EXTRACTS. Experimental Trip of the Aerial Machine. (From the Launceston Examiner.)

Daily Southern Cross, Volume I, Issue 24, 30 September 1843, Page 3

EXTRACTS. Experimental Trip of the Aerial Machine. (From the Launceston Examiner.)

An account has been forwarded to us from Scotland, of an experiment tried a few days ago, near Glasgow, with, a machine constructed on the same principle as that of Mr, Ileasoa. This experiment was made by a Professor Geolis, a foreigner, and, bub for an accident, it appears that it would have established the principle contended for, namely, the capability of navigating the air. Not wishing, however, to make any misrepresentations upon the point, wo give the particulars from a narrative drawn up by Professor Geolls himself. The Professor after stating that he had constructed his machine in exact accordance with Mr. Henson's specification, and that he had paid great attention to all th 9 circumstances c.onnected with the flight of birds, says ho fixed upon the hill of Dumbeck, near Glasgow, for the trial. Ho then proceeds thus :—: — " The aerial machine was properly placed at an altitude of three hundred and fifty lineal feet from the earth, and fixed at the I top (near the flag post) is the usual way, being held by daggers, perfectly similar to those used by ship builders, and only requiring one blow of the maul to free it and allow it to flee. " It was with no small degree of trepidation, not unmixed with a lively excitement, that, at an early hour, before the dawn had scarcely tinted the eastern horizon, I found my preparations all complete, and everything ready for my unusual and interesting flight. "At 3h. 35m. a.m., I entered the car, and exactly at sh. 38m. 595., I struck the dagger ana liberated the machine, and away she shot with the speed of lightning. Before she reached half the extreme end of the ways, the mercury in the barometer had risen one and a half tenths, which exactly coincided with my calculations, and proved that the angle of the inclined plaae was 32^ deg. On reaching tbe end of the ways the velocity acquired, not. only from descent down the plane, but from the operation of the vertical fanners, (the engine having been set going simultaneously with the precipation of the daggers) she had begun to lift, and on clearing the brow had, iv fact, risen a few yards, as was plainly indicated by the falling again of the mercury. This gave me great confidence, and enabled me to make a few necessary observations more calmly than J

otherwise would have done, had matters not succeeded so favourably. On looking back, I observed that I was a considerable distance from the hill, and, in fact, the flag-post was scarcely distinguishable ; I had risen likewise six hundred and twenty-five feet (per barometer) in addition to the height of the brow of the precipice originally set out with, which, as stated, being three hundred and fifty feet, made my present altitude exactly nine hundred and seventy-two feet. The .thermometer here stood at thirty degrees, being two degrees below the freezing point ; but on account of the great interest I felt in' what I was about, as well as from the slight heat emitted by the furnace of the I did not feel the cold at all. " I 'must now speak of the engine, which did its duty beyond anything I can conceive -or describe. The strokes of the engine averaged nine hundred and twenty-two, with a pressure on the safety valve of seven and a half pounds 4o the square inch, and a vacuum in the condenser of ten and three quarter pounds — the speed, as far as I could judge by the imperfect instruments I had, being at the same time about fifty-two and a-half leagues per hour— my altitude (per barometer,) exactly twenty-two minutes after launching, being nearly a mile. Matters thus progressed, my altitude getting greater and greater, and my speed in proportion. However, I must state a curious discovery that I made at this particular moment, and ■which, but for the explanation that immediately followed, would have given me considerable uneasiness and alarm. The engine, which at my former observation, had been ■as I have -stated, nine hundred and twentytwo strokes per minute, I now found to be only seven hundred and forty-one. This, as I have said, was alarming, and would have •immediately determined me to descend to the earth again, but that I happily was able to account for it by discovering, through the application of Professor Russell's indicator, 'the incompleteness of the vacuum in the condenser, and which 1 likewise ascertained to be entirely owing to the great height I had then attained ; indeed, I found that the vacuum was reduced to only six and a quarter pounds, and the barometer indicated at the same time that I had attained an altitude of nearly three miles from the earth. From the extreme rarity of the air at this high elevation, I now underwent the usual giddiness of feeling, similar to that described by those individuals who have ascended Mont Blan>;, and particularly by Dr. Humel of ♦St. Petersbufgh. I had, in fact, considerable headache and ringing in my cars, so much so that I determined to descend a height not greater than a mile and a-half from the earth. " This I easily effected by depressing the tail of the machine, which up to this moment 1 had kept at an angle with the horizon of nine and three quarter degrees to that of forty five. My course I had not varied since leaving the hill ; it was, per compass, southwest and by west half west, passing over Ayrshire, and in a direct line from Dumbuck to Ailsa Craig, whither indeed I was tending, with the view of landing, the latter being admirably suited for launching the machine in a similar way to that adopted at Dumbuek on my return home again. ' " Daylight had now broken, and the scene was most gorgeous. I passed many ships, and in particular one steamer, but whose paltry speed in comparison with mine was nothing. ''Alas, however, this was not destined to last, for just as I shot ahead of the -steamer, which was steering W.S.W., something went wrong with the machinery, #nd the fanners stopped. This did not at all alarm me, for, as doscribed by Mr. Henson, ' these fanners are only necessary for propulsion, and not at all requisite for maintaining the machine in the air. Unfortunately, however, I perfectly forgot in the hurry of the moment to remove the weights from the safety valve, and the effects from this were disastrous in the extreme. The great accumulation of steam that took place was too xmidh for the pipes', and consequently bang went three of them at the same instant. The machine at this exact moment feeling it& equilibrium altered, surgedconsiderably, and the remaining pipes necessarily followed the ■example of the others; fizz, bizz, whizz, away they went one after the other like popguns. Unfortunately, one of these pipes, 1 in flying off, struck a bamboo stretcher, and shattered it so, that the machine losing bear- ■ 3 nee on one side, toppled over, and became poifectlygunmanageable ; she, in fact, whirled over and over in a way that may ~be ima.gined, but which it is altogether impossible to describe. " I, of course, was now descending with fearful rapidity, and nothing was left for me to contemplate but death and destruction. I can only compare my sensations at this moment to those experienced in a night mare, which every one knows are not the' most agreeable in the world. Sensibility now forsook me, and, indeed, this was not ' ■to be wondered at, in consequence of the

! whirling of the machine. On coming to my [senses again, I found myself in bed, with severe headache, nausea, and vomiting, the usual accompaniments of such a flight through the air; but thanks to Providence, I am now in a fair way of recovery, and willing to perform the same feat again." It appears that llu en*mnvi<Vr <!' iV steamer had sent a )--n:it t.> i!i" ;i— Mancc of the intrepid expc-riui k uU r, an I tiwul him ; but the machine "tw^ hxi..