Lecture on Artificial Flight Part 1

Lecture on Artificial Flight.

by Wm. G. Krueger.

SAILING IN THE AIR.

I.--INTRODUCTION.

_Gentlemen of the Academy_:

The problem of artificial flight is of such great importance to civilization; so interesting and fascinating, not only to the student, but to every one; and it allows us to indulge in such a wide field for speculation as to the great changes which will be wrought by the practical solution of it in the social, political and commercial world, that I must beg of you to consider only my good intentions in appearing before you, and pardon my shortcomings as a lecturer. It is my first attempt, and is simply undertaken to bring the subject more understandingly before the public, that they may a.s.sist, morally, and pecuniarily, the several inventors who are wrestling with it more or less successfully--some rather less. If only one inventor in a hundred should meet with flattering results, the attention bestowed upon all will be repaid a thousand fold by that one's success.

The idea of sailing through the air in a flying machine is not new, nor such an absurd one as is generally supposed; and it is indeed important to investigate and lay it before the public more directly than has been done heretofore through the medium of great, musty and long-winded volumes. If found to seem practicable and feasible, it is for you, gentlemen, to see that the future great State of California shall also be ahead in this--one of the greatest and most important inventions of the age--as she is, and has been in many other things before.

The subject has really been taken hold of in a thorough and scientific manner only the last few years; but with such earnestness and scientific knowledge and intelligence, not only by the foremost and princ.i.p.al society for the advancement of the art--the Aeronautic Society of Great Britain--to whom, really, the most credit must fall--but in every civilized country; and so much has been done already to prove, not only the possibility but the absolute certainty of an early practical solution of the problem, that soon we will see the air traversed in all directions, by aspiring man. Many seeming impossibilities of the present, need only time and effort to become realities in the near future.

II.--HISTORY AND FABLE.

In turning our thoughts to History, reaching back even into the mazy and wonderful ages of fable, we find that from time immemorial the great science of aerostation has occupied the minds of philosophers and inventors. There can be little doubt that it was known and made use of in olden times in isolated cases, but was again lost, like many other important inventions.

We are furnished with many interesting proofs of this. Old Chinese, Arabian and Hindu fables give some beautiful descriptions of aerial chariots, in which wizards, princes and fairies sped over the fertile and populous plains of their native country, disbursing good or evil, according to their disposition, to the poor devils crawling in the dust beneath them. The Jews had their cherubim. The a.s.syrians have left us their winged bulls; the Greeks, their Sphinxes; while the Roman writers describe how that mythical personage, Daedalus, a famous Athenian artificer, and builder of the Cretan labyrinth, constructed wings with which he flew across the aegian Sea, to escape the resentment of Minos.

But his son, Icarus, undoubtedly of his strength giving out, fell into the water and was drowned. Their nation has bequeathed to us various bas-reliefs, ill.u.s.trative of what appear well-proportioned wings.

Archytos, the great geometrician, made a wooden dove that flew like a natural one, and the famous German astronomer, John Mueller, who died suddenly in Rome, at the age of forty, in 1476, and whose memory was celebrated last month in Germany, constructed an artificial eagle, which flew out to greet the Emperor, Charles V, when he visited Nuremberg. This Mueller was more widely known by the a.s.sumed name of "Regiomonta.n.u.s,"--the "Kingshiller"--that is, "one from Koenigsberg," a small village in the heart of Germany; the custom of the times being for learned men to adopt the latin name of their birthplace. He invented the almanac, and prepared the first astronomical tables, by the aid of which mariners, who, up to that late day could only make coasting voyages, were enabled to trust themselves to the open sea, with some degree of a.s.surance; and Columbus was among the earliest to use these tables, twenty years afterwards, on his first discovery voyage to America.

Another German, a young watchmaker's apprentice, constructed a flying machine, with which he, when showing the same to his ignorant townspeople, flew away to escape mobbing. His bones and pieces of the machine were found some years afterward in a wild and isolated part of the Black Forest. Towards the end of the fifteenth century Giovanni Battista Dantes, of Perugia, flew several times over the Thrasimenian Sea; he certainly must have been at a considerable elevation, for he fell on a church steeple and broke a leg. Another account, particularly noticed in history, is that of a man who flew high in the air in the City of Rome, under the reign of Nero, but lost his life in the descent.

In "Astra Castra," we read that soon after Bacon's time, projects were inst.i.tuted to train up children in the exercise of flying with artificial wings, and considerable progress was made; by the combined effort of running and flying they were enabled to skim over the surface, as it were, with incredible speed. This same Roger Bacon, an eminent philosopher of the thirteenth century, and possessed of the very highest genius and ability, whose ideas and knowledge, like Franklin's, were many hundred years ahead of his age, descants, in one of his works, in glowing language, on the practicability of constructing engines that could navigate the air. He accomplished wonderful things in his day, and was accused of holding communion with the devil, who was quite an important personage in those times. His writings were interdicted, and himself locked up to prevent closer acquaintanceship of his readers with the aforesaid friend.

About the Confessor's time, a monk, Elmirus, in Spain, flew often, by means of a pair of wings, many miles from high elevations. Cuperus, in his treatise on "The Excellency of Man," contends that it is practicable for human beings to attain the faculty of flying. He a.s.serts that Leonardo da Vinci, the great painter of the "Lord's Supper," and other highly prized works of art, practiced it successfully. The reasoning of the great John Wilkins, Lord Bishop of Chester, who died in 1672, embodies the sentiments and principles of all these on the subject even stronger. In his work on "Mechanical Motion," he treats expressly on artificial flight, and conceives, in the sixth chapter, the framing of such "volitant automata" very easy; and says that the time will come when men will call for their wings when about to make a journey, as they do now for their boots and spurs.

Lastly, in the "Journal de Savans," of the 12th of September, 1678, an account is given of one Besnier, a locksmith of Sable, France, who succeeded in flying. But as his machine was extremely primitive--the wings consisting only of four rectangular surfaces, one at the end of each of two poles, which pa.s.sed over the shoulder of the operator, and were worked alternately up and down--the inventor could only avail himself of their aid in progressively raising himself from one hight to another, until an elevated position was reached, when he could glide through the air a long distance.

Many more cases could be cited. Some ended disastrously; others, because of the apathy, distrust, ignorance, and superst.i.tion of the people, were lost sight of again; while some, perhaps the most practical ones and of which we find many indications in old writings, were never made known for selfish reasons. Such has been the fate of this--one of the most interesting problems--almost up to the present time. We were, perhaps, not prepared sufficiently, to receive the great boon. We had to have the printing press, steam, and electricity first, before we could attempt this next great step towards a higher civilization.

III.--DISCOVERY OF THE BALLOON.

Although it is well understood now by most scientific men, that the principles upon which ballooning rests, will scarcely form any part in the solution of the problem of aerial navigation; yet, when, in 1782, the brothers, Mongolfier, in France, made the first successful experiments with small paper balloons, filled with heated air, it was thought that the key to that wonderful art had been found; many applied themselves to its improvement; and the next year already saw gas balloons on a much larger scale.

The first pa.s.sengers, who had the honor of being sent up into the realms of s.p.a.ce, were a sheep, a c.o.c.k and a duck; and as their safe descent proved highly satisfactory, the well-known French savan, Pilatre de Rozier, tried the same experiment shortly afterwards with great success, reaching a hight of nearly two miles. The glowing description of his experience raised the excitement of all cla.s.ses to fever heat. Numerous day and night ascensions were made by diplomats, distinguished naturalists, professors of note, scientific women and gymnastic aspirants, and their journeys soon became more daring and extended to wider fields.

IV.--NOTED AIR VOYAGES.

Blanchard, the supposed inventor of the parachute, with the American, Dr. Jeffries, were the first to cross the channel from England to France. M. Charles, the inventor of the gas balloon, and one of the earliest and most enthusiastic advocates of aerostation, made extensive voyages. Madame Thible, of Lyons, was the first of her s.e.x who trusted herself to the elastic element. Crosbie, who pa.s.sed over the sea from Ireland to England, came near losing his life; for, the balloon, being struck with great force by an adverse current of air, and most of the gas escaping, tore over the raging waters at a fearful speed, until the courageous man was rescued, near the English coast, by a ship happening in his way. But the view which he had enjoyed, seeing both countries at once, was sublime beyond description, and compensated him for all the danger. He had been at such a hight that, although the July sun melted everything below, his ink was a lump of ice, and the quicksilver in the instruments had sunk almost out of sight.

The battle of Fleurus, in 1794, was won by the French over the Austrians princ.i.p.ally through the aid of balloon reconnoitering; and similar service was occasionally performed by the balloon in our own war. The favorably known Italian, Count Zambeccari, who added many improvements to this art, and created great interest in the princ.i.p.al countries of Europe, made an ascension, in 1803, with two friends, at Bologna. The three alighted in the Adriatic sea and were picked up by fishermen, while the balloon, free from weight, rose again and was carried by the wind to the Turkish fort Vihacz, where the commander, believing it a present "sent from heaven," had it cut up in small pieces and divided amongst his friends as amulets. But quite a "reverse opinion" was generally entertained by most of the ignorant Christian country people, when the huge monster happened to fall amongst them for the first time; and their comparison of it to the "evil one" is excusable when we consider the peculiar smell of the escaping gas, after their attack upon it with pitchforks and similar agricultural implements.

Among other remarkable ascensions is that of Guy Lussac, who reached the prodigious hight of nearly four and a half miles. This was exceeded, though, by another scientific aeronaut, James Glaisher, in 1862, who, with a companion, mounted the great alt.i.tude of seven miles--over 36,000 feet; but as he was insensible for some minutes after reaching the elevation of 29,000 feet, the highest ever attained by human beings, their calculations could only be approximated. The mercury in the hygrometer--a delicate instrument for measuring the moisture in the atmosphere--had fallen below the scale, while they were rising more than 1000 feet per minute. There are instances of balloons that have shot upwards at the rate of fifty feet per second, or much over half a mile per minute; but, generally, even twenty feet per second is a rare occurrence. And here might be mentioned that, since the late serious loss of several French scientists by asphyxia, or cold on their unfortunate ascension, the problem of maintaining life in the highest regions of the atmosphere has been solved in France. With a certain apparatus, man could manage to live comfortably nearly ten miles above the level of the sea, while, ordinarily, two miles is the most.

As to horizontal speed, perhaps the fastest time on record was made by Garnerin and Snowdon, from London to Colchester, some eighty miles, in one hour, or about 110 feet per second, almost swifter than an eagle flies; and another balloon went from Paris across the Alps, to the vicinity of Rome, in twenty-two hours, making over fifty miles per hour, considering its zig-zag travel. The reason for such great speed is, that the different air currents travel far faster in the upper regions than below, where the velocity of the wind is seldom over twenty miles per hour; and yet, were it not for the continually changing scenery, the aeronaut would imagine himself stationary.

The shortest trip, perhaps, in the annals of this art, both as to hight and distance, was made, a few years ago, by a gymnast, at Woodward's Gardens, that most beautiful pleasure resort in this city. The little disobliging monster went lazily, and with great difficulty, over the fence and capsized promptly on the other side, leaving the trapeze-man hanging, by the seat of his unmentionables, on the top of it in an uncomfortable position, but no bones were broken.

V.--ABSENCE OF DANGER.

It is erroneous to suppose that aerial voyages are fraught with even ordinary danger; on the contrary, travel by sea and land is far more so; for, although thousands of a.s.sensions have been made, but very few persons have met with accidents, in fact, a less number by far comparatively, than by any other profession or mode of locomotion; and, whenever such has happened, gross carelessness or ignorance was often the cause.

During the late Franco-German war, over sixty balloons, many but indifferently constructed, left Paris, during the siege, with some one hundred and eighty persons and nearly three millions of letters. All reached a point of safety.

Professor Wise, the most noted American aeronaut, has made, during the last forty years, nearly five hundred voyages, and one in particular, in 1859, of nearly 1200 miles--perhaps the longest on record--with three companions, from St. Louis, Mo., to New York State. This trip was made partly in the midst of a tornado, while above Lake Erie, during which time some twenty sailing crafts succ.u.mbed to the effects of the storm, yet the intrepid aeronauts alighted in safety. M. Green, who was the first to use coal gas, instead of pure hydrogen, and has also made hundreds of successful ascensions, was carried from London to Weilburg, in the central part of Germany, about seven hundred miles in eight hours, without the slightest mishap. Lastly, Arban, crossed the Alps from Ma.r.s.eilles to Turin, four hundred miles, in stormy weather during the night. Mont Blanc to the left, on a level with the top of which he was, resembled an immense block of crystal--sparkling with a thousand fires; while the moon occasionally seemed to have borrowed the light of the sun.

VI.--CHARM OF aeRIAL TRAVEL.

Nothing can equal the beauty of an aerial voyage, that most wonderful, easy and luxurious mode of locomotion, with its entire absence of dizziness--this sensation being lost with the separation from earth, as soon as the last cord, which unites us with the world below, is cut.

In rising from the ground, the feelings are absorbed in the novelty and magnificence of the spectacle presented, while the ears are saluted with the buzz of distant sound until the clouds are reached, when all is still as death. The scene is sublime. Around and beneath, the clouds roll in magnificent grandeur. They form pyramids, castles, reefs, icebergs, ships and towers, and again dissolve into chaos. The half obscured sun shedding his mellow light upon the picture, gives it a rich and dazzling l.u.s.tre. Reverence for the work of nature, the solemn stillness, an admiration indescribable, all combined, seem to make a sound of praise.

The earth, which is never lost sight of at any hight, except clouds interfere or night sets in, seems to be concave, like the inside of a flattish hollow globe, instead of the outside, as would naturally be supposed. The reason for this optical delusion is, that the horizon appears on a level with the aeronaut, while the distance downwards remains unaltered, making the surface below appear like a valley. The earth presents the panoramic view of an immense map, such as the enchanted Alladdin must have enjoyed. The coloring, designating the various products of the soil, is lively and exquisite. Variegated gra.s.s-plats, the golden tinge of waving grain fields, the more sombre foliage of the trees, the glossy surface of the water dazzling in the sunbeams, with occasional white specks for sailing craft; the innumerable villages, with tastefully decorated and tinny, toy-like houses, the numerous roads tortuously spreading over the surface and looking like chalk lines on a gaudy carpet, fairy-like carriages seemingly drawn by mice and guided by liliputian little things. Such is the beauty of this glorious earth. Yet, when mountains appear like ant hills, and Niagara a neat little cascade in a pleasure garden--instead of the raging grandeur, only a frothy bubble--man must be forcibly reminded that he is but the minutest animalcule, and not of so much importance as he presumes himself to be.

No less impressive is the scene at night. The sublime exhibition in the vast solitude and darkness of night creates the most stupendous effect upon the lonely aeronaut.

The earth's surface, as far as the eye can reach, absolutely teems with the scattered fires of a watchful population, and exhibits a starry spectacle below, that rivals in brilliancy the l.u.s.tre of the firmament above. A city looming up in the distant horizon gradually appears to blaze like a vast conflagration. On drawing near, every street is marked out by its particular line of fires; the forms and positions of the theatres, squares and markets are indicated by the presence of larger and more irregular acc.u.mulations of light, and the faint murmurs of a busy population still actively engaged in the pursuits of pleasure or the avocation of gain; all together combined form a picture, which, for beauty and effect, can not be conceived.

Again, higher up, or when clouds intervene, the sky, at all times darker when viewed from an elevation, seems almost black with the intensity of night; while, by contrast, the stars redoubled in their l.u.s.tre, shine like sparks of the whitest silver, scattered upon the jetty dome around.

Nothing can exceed this density of night. Not a single object of terrestrial nature can anywhere be distinguished, and an unfathomable abyss of "darkness visible" encompa.s.ses one on every side. It seems like cleaving the way through an interminable ma.s.s of black marble, and a light lowered from these dizzy hights appears to absolutely melt its way down into the frozen bosom of the surrounding inkiness. The cold is here intense.