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The Seaforth News, 1943-09-09, Page 6THE SEAFOR.TH NEWS Whichever Way the Wind Is By J. 1a,, Hodgson, in "Britain." it is just one hundred years ago since a British engineer, W. S. Hen- son, designed and patented his, "aer- ial steam carriage," Benson's patent speeifeaiion revealed' the first design ever produced, in Britain or any oth- er country, for a full-scale power - driven aircraft. Although it was ne- ver constructed as a full-scale heav- ler ,than -air machine, this far-seeing patent of a British experimenter be- eame the basis for another notable step in the progress of aviation, At the time when Henson envisag- ed flight with a power -driven aircraft a bill was presented to the British Parliament to promote an "aerial transit company. The intention of the company was "to convey passengers and troops to China in a few days." These two events took place a cen- tury ago but ,they are important landmarks in the progress of British aeronautical development. Remote as they are from the streamlined planes of today, they illustrate the weight of British research which lies behind the achievements of the RAF in this war. William Samuel Henson -is believ- ed to have been born in Leicester in 1805, but beyond that essential date little is known of his early life. In 1820 he was living in Chard, and having shown mechanical ability of an inventive character, he took out a patent in 1835 for improvements in bobbinet or lace machinery, as his father had clone before him. How he became interested in aer- onautics is also unkown, but it is on record that in 1840 he was making experiments with model flying ma- chines. A year later he was granted a patent for improvements to steam engines, These improvements were in the nature of novel types of boiler and condenser, doubtless designed to provide an engine of high-power Weight rntio, which Henson realized w -a' essential to the success of his flying machine, By the autumn of 1°-i2 he had completed the patent specification of his "aerial steam car- riage." for which, as "the true and only inventor"—to quote the official phrase—he was duly granted a pat- ent. Henson's patent specification, with its accompanying detailed drawings, is a remarkable document in the an- nals of mechanical flight—the more remarkable, perhaps, in that it was produced at a time when to take any interest in flying was to be thought either a fool or a knave. It revealed nearly all the features essential to that type of flying machine known at a later date as an airplane. The main structure comprised rig- id wings built up of wood, with main and secondary ribs, the whole cover- ed above and beneath wit?x varnished fabric. These wings had a span of 150 feet from tip to tip, and were 30 feet in depth, the total supporting surface including a "second tail" or elevator, being 4,500 square feet. In order to strengthen the large span of the wings, Henson provided wing - post bracing, the struts and wires of which were to be of oval section in order to reduce the factor of resis- tance. Beneath the center of the wings was a car or fuselage—in the manner of the modern mid -wing monoplane—in which was housed a light -weight steam engine of 25 to 30 horsepower, driving two "pusher" propellers of ten feet in diameter. The car was also intended to af- ford space for the crew, as well as passengers, goods and mail, Steer- age of the machine was to be by a vertical rudder, while a "second tail" —fan -shaped and horizontal—was to serve the purpose of an elevator. Finally, take -off and landing were to be facilitated by means of "tricycle landing wheels, quite in accord with modern practice. Such, in brief, was Henson's de- sign of one hundred years ago—a de- sign sound in the main both as to the scientific and mechanical prin- ciples on which it was based. 'It is not to be wondered at that the poss- ibilities of this novel invention at- tracted the attention of a small group of company -promoting type, who proposed to exploit the project by floating an aerial transit tom - parry. It was in connection with this speculative scheme that the bill was presented in Parliament by a well- known member of the House, and read a first time, doubtless to a chor- us hosus of ironic laughter. But it got no further, and having been dropped it gave rise to a universal belief that the whole affair was a mere stunt, From an attitude of ill-informed op- timism and wonder, press comments became cynical and derisive, and this "marvel of the age" became the sub- ject of pictorial caricature and dog- gerel verse, Put the writer of the couplets: "It natters not, I, understand, whieh- ever way the wind is, They'll waft you` in a day or so right bang into the Indies; Or you may dine in London now, and then, if you're romantic, Just call -a ship and take a: trip right over the Atlantic ! would be surprised, if he were alive today, to find that his prophetic jest had become an accomplished fact, It is only fair to Henson to add that, while the general atmosphere of failure prejudiced the mechanical merits of his design, he is not known to have taken any personal part in the financial scheine, or made any money from it, On the other hand, although It was not possible for fin- ancial and technical reasons to con- struct his aircraft on a large seale, it is more definitely to his credit that he was not discouraged. Indeed, with the help of hisfriend, John Stringfellow—a fellow enthus- iast in the cause of flight who also lived in Chard, and who in 1848 earned the high distinction of being the first man to demonstrate that a small model could support itself in the air when driven by steam power —he continued to make further ex- perimental models. About the time of Stringfellow's notable success, Henson, having, doubtless exhausted his resources, gave up his aeronauti- cal endeavors and in 1849 emigrated to America, where he died in 1888. But while Henson's pioneer work, particularly his first composite de- sign for an aircraft, doubtless eman- ated from his own brain, backed up by model experiments, there is good reason to believe he was largely in- debted to his elder contemporary, Sir George Cayley—as Henson ad- dressed hint, the "father of aerial navigation." Cayley, a Yorkshire gentleman with great ability of a mechanical and inventive kind, had carried out in 1804 the first experi- ments ever made in aerodynamics as applied to mechanical flight. These he followed up, over a period of years, by experiments with large gliders, and as the result of his en- deavors, which lie published from time to time, he was able to lay down the basic principles of mechanical flight. It is not known whether. Henson ever met Cayley, but there is in ex- istence a letter he wrote to Cayley, in which a strain of deference sug- gests he was aware of the Impor- tance of Cayley's work in aeronau- tics. In ;ds reply Cayley welcomed Henson's zeal in the cause, but warn- ed him that there was need for more experimental work. "A hundred necks," he added, with prophetic ap- preciation of the problems of con- trol, "have to be broken before all the sources of accident can be ascer- tained and guarded against" As a matter of fact Cayley was not aware that some important re- search work in connection with Hen - son's project had been undertaken in 1843 by John Chapman, a civil eng- ineer of Loughborough. Chapman's papers, which afford an interesting though incomplete record of his ex- periments in aerodynamics—some of which were carried out in collabora- tion with Henson—have only recent- ly come to. Light. But studied in con- junction with Cayley's earlier work, with Henson's own endeavors, and with the later flying models of Stringfellow—the whole covering a period of nearly eighty years bet- ween 1800 and 1878—the work of these four British pioneers forms one of the most important chapters in the history of aviation's cradle years. CALF FEEDING SUGGESTIONS (Experimental Farm News) The calf should be allowed to nurse for the first few days at least, as this is generally considered the best way for it to get a good start in life. There are several ways to train a calf to drink from a pail, other than the drink or starve method of push- ing the calf's head into a pail half full of milk and holding it untli some of the milk goes "down the wrong way" and most of its is spill- ed, says R. H, McDowell, Experim- ental Station, Kentvilie, N.S. First of all, gentleness is import- ant and makes the calf much easier to work with. If the calf has been nursing for a few days, let it go all day to get hungry. Put about four pounds of its mother's milk in a pail, then let the calf get the taste of some milk from your fingers that have been dipped into the milk. Sometimes it may be necessary to pour a little milk into the calf's mouth to start it sucking. After it takes to sucking put the calf into a corner and hold it so that it will not jump around too much. A good way is to hold its head between your legs. Then gradually put your hand into the pail, at the same time working two fingers into the calf's mouth so that the calf will suck the milk bet- ween your fingers. Then when it gets to sucking well, gradually draw your fingers from its mouth so that by the time that milk is all one and the calf is sticking at the end of the fingers. Usually it will finish the milk I without the fingers, fast as others, it may be necessary As some calves do not learn as to let it follow your: fingers to the milk at the second feeding, to get it started, but it is better to let it first get the smell of the milk in the pail., Mid after it has chased the pail around for a few minutes it usnslly takes to drinking, It is seldom that a calf needs the fingers at the second feeding, if a little patiencelis used. It is better to start a calf with a small feed at a time. Most calves will dispose of four pounds at the first day's feeding, morning and night, A huge elephant and a tiny mouse were in the same cage at the zoo. The elephant was in a particularly ugly and truculent mood., Looking down at the mouse with disgust, he trumpeted, "You're the puniest, the weakest, the most insignificant thing I've ever seen!" "Well," piped the ,mouse in a plain- tive squeak, "don't forget, I've been sick." Contented liens Lay More Eggs Comfort and contentment for pul- lets In the growing stages has 0 def- inite relation to their laying rat eggs in the Sall of the year. In view of the fact that, Ogg production is a vital war effort, the Dominion Department of Agriculture points out that shade from summer heat 10 necessary for the proper comfort of growing stock and laying liens. Birds enjoy a shady plane in whieli to sit and doze during the heat of the day, A range shelter will provide goad shade, or a colony house may he raised up or maned to the vicinity of small trees or bushes. Growing pullets enjoy a low shade where the ground is dry and they can fluff their feathers and dust them- selves. A dust bath is Nature's way of providing against body lice, Purchases Residence — Mr. H: D. Huckins has sold Mb resi- dence in Goderich to Mr. Arnold Hugill. He's In The Army Show Captain Robert Parnon is in the A'nxy Show to the last drum -beat. He is conducting and arranging all, the music in Canada's smash -hit stage and radio Variety Show. Since May of this year, the Army Show has travelled across the country and back, bringing the latest in laughter to soldiers and civilians alike, In mid-August, the Army Show hit Quebec where diplomatic dignitaries had gathered in the ancient citadel. Chateau Fronternac "Work Centre" of Conference Framed in this picture by the flags of Great Britain, the United States and Canada, the Chateau Frontenac, world -famed Canadian Pacific Railway hotel in Quebec City, fulfilled its most important role as the "work centre" of the strategy conference of the democracies for which Can- ada was host. The towering Cha- teau, seen here from the cannon - guarded battlements of the his- toric Citadel, housed the technical experts who came to the confer- ence on the staffs of Prime Minis- ter Winston Churchill, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King (left to right in insets) who themselves stayed in the Citadel. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Secretary of State Cordell Hull, the British and American experts on foreign policy, lived at the Chateau Frontenae. Counter Check Books • We Are Selling Quality Books Books are Well Made, Carbon is Clean and Copies Readily, All ."istyles, Carbon Leaf and Black Back. Prices as Low as You Can Qct Anywhere. Get our Quotation on Your Next Order. The Seaforth News ,SEAFORTH, ONTARIO,