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128
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
94
rotating
screw
propeller,
which
revolved
on
its
own
support
when
the
piece
of
string
wound
round
it
was
pulled
sharply.
The
screw
was
rather
heavy,
weighing
nearly
a
quarter
of
a
pound,
and
the
wings
were
of
tin,
very
broad
and
thick.
This
machine,
however,
was
rather
too
eccentric
for
parlour
use,
for
its
flight
was
so
violent
that
it
was
continually
breaking
the
pier
glass,
if
there
was
one
in
the
room;
and,
failing
this,
it
next
attacked
the
windows.
The
ascending
force
of
this
machine
is
so
great
that
I
have
seen
one
of
them
fly
over
Antwerp
Cathedral,
which
is
one
of
the
highest
edifices
in
the
world.
The
air
from
underneath
the
machine
is
exhausted
by
the
action
of
the
screw,
which,
passing
under
the
wings,
causes
a
vacuum,
while
the
air
above
it
replenishes
and
fills
this
void,
and
under
the
influence
of
these
two
causes
the
apparatus
mounts
from
the
earth.
But
the
problem
is
not
solved
by
means
of
this
plaything,
whose
motive
power
is
exterior
to
it.
Messrs.
Nadar,
Ponton,
D’Amecourt,
and
De
la
Landelle
teach
us
better
than
this,
although
the
wings
of
their
different
models
are
entirely
unworthy
of
men
who
desire
to
demonstrate
a
truth
to
short-lived
mortals.
We
have
only
arrived
as
yet
at
the
infancy
of
the
process,
but
we
have
made
a
good
beginning,
for,
having
once
proved
that
a
machine
capable
of
raising
itself
in
the
air,
wholly
unaided
from
without,
can
be
made,
we
have
overcome
with
this
apparently
small
result
the
whole
difficulty.
The
principle
of
propulsion
by
means
of
a
screw
is
by
no
means
a
novelty.
It
was
first
utilised
in
windmills,
whose
sails
are
nothing
more
nor
less
than
an
immense
screw
which
is
turned
by
the
action
of
the
wind
on
its
surface.
In
the
case
of
turbine
water-wheels,
where
perhaps
970
cubic
feet
of
water
are
utilised
by
means
of
a
mechanism
not
larger
than
a
hat,
we
see
another
illustration
of
it,
with
this
difference,
that
water
takes
the
place
of
wind
as
the
motive
power.
“The
aerial
screw
is
beset
with
great
difficulties,
but
if
we
can
succeed
through
its
agency
in
raising
even
the
smallest
weight,
we
may
be
confident
of
being
able
to
raise
a
heavier
one,
for
a
large
machine
is
always
more
powerful
in
proportion
to
its
size
than
a
small
one.
“Mlle.
Garnerin
once
made
a
bet
that
she
would
guide
herself
in
her
descent
from
a
considerable
altitude
towards
a
fixed
spot
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