University of San Francisco - USF Don Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

Page 18 text:

T II E F K ES II M A X . 16 putting spherical and dirigible ballooning on the plane of practical usefulness I'or the last five years, there has been strenuous search for the practical solution of aerial flight. People of every class attempted the solution of this problem, having for their bond of association the common end of sky navigation. There is hardly a scientist of importance in the world today that has not expressed his views on this subject through the medium of long and learned essays. In all important scientific universities of Europe and of our own country, aerodynamics and the ‘accompanying experiments are included in the regular curriculum. The greatest problem, up to a few years ago, that the inventors of promising machines had to contend with, was the engine. I hit since the automobile is in such an advanced stage, it is much easier to acquire a light engine that will develop a sufficient amount of driving power. This is the reason for the increased activity in the .aeronautical field; for those who have given the subject sufficient consideration are convinced that the automobile manufacturers have developed in the gasoline motor, an en- gine powerful and light enough for aeronautical purposes. It is idle for people to suppose that those who have given their time and money to the advancement of aerial navigation. will not succeed: for to gainsay their success is to doubt the evolution of mankind towards perfection. Inventors do not give tip because of discourag-ment by the public, or danger to their persons. Some may lose their lives sutler the pangs of poverty and privation. and above all ridicule; but as time advances, the world changes sides and extends it helping hand to the deserving and the successful. Man once made his home in the caves of a hillside and nourished his body on the Jruil of the earth and for lack of roads used the trails made by wild beasts. Now. in the course of the evolution of man's nature, his spirit has been educated, and his mind trained, and made ready to appreciate the {light of man by mechanical means. The opportunity of developing an entirely new means of transit is within his reach and the mystery of aerial things, which has hardly been dreamt of by previous generations of man. may come to pass. (jKokck A. Nki.son.

Page 17 text:

T II K I- K KS II M A X . 5 Arrial Nauigattnn A S I UMAX nature evolves, new - T faculties are coming into existence constantly. Our inventive genius has developed for us the wireless telegraph wireless telephone, the steam turbine, and the automobile, many new means of communication, and even undertaken tc obtain for us mechanical (light. The past three generations of mankind have accomplished for us more in mechanical apparatus than will ever be recorded in the history of invention. ()nr ancestors of ancient (Irecce and Rome were, without dispute, our superiors in art. sculpture, and oratory; yet they made but little progress and gave but little application to the laws of physical science. That the progress of the world would remain at a standstill is against the laws of nature, hence impossible; and as it is not at all improbable that the future mode of transportation will differ tn a greater extent from the present., than the present from the past, why not universal aerial navigation? The ‘lunger and the chances of injury are too great.” say some. I hit every new invention has its skeptics. fter Icarus and the rest of the fabled living men of antiquity the first authenticated air craft appeared at the close of the eighteenth century, when the Montgolfier Brothers, sons of a wealthy paper manufacturer of France, held the attention of the whole world with a hot-air balloon. Spherical ballooning dates from that incident in the year 1783. Like all great inventions, it began on a small scale, until today we have the modern leviathans of the air. The Montgolfiers first began with small paper balloons, but these were soon followed by larger balloons of cloth, in which a sheep, a duck, and a chicken, were involuntary passengers. lint this became tiresome for the French gentlemen of that (lav, and the n y 7 spirit of human adventure strongly asserted itself. The King of I 'ranee, being both proud of and interested iti the work of the Montgolfiers, was in favor of sending two condemned criminals on a flight, but M. Pelatrie Dc Rosier earned immortal fame, as the French chroniclers put it. by his opposition to such a plan. “Y hat.” said he. “send two criminals into the royal atmosphere above us? Xo. 1 will go myself.” 'I he King, pressed by the will of his subjects, yielded very reluctantly to the courtier’s importunities, and four months later, a balloon was made of linen cloth, about seventy-eight feet high. The envelope had a wide mouth with an iron grate suspended across it. on which a fire was built. The morning of the ascension dawned bright and clear, and M. De Rosier, together with Marquis d’Arlarnes. started on the first excursion of mankind into the atmosphere above us. Fortunately a safe trip was made; no accidents being met with except the unfortunate burning of the envelope. The greater part of the world at that date, ignorant of the limitations of the atmosphere, grew over-enthusiastic and imagined it would be possible to visit the moon and the planets. From then on ballooning has been more or less perfected. Spaulding. Roberts, Pynchon. Bell, and many others have contributed much to this department of aeronautics practical, but with Santos Dumont rests the distinction of

Page 19 text:

T !! l I- R ES II M A X . •7 alir SUurinr T itions how beneath his sway. 1 Kilims do lead him on his wav. Peoples tall beneath ids Monarch tremble at the sight ()f the warrior. Kverything he sees is Ids. I'or the braving of the arrow’s whiz. I 'verv country is his own. Kvery camping place the home ()f the warrior. lie is greatest of us all. Till they lay him in his pall. Then no more is he the best. As he takes the lasting rest ()f the warrior. Aikh.pm (i. SI’Tie . f