The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-09-15

short time. He closely exani led Nv
ing birds, and took the homing pigeon,
for example. after q long fig ht, and
proved that they had collected n their
feathers a surprisingly large q rantity
lof atmospherical electricity. The
feathers on the wings especially serve
as collectors, and every little airlike
feather adds to the supply
| When the bird begins to ny "a regu-
lar magnetic is created, that has its
two poles at the two ends of the wings.
One side Is the negative and thI u other
the positive. From the nome Int this
electromagnetic state is reacl he'd, all
the work the muscles are expdU cted to
do is to direct the fight, as the wings
are moved by the force Of tb e cleo
tricity; that is, they come toget her I'M
til the force of the opposite m hgnetic
power forces them apart, and u e repe'
tition of this operation is called vflight."
/ That certainly sounds simpl n" muir
INJURED the chancellor.
| Now take the aerodromoneH con-
tinued Santos. Through mec hanical
inventions, and cirynith, We hive i'm
proved the birds method of flight The
improvement is in the storing way Of
unused magnetism. The more quickly
we fly, the more magnetism is gath
cred by the machine" Santos pointed
| to the front part of the machind on the
| blueprint, calling the chancellIbrs at
tention to the contrlyance that gave
the machine the appearance X of an
eagle. 1t was large brass bah, Gov
cred with cirynith cap. n len he
| pointed to broad brass bar hat ex-
tended over the entire top OF Hhe ma
chine; that bar was like a round
brush, and it's duty was to gather in
every little spark of electricity and
store 1t in the brass collector. When
the insulation was broken, a Ii Ehtning
flash was sent out, directed at the will
| OF the air man. So long as the ma
chine was in motion there was always
plenty Of electricity in the collector,
ready to be sent out to cause destruc-
ton to anything.
Wonderful" sighed the count II
know what those sparks mean,I have
seen them in action"
THE simple machinery that Is built
into every aerodromone is to control
the flight and to start the wings. On
account of the extreme simplicity of
the mechanism and the tremendous
strength of cirynith. the aerodromone
is, practically speaking, indestruc-
| tible."
But how can one machine capture
the other, or even fight the other, I'M
der these conditions? ?" asked the count
anxiously.
There are two ways in which ma
chine may gain victory over the other.
| One is to disable the brain Of the ma
chine. that is, the man behind the
wheel"
How can that be done?" asked the
count eagerly.
"Cirynith, as you know, is harder |
than anything except the diamond, SO
believe If hard steel bullets were
made with diamond points they would
penetrate the comparatively thin she'll
Of eiiiFytfFaaith that defends siis;alsnsasasl
However. this is only theory. Ex-
periments must show the advisability |
Of their manufacture"
What Is the other way?" |
That Is certain method, and Ii |
based on the laws of electricity that |
seem to govern aerial navigation"
| What is it?" asked the count, impa- |
tiently, as Santos hesitated and looked |
at ROSETTA.
1t is the same as when boy takes |
a piece Of amber or any other sub |
stance that can be magnetized and |
lifts up paper scrap. The quicker
airman has to maneuver SO as to a,ight |
on top of the hostile machine. The
lower machine then sticks to- the up-
per, like the paper to the amber, only |
with such great force that it cannot
be released until the current is stopped
and the necessary insulation between
the opposing forces is obtained"
But the wings of the lower machine |
might strike the upper" remarked the
count a
1T looks that way" answered San
tos YEARLY. 1t brought back the hap
Ply days in the service of Napoleon,
and his heart was heavy. but, rs
have mentioned, different laws prevail |
in the air, totally different from the
laws that govern the land or water.
The atmospherical electricity has
qualities that cannot be judged BY our |
present knowledge 1t has to be ex.
perimented with Our trials on the |
Island of Ciryne showed us that the
aerodromones do not injure each |
other; they might stick together, or
be hurled apart. but they are never
damaged"
Then you think, Mr.. Duprel, that
you viii be able to capture Edison's
force?"
The little man cast an appealing
glance toward ROSETTA; she looked him
straight in the eyes and encouraged
him. He said bravely:
"Mr. Edison is very formidable en-
envy, but our improved machines will
give US the advantage, and besides.
we win have larger feet"
The count was satisfied and the