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Show GREAT ADVANCE IN AIRSHIPS. i ANB of the latest and most hopef.il HH features of th situation as regards y man's progressing conquest of tbe atmosphere at-mosphere Is thnt all the best of engineering engineer-ing Intellect Is now directed to the Job. It Is not too much to say tbat more Inventions In-ventions have been patented within the past year concerning aeroplanes and dirigibles diri-gibles than on railroad appliance, despite the vast network of rails tbat gridiron the earth, i , I In oil this vast output of men's brains beot on conquering the air there jh, of course, much that ls of small value, a great dpal that U entirely useless, and a unitill residue that will be built Into thr real pathway that men's genius and daring dar-ing are rapidly constructing toword a triumphant tri-umphant solution of fljlug. Wilbur and Orvllle Wright have made n number of minor changes In their oeroplnne models which are sxld to mtvi? m.ide the flight more slabbr aod the manner of alighting on tbc ground after a trip less Jarring. A. M. Herring, who has tor two years been in touch with the United States government gov-ernment In tbe construction of an aeroplane, aero-plane, claims to have improved bis ma-' chine so greatly in many respects as to make It equal. If not superior, to the machine ma-chine of tbe Wright Brothers. Octave Obanuto, who Is sometimes termed the "Father of American Aeronautics."' is now building a gliding machine on the following follow-ing scientific principles: Weight of single neroplune. one pound to tho square foot, and capable of gilding at an angle of one lu ten In still air. This means, of course, that tho machine will be stable under those conditions. It will oN poMsess the ability to glide at more acnte angles when meeting with slstance of rl-lng or descending nlr currents. cur-rents. The center of grnvlty In Chanute's new gliding plane will be low down aod centered so as to make it dip slightly from tbe front edge of tbe plane to tho rear. This machine, of course, has uo motor, nod Is merely an improved Mar platform on which to skim through the air. Louis Lataste, of Tarls, is an engineer who claims now to bave a machine which Is sustained by a dlscywhlch revolves t tremendous high rotes per second and which. M. Latuste claims, has elevated big machine. He guides with ribbed wings, which he closes up like n fan when not dosirud. He has a seven-cylinder gas-ollno gas-ollno motor. Tbe power ls from two pro- pollers, placed In front and back. The disc 1 alleged to hoist ihe machine up Into Ihe air. while tbe propellers furnish the meaus of going back or forward. Many other Inventions bave been record re-cord ly patented here and in Europe, and while nil of them have not been given a fair practical test, the evidence seems conclusive that many brilliant and scleu-v tlflcallv trained minds are centered ou the solution of flylug. This must meau rapid success. |
