646 



THi: STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



In place of heated air or hydrogen, common coal 

 gas is now used. This improvement was intro- 

 duced by Mr. Green, the English aeronaut. As 

 gas expands rapidly as the balloon ascends, and 

 the pressure of the external air is diminished, 

 the neck of the balloon is commonly left open, 

 and the machine is also furnished with a safety 

 valve at the top. which can be opened or shut 

 at pleasure. Mr. Glaisher. a noted English 

 aeronaut, is of the opinion that in order to reach I 

 great altitudes the balloon must have a capacity 

 of at least 90.000 cubic feet, of which not more 

 than one-third need be inflated with gas, and 

 must carry upward of 600 pounds of ballast. 

 The question of the extreme altitude to which 

 a balloon can ascend can only be theoretically 

 determined, since the vital powers at 37,000 to 

 40.000 feet of elevation must succumb to the 

 intense cold and the attenuated atmosphere. | 

 Mr. Glaisher seriously doubts the practical use 

 of the balloon. He sees no probability that any 

 method of steering it will be invented; but 

 Messrs. Fonvielle and Tissandier believe it pos- 

 sible to devise means for its guidance. Of vari- 

 ous plans for aerial ships capable of being steered | 

 projected in Europe and America, practically 

 all have failed. Thus far the dirigible balloon 

 of M. Santos-Dumont and the aeronome of the 

 late Professor Langley remain the types of the 

 most nearly successful experiments in this direc- 

 tion. 



September 15, 1898, Stanley Spencer, aeronaut. 

 and Dr. Benson made an ascent in a balloon 

 from London. They effectually steered the ma- | 

 chine by means of a rudder and drag-ropes, and 

 crossed the English channel, landing safely in 

 France. They reached an altitude of 27,500 

 feet, the greatest height yet recorded. In Sep- 

 tember, 1900, Count von Zeppelin made an as- 

 cent in an air-ship of his invention, built chiefly 

 of aluminum and driven electrically by four 

 huge propellers, which seemed under perfect 

 control and made an aerial journey of six miles. 

 Count de la Vaulx, in an experiment in 1906 

 over the English Channel, succeeded in some 

 degree in steering a balloon at an angle to the 

 wind. This was accomplished with a large shut- 

 ter-like device called a deviater dragged in the 

 water by ropes attached to the car at an eleva- 

 tion of 300 feet. 



Another and more modern type of airship is 

 the aeroplane. Since the first aeroplane types 

 of flying machines, designed by Maxim and 

 Lilienthal, the work of inventors and scientists 

 along the line of motor-driven, heavier-than- 

 air flying machines has shown steady progress. 

 The general and most popular design is that of 

 the simple aeroplane, supported by air, through 

 which it is .propelled by detached force. There 

 have been many radical but experimental de- 

 partures from the aeroplane type, none of which, 

 however, have shown any great degree of suc- 

 cess. Among these radical types is the Heli- 

 copter, the production of Otto Luyties, of Balti- 

 more, Md. The design of the machine embraces 

 several pairs of huge wings and two or more 

 upright revolving propellers, the latter operated 

 by a 100-horse power motor for the purpose of 

 lifting the machine. The entire weignt is 1,700 

 pounds. 



Achievements in the form of sustained flight, 

 power to rise and descend without mishap. 

 and to guide the machine in a circular flight 

 are confined to the Wright Brothers, of Dayton. 

 Ohio, and the Brothers Voisin, whose aeroplane 

 constructed on lines laid down by M. Octave 

 Chanute, w r as driven in a successful flight on 

 November 9 and 11, 1907, at Paris by M. Henry 

 I annan. The aeroplane on the first attempt 

 rose slowly from the ground, and in one minute 

 and fourteen seconds completed a circle. 



This flight, however, is still far behind the 

 achievements of the Wright Brothers in 190."). 

 at Dayton, Ohio, when in the presence of reput- 

 able witnesses one of the brothers remained 

 in the air thirty-eight minutes and three seconds. 

 making a circular flight of twenty-four and one- 

 halt miles. Officials of the Aero Club of Amer- 

 ica, at the International Congress held in New 

 York on October 28, 1907, admitted that in 

 flights of man-carrying gasless machines the 

 Wright Brothers are far ahead of all competitors. 

 W T hat the Wright Brothers have accomplished 

 in the last two years, or since their twenty-four- 

 mile flight, is only problematical. It is con- 

 ceded that they have made still further progress, 

 and it is not unlikely that before the elapse of 

 another year prolonged flights of motor-driven 

 aeroplanes may be witnessed. The Wright- 

 Brothers have established one curious point 

 that a really successful flying machine will 

 develop speed in excess of anticipations based 

 on the motor's efficiency. 



Santos-Dumont, in his helicopter, made the 

 first public demonstration of man-flight with- 

 out gas support, traveling about 300 yards. 

 His efforts were eclipsed by Mr. Farman in a 

 j successful flight on October 26, 1907, near Paris, 

 when he drove his aeroplane nearly half a mile. 



Although not a matter of authentic record, 

 it is reported that M. Esnault Pelterie, in a 

 flying machine described as half automobile 

 ; and half aeroplane, succeeded in making a series 

 | of flights near Paris, turning in the air, rising 

 and descending at will. The machine resembles 

 a butterfly, with the wings controlled by means 

 of levers. 



Agriculture, the art of farming. From 

 Egypt a knowledge of agriculture extended to 

 Greece, where it flourished 1,000 years before 

 Christ. Hesiod describes a plough consisting of 

 a beam, a share, and handles. The Greek 

 farmers composted with skill, and saved Ihe 

 materials for the compost with care. A high 

 appreciation of agriculture seems to have been 

 a fundamental idea among the early Romans. 

 A tract of land was allotted to every citizen by 

 the state itself, and each one was carefully re- 

 stricted to the quantity granted. The Roman 

 agriculturists whose works have come down to 

 us are Cato, Varro, Virgil, Columella, Pliny, and 

 Palladius. The difference of soils and their 

 adaptation to particular crops' were well under- 

 stood. Manures were saved with care. Com- 

 posts were made in suitable places, hollows being 

 scraped out in the form of a bowl to receive the 

 wash from the house, and properly protected 

 from the heat of the sun. But the inhabitants 

 of the East were familiar with many mechanical 

 i appliances unknown to the Romans, and proba- 



