Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 26, Number 51, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 13 June 1896 — Page 3

LAKGLEY'S AIRSHIP.

HAS HE SOLVED THE PROBLEM OF AERIAL NAVIGATION!

Bb Succeu Vonclied Orahsm Bell—Octal

For

by AlMoudcr

a of the MaebiM

If/ let a Secret—8om« Account of the Di* tineaislied Inventor and His Work.

It is rather surprising that the announcement that Professor 8. P. Langley of the Smithsonian institution had definitely solved the problem of aerial navigation has not attracted more atten tion than it has. Coming from soch a an and backed by the word of so praccal a man of science as Alexander Graham Bell, it was not such an announcement as might have come from some unknown inventor.

Professor Langley would die a famous man if he had never taken up aerodynamics or attempted to build a flying machine. He is indeed in his chosen field of astronomy the foremost man of science we have in this country. Professor Langley ranks with the greatest astronomers and physicists of the world, and he is one of the few men whom America has produced so far who have made any real and solid contributions to pure science. He is to the latter something of what Tesla is to applied science.

It was a really remarkable thing that a man like Professor Langley should have undertaken to build a flying machine at all. It was still more remarkable at his age. Although he bears them lightly, be has now 62 years to his credit, and he did not take up with his investigations as to aerial flight until about six or seven years ago. But he has prosecuted his inquiry with all the enthusiasm of a young man, and is, in short, one of the type whom you are led to describe as 62 years young.

Again, in both its matter and manner, Professor Langley's invention, cr his discovery, whichever you may like to term it, is of unique interest. His machine is built upon exactly the opposite principle from that upon which other flying machines have been built, and his invention represents a clear triumph for pure inductive science.

When Stephenson built his locomotivo, ho proceeded in his work upon oertain definitely known facts—that is, he was perfectly sure that if he could find away to push his wheels around by steam his engine would ran over the ground juHt as an ordinary wagon would. He was venturing into no unknown field of physics. With Professor Langley it was just the opposite. A1 though men of science for two centuries or moro have bora studying the dynamics of the air, have weighed it and determined its compressibility, its action under heat, etc., yet up to the time Professor Langley took hold of the matter thero existed no definite data as to the plan or principle upon which a flying machine, if it is to successfully navigate tho air, mnst be built To find out thoso new data was his first work.

Put in a less technical way, Professor Lan d's problem was this. Ho says: "Did you ever think what a physical miracle it is for tmch a bird as one of our common turkey buzzards to fly in the way it does? You may see them any day along tho Potomac, floating in tho air, with hardly tho movement of their feathers. These birds weigh from five to ten pounds. Thoy are far heavier than tho air they displace. They are absolutely heavier than so many flatirons. "1 fancy if you saw cannon balls floating through the air like soap bubbles you would look upon it as a sufficiently surprising matter, if not as a miracle. Tho only reason that we are not surprised at the soaring bird is that wo havo seen it from childhood. Perhaps if we had seen coupon balls floating tho air from our childhood we would not stop to inquire how they did it any more, than wo now do how the turkey buzzard does it I am speaking now, of course, not of birds that fly by flapping their wings, but of those that fly without flapping their wings, and with almost no visible expenditure of forco."

It was from watching the turkey buz«ard that Professor Langley carno to coucludo that it was possible to build solid models very much heavier than the air and drive and dftvet such a machine with such an ordinary force as steam. That is to say, ho became convinced that there are certain shapes in which matter can be ("'^xwed TO that the more rapidly it moves through the air, in a sense, the less power it takes to move it, and that a machine could be built to skim through the air very much as a skater skims along tho surface of very thin ice—the faster you go, the less danger.

Professor Langley believed that soaring birds have an intuitive knowledge of oertain properties in the air by which hey are able to skim along, rising and dling, soaring up and sailing down, and turning about in circles without any flapping of their wings or apparently any other effort Just what these properties were he attempted to find out and develop by experiment In this work he was associated with his friend, Graham Bell, or, at any rate. Professor Bell spent a great deal of time over the same subject and has a mass of notebooks filled with mjords of his experiments.

The upshot Of tho matter was that from those experiments it was demonstrated that a machine, not a balloon, can be made which will produce enough mechanical power to support itself in the air and fly, "though," Professor Langley adds, "this is not saying that we have yet got skill enough to manage this power so as to rise and fly about in the air and descend safely." What is actually demonstrated, repeated hun­|tion. dreds of times in the laboratory and finally with the successful

Tbe experiments which Professor Langley carrfcd on resulted in showing that an expenditure of one horsepower in horisr-"al flight will support about SOO.pow and at the same time carry Record.

this burden at a rate of 50 miles an hour through the air. Now, there have recently been built steam engines which, with fuel and water for a short flight, weigh a good deal less than 20 pounds. Tbe relative weight of an engine decreases with the number of its horsepower, so that there seems no reason to doubt that what Professor Langley has done on a small scale may be done on a large one, and very shortly at that

Professor Langley's machine measures but 14 feet from tip to tip, weighs com plete 24 pounds, is solidly built of steel and compared with the air which supports it, has a weight of 1,000 to 1. It has no balloon arrangements of any sort, and instead of trying to build a vessel lighter than the air and filling it wifli gases to make it rise, Professor Langley has practically built a machine as heavy as he likes and relied upon its shape and power for successful flights.

This is just the opposite of what al most every other experimenter in this field has tried to do, although it was apparent to every one that a flying ma chine to be of any commercial at prac fcical value whatever would have to be heavy enough and powerful enough to drive straight against or across and in and out of the stoutest gale that blows. Otherwise it would forever be at the mercy of the element What was neces sary was a ship which would ride storm in the air as a great ocean liner rides a storm at sea

Professor Langley has been very care ful to say that he never expressed his opinion that man could fly by his own strength. But he has demonstrated that powerful machines, thousands of times as heavy as the air itself, can be built to navigate the air. As to just the measure of his present success the secre tary of the Smithsonian is exceedingly reticent—as reticent, in fact, as Profes BOT

Bell is enthusiastic. The latter says that he entertains no doubt whatever that a practical airship for use in WW is but a very short way off.

Indeed, Professor Bell inclines to the idea that within five years his friend Langley's invention will have absolute ly changed the face of warfare, will have made armies an impertinence and our $4,000,000 prize battleships so much useless junk. Just so soon, he thinks, as it is possible to build a machine that will carry half a ton or a ton of dynamite through the air and be easily manageable nobody will want to fight An army will not care to rest under the constant apprehension of having a ton of high explosive, sufficient to blot it out in a second, dropped down upon it. Nor will a battleship be of any avail against a similar attacking force.

It is agreed now that it is practically impossible to hit a swiftly moving warship with the speed of 20 knots or more with a land gun—that is, at any consid erable distance. How much more impossible will it be to hit a compact mass of steel hovering so high overhead as to seem dwarfed to a speck and circling at a rate of 80 or 50 miles an hour!

Literally Professor B611 believes that we shall soon realize Tennyson's poetic fancy of the warships of the wsrld:

Grappling in the central blue. Interesting as he has now become by reason of his great epoch making achievement, Professor Langley was still an in terestiug figure when his fame rested chiefly upon his eminence in the field of astronomy. That he is not known widely to tho publio has been due to his innate modesty and his indisposition to seek popular applause in any way, and likewise to tho fact that his work has been hitherto of so strictly scientific a character.

His greatest work has been in the study of the sun and of the sun spots, measuring the heat of the great orb of light and in the stellar photography. It was he who invented an instrument for measuring, with tho nearest approximation possible, the heat of the sun, and this instrument, which he called a bolometer, is so sensitive that the temperature of a suubeam can be tested to a millionth of a degree. With your sense of touch you would be a remarkably sensitive subject if you were able to detect with your hand, for example, the difference of several degrees taken together. This machine registers the variation of a millionth of one. It does not require a fine and technical knowledge of astronomy to marvel at such an instrument as that—-St Louis GlobeDemocrat

BISHOP WIGGER'S QUERY.

Aik* Pr®f»identtal Candidates if Catholic# Are to lie Dinerimlnated Against.

The Catholic Diocesan Union of New Jersey held a large and enthusiastic meeting in the Y. M. O. A. hall in Harrison, N. J., the other afternoon. President Murphy of Jersey City was in the chair, and delegates from all parts of the state were present

The coming presidential election was discussed, and Rev. Father Bogan of St Mary's chtirch, Rahw&y, at the request of Bishop Wigger of the diocese of Newark, offered a resolution that the secretary of the union be directed to forward to each of the Republican candidates for the nomination for president the following question: "In the event of your election §6 the presidency of the United States, will you, in the administration of that office, make any discrimination against Ro I man Catholics on account erf their religious belief?"

When the question was read, there was great applause, and the resolution was adopted unanimously. Bishop Wig1 ger was prompted in having the resolu* tion offered by a Vner which he reoeived from tbe Mar quette club of St. I Louis, which recently took similar ac-

The letter was indorsed by Right

I Rev. John J. Kane, bishop of St Louis,

machine Catholic societies throughout the

which Profwacw Laitgky built, is that c^try will take similar action, the flying machine is possible. All that nova remains is to perfect it and learn how to manage it.

Bartm* tnttwl CMtMUln. There is a nice old lady in Boston who has told people so often that she is 100 years old that she actually believe* it herself, a' voagh the records do not agree with idea.—Boston Evening

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Coroner Kate Horner.

"Dr. Kate G. Horner, Coroner," is the legend on a plain board nailed to the front of a neat two story frame house in the little town of Pender, Thurston county, Neb., on the border of the Omaha reservation. Mi® Horner was put up for the place by the Democrats last fall and is the first woman coroner ever elected. She is 23 years of age. A cor respondent who visited her office and had expected to meet an elderly and plain woman of masculine mold "was visibly rattled as this handsome, vivacious young woman eyed him with pair of calm, blue, magnetic eyes." Mi«s Horner, while clerk in a Dcs Moines drug store, studied medicine and took a diploma at a Sioux City collega She continues the practice of medicine in her new home, frequently answers calls on the Indian reservation, and does more than half of the medical practice in Thurston county. The cowboys call her an angel and would lay down their lives for her. Whenever she goes out on a mission, some gallant but bashful cowboy follows at a distance to see that no harm overtakes the pretty young doctor. —Chicago Times-Herald.

Her studio is in the top of a tall building on Chestnut street, Philadel phia. It consists of two tiny rooms that have been thrown into one. It is lighted by a wide skylight and two small windows that look out on the street It is an attractive room and a veritable work shop. There are a few casts about, a fine old piece of tapestry on the wall, an old carved chest, one or two bits of drapery and the necessary paraphernalia of tho artist's work. There are no useless knickknacks, no "odds and ends." —New York Journal. &

Women's Talent For Rilling.

If anything conclusive could be inferred from experience, without psychological analysis, it would be that tho things which women are not allowed to do are tho very ones for which they are peculiarly qualified since their vocation for government has mado its way, and become conspicuous, through the very few opportunities which have been given while in the lines of distinction which apparently were freely open to them they havo by no means so eminently distinguished themselves. We know how small a number of reigning queens history presents in comparison with that of kings. Of this smaller number afar larger proportion have shown talents for rule though many of them have occupied the throne in difficult periods. It is remarkable, too, that they have, in a great number of instances, been distinguished by merits the most opposite to the imaginary and conventional character of women they have been as much, remarked for the firmness and vigor of their rule as for its intelligence.---John Stuart Mill.

Miss Leonard Breaks a Record.

Miss Alice Leonard, daughter of the late Captain Henry R. Leonard of Hopkins street, this city, carries off from tho McMioken university this month honors never before won by a young woman in the history of the university. It is the custom for the four pupils whoso standing is highest for the four years to deliver an oration at the commencement exercises. Heretofore the palm has always gone to the "uni boys," but the record has been broken by Miss Leonard, whos^Btanding iS second in tho four victors. Miss Leonard is a most unassuming girl, and although she felt sure that diligent study would reward her with a record not to be ashamed of the announcement of her success was a great surprise to her.

Miss Leonard took the gold medal for excellence mathematics when she graduated from Hughes High school in June, 1892.—Cincinnati Enquirer.

Tight Sleeves.

The latest development of French fashion shews a tight sleeve banded with straps of embroidery insertion, or narrow, rich gimp, revealing the arm to nearly the entire length of it At the top of the sleeve is a double puff set in at the armhole. It is not a large full puff, and frequently it is looped up at the shoulder point to show the whole arm. The sleeve may be puffed, but still the arm is in full evidence. At the wrist the fashion to extend the sleeve so that it partly covers the band still finds favor. On tbe upper part it is elongated in a leaf point the sleeves being cut away on the underside. Another style is to cut the sleeve very long, and then divide the wrist portion into square tabs, finishing these underside with a frill of plaited or gathered laoe.—New York Post

'Mrs. Prankle Lane.

Miss Frankie Lane of Oakland, Cal proposes to can-nun the country during the nat ional campaign in the interest the Populist party. She has made a ep^eial study erf the money and railroad j.estious and will deal chiefly with these subjects. Miss Lane is in her early twenties, and is a graduate of Minnesota Law school

'-v" D«BIB Pillow*. It is asngge*:? kb in making the denim pillows that are in especial favor fc snmmer houses to pat them easily together in the Japanese way. Tboca^ mad" stitched on three sides leaving the selvedges for the fourth, These are then basted in inch stitches with a soft cotton yarn, an extra stitch at the end securing them.

TERRE HAUTE SATURDAY EVENING MALL, JUNE 13, 1896.

A Successful Woman Artist. A

Mi«a Cecelia Beaux has passed beyond the limits of mere popularity and has become famous. No less than six of her pictures are to be seen at the Champ de Mars salon in Paris, and the critical French people are loud in their praise of her work.

Miss Beaux is "a young woman, well bred, dignified and of pleasing person ality. Her coloring is fair and her feat nres strong, particularly her broad, firm mouth. Her hand is characteristic of the woman. It is not small, but is white, well formed and strong.

NATIONAL POLITICS

The Freshest News Gathered From the Latest Exchanges.

The friends of Senator Blackburn say his indorsement for president by the Lexington convention was simply a high personal compliment, and that he is not in the race for the nomination. There ia a strong Stevenson wave sweeping over the silverites since their signal victory at Lexington. Stevenson was educated in Kentucky and has a large following of warm personal friends. Governor Bradley's friends are said to be doing all they can just now for EL Clay Evans of Tennessee for vice president This the governor is said not to relish, but some of his leaders think he is not in the race any longer.

"There will be no bolt in the Chicago convention, in my judgment, even if a free silver platform is adopted," Chairman Harrity said to a reporter the other evening. "I still believe that the silver boom is seeming rather than real, and that the party will be guided to declare for sound money when the delegates get together." "What do you found that belief upon?" the reporter inquired "Faith in human nature and the good sense of Americans of the standing that are made delegates to national conven tions, without analyzing the situation by states. I will say that these alleged silver victories have been made such by the newspapers. Everything has been credited to the Bilver propaganda and nothing to the factional fights, which were the influential and potential fac tors in most cases. Good Democrats were selected for delegates, andfit is upon their good sense and patriotism that I found my hopes." "Are there any silver rneri in" the Pennsylvania delegation?" was asked. "I have not heard of one. Neither have I seen any delegate quoted as determined to bolt in case platform or candidates do not suit him. I had hoped that both the Republican and Democratic conventions would declare for sound money so unequivocally that that issue would be practically eliminated from the campaign. It does not seem so sure now that the St Louis convention will not make some recognition of bimetallism as a distant possibility, which will be in the nature of a straddla No one has heard of any talk of a bolt from the St Louis convention, and the same is the case with the Chicago convention. Certain newspapers profess to see signs and dream dreams about the split in one or the other convention, but they don't name any delegates that are declaring for that step."

Plans are forming for a great Bland excursion from Missouri to Chicago for the Democratic national convention. It is proposed to fill that city up with supporters of the silver champion. Part of the shouters will start from St Louis, part from Sedalia and part from Kansas City.

The Kansas City contingent is expected to number 1,500 or more. They will travel in elaborately decorated special trains and by daylight, the idea being to dazzle the people with the magnificence of the Bland boom. Every one who is able and disposed to shout long and loudly for Bland is being urged to go. "'V

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Ex-United States Senator Martin, who heads the Kansas delegation to the Chicago convention, wants to abolish the two-thirds rule in the Democratic national convention, and is organizing the silver forces in the west to make a determined fight against it He does not believe that a free silver candidate can be nominated unless this is dona If done, he fears a bolt olf the gold Democrats from the convention. x&C

Senator iBrice has been notified by the Ohio free silver leaders that he will be permitted to go to Chicago as one of the delegates at large provided he will agree to vote with the majority of the delega* tion on the financial question. The senator is also advised that the Cftio free silver men will adopt the unit rule. This will be done in all of the states where the free silver men are in control, and by this means they hope to be able to secure a two thirds majority in the convention, thus enabling them to nominate free silver candidates. It is not believed that Brioe will go to t^e Chicago convention under such restrictions.

Jl- Sf"A

e*pwr F*mU*

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Barnes has a cat at his name in

Goldendale which is suckling three young squirrels, which were caught near town. She also suckles one kitten, the others having been killed to make room for the squirrels.—Goldendale Sentinel.

Spain HM Her TTMUM.

Spain is in a bad w^y—it can neither stop its generals from fighting duels nor soldiers to fighting battles.-—

M.,tat its i"g Gtilfogo of

Times-Herald.

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