OCR Text |
Show FROM 00DEN TO THE PEAK. An Ogdenite says our suggestion that a road be planned over which automobile parties can travel to the top of Observatory Peak, 10,500 feet above the level of the sea, and overlooking Ogden and the gTeat inland basin, has proved to him such a fascinating study of the possibilities in that direction, that he has given the matter ' much thought, but instead of an automobile road, he has conceived the idea of an aerial copper line from the end of tho carline on Twenty-fifth street to the summit of the range, along which aeroplanes aero-planes are to be guided, controlled and supplied with power. He. maintains that an aeroplane, using such a "trolley line," would bo safe and delightfully out of the ordinary. The present aeroplane gets its power from a gasoline engine, which is the heaviest part of the machine. This innovation provides for an electric motor to be operated by current supplied through the copper guide-way. We are not disposed to discourage our friend with the "trolley" aeroplane to Observatory Peak, but we are forced to confess the thing does not appeal to us as being so "delightfully" uncommon, nor yet so safe, as to warrant our offering to be one of the first to make the journey heavenward, though no doubt an aeroplane so constructed and held within bounds would present less thrilling possibilities of a sudden descent than is ever present on the aerial baskets which are employed in parts of Switzerland in attaining great mountain heights. Our inventive genius assures us the journey up would be devoid of any elements of danger because the flight of the machine would be controlled by the wire and, in case of the failure of the motor, the wire would support the aeroplane and a clutch allow of a gradual return to "earth." Notwithstanding the trolley aeroplane, we trust our automobile enthusiasts will continue to search out a road from the Huntsville side of the range and make a survey to determine whether it is practical, at no great outlay, to obtain an "auto" highway of easy grade to the top of the peak. |