out for the
present, you sons Of Mars. Go ahead
he advised.
Meade nodded, crossed, and picked
up one of the cases by the door. With
this he returned to the end of the table
and, unlocking the case with a key
from his pocket. lifted therefrom
small model, which he placed upon the
polished mahogany top.
1t was an odd looking affair."
The assembled men drew closer, with
craning necks. Those farthest from
the head rose and took stations back
of their fellows, their eyes fastened
upon the shining object before them.
In general lines it appeared a combi-
nation of an airship and a monOplane.
constructed entirely of metal. It's body
was, roughly speaking, of diamond
shape in it's transverse, with each side
concave. Longitudinally. it looked
something like a torpedo. with two
vertical and two~lateral fins.
Look at it from any angle you chose
and it's sides gave concave curvature
to the eye. One-third Of the way from
the head to the tail the wings jutted
out from the Sides 1t rested upon
what appeared to be four metal legs.
A series of ports pierced the sides of
the body, and across the under side
was a triangular group of dull metal
lie circles, in marked contrast to the
sheen of the rest of the device.
Captain Monsel. his dark face lighted
with acute interest. pushed his way to
the table beside Stillman and bent to
examine the model You must gener.
ate a deuce of speed to lift her on
those WINGS" he remarked, indicating
the twin planes Of the craft.
"Rudders merely. sir,' returned Still
man. "They, of course, add something
a. L..
terror horoscopes provide mainly for
that"
Monsel's interest evidently grew, to
judge by his expression. Lateral
steerage," he said quickly. 'Then
where do you get your control OF ele-
walton? From those planes?'
IF / may explain as go along
suggested Stillman.
Monsel nodded ''Of course Pro
ceed"
StilIman flushed slightly. A marked
nervousness seemed to have been grow
ing upon him ever since Gotz's inter
ruption. His voice was at first scarce
ly more than a whisper, which slowly
grew in volume as he became lost in
bis subject.
Gentlemen he said. this little
aero destroyer represents the work of
my father and myself for the past sew
en- years. 1t is, we believe, an airship
capable of defending the country
against any foe which could come
against it. In the first place, it is
practically impossible for an enemy's
fire to do it damage
AS you notice. the angles of the
hull are uniformly concave A ball i'm
pinging upon them would be DETECTED
by its own momentum and slide off
into space. Only the steering vanes
could be badly crippled by gun fire.
and there is an emergency device in
side the hull. working on a magnetic
principle, which can at need be made
to control the ships course.
AS you heard me tell this gentle
man here"-he turned to Monsel-"the
stability is taken care of by horoscopes.
We have. then. stable airship. practi-
ealy invulnerable to gun fire. which
could sail over an army or fleet and de-
stroy it by means of torpedoes or
bombs fired from tubes pointed through
the various ports in the sides and floor
of the hull.
Furthermore, the construction of
the ship is such that even supposing
a shell should pierce the hull it would
necessarily be compelled to destroy
that part Inside this triangle of dull
spots in the body in order to bring the
machine to earth"
lone moment" said Monsel. How
do you ascend and land2 This model
has no wheels or skids'-
I'VE don't need them" Stillman re
turned. smiling. This. sir. is not an
aeroplane. 1t does not require any mo-
mentum to launch itself 1t rises YER
tically from the legs upon which 1t