Year: 1867




California papers give the particulars of a
sezloGs attempt, IN that State, at aerial loco
motion. The inventor of the I" Antor," as
the bird is called, Is Frederick Mariots,
of San Francisco. Practical engineers and
mechanics have looked into the principles of
its construction, and pronounce it feasible.
Shrewd capitalists have furnished the means
Of testing it The constructors are a well
assured of success as were Fulton, Stephen
son and Morse. The moneyed men who in
vest have no doubt as to the profits At
Shell Mount Park, about nineteen miles
from San Francisco, a large building has
been put up for the purpose, and contains
the unfinished machine. In shape it resem-
bles both hen and bird-a plump, short
necked, shOrt-billed bird In the act Of flying.
From stem TO stern -Or rather from bill to
rump-is seysnty-six feet, while the tail adds
twelve feet more. Its transverse diameter
in the largest part is twenty-one feet. Its
wings extend ten feet on each side, and are
50 constructed that one part is always out
spread while another part is moveable at the
will of the engineer.


The tail, which is like that of fish, viii
be under the same control, and can be so
moved and DETECTED as 70 give it ali the ad-
vantage of rudder. The skeleton is formed
Of bamboo poles and light rods of red wood,
braced and held together by wires Of steel
and ropes Of iron. On the frame is stretched
a covering of muslin of the strongest fiber,
and coated with varnish, which makes it i'm
pervious to water and to gas. it is to be
filed with pure hydrogen, and viii hold
IA 800 cubic feet.


So far, then, the machine is virtually a
balloon, and depends for its kOuyancy and
power of rising, in part at least, on the same
principles as other balloons. But is much


u II
at It's machinery. It Is to carry, we are told,
a small steam engine, weighing, without the
shafting, only thirty-seven pounds, and hav-
ing nominal horse power of two and
hal-b1t near four horse.


The boiler IS very peculiar. An arrange
ment of copper plates, looking like the boot
rack on an Office desk and not much larger
holds the water and admits the heat Over
this is a steam chest still more diminutive
Four and a half gallons of water fill the
boiler, and a small tank holds seven gallons
more. Two or three pecks Of chorcoal are
close at haad, and these supplies are regarded
as sufficient for two hours working at full
speed.


To receive the machinery space is left in
the lower part of the body reaching from
side to side, and to about half the height
The power is applied to a shaft placed IN the
upper part of the cavity and extending
through. To each end of the shaft an arm
is attached, which terminates In two bladed
screw. These screws are the legs and
Wsbbed feet, with which the gigantic duck
is to paddle and work its way in the upper
air. The machinery Of those propellers is
so adjusted as TO enable the engineer to vary
their position to the extent of ninety degrees,
accordingly as he may wish to rise or fall, or
fall, or move laterally in any direction.


To rise to any heightit is claimed that be
needs but to place her prOpellers at an angle
Of fOTty-fve degrees, or less-depress her
movable wings ten or twenty degrees-give
her tail a twist and she win describe a num-
Der of spiral circles until she attains the
hight required. While the gas holder re-
mains in good order, and her wings remain
in position, she cannot fall so rapidly az to
endangeF the lives of her passengers, even
though the engine were out of repair


The engineer or conductor IS to occupy
sort Of cage, centrally placed within the
cavity which holds The machinery The IRE
and the fuel, the engine, boiler and gauges,
and the strings which move the train, are
all close at hand. He can look down, but
not much ahead As there are no breakers,
nor icebergs, nor lee shores in the ssrial
ocean, a front view is Of little moment.


One difficulty seems not to have been fore
seen. The atmospheric air must be excluded
from the bird before the hydrogen can be
sent in. But the stiff ribs prevent collapse.
Some remedy for this must be found.