SCIENTIFIC KITE-FLYING.* Tax science of aerostation, in spite of the
interest that it has evoked from the public, has not made any very marked progress since the ascent of the first Montgolfier balloon in
• Para/cites. By G. T. Woglom. London: G. P. Putnam's Bans.
1783 ; at any rate, not when it is compared with the enormous strides made by other branches of science during the last century. And we fear that the experiments made by Mr.
Woglom with what he calls " parakites " are not likely to advance it very much. Mr. Woglom in his new departure has rather turned his steps backwards than forwards, seeking to perfect the oldest form of flying machine known, the schoolboy's kite. He has chosen to call his machine a para- kite—something beyond the kite, and of more serious import than a mere plaything—but the sole difference we can detect between the toy and the parakite is that the latter is tailless and clothed with more costly material. There is the same difference, it is true, between a monkey and a man ; but the further superiority of man is not also reflected. It is charac-
teristic of our author's nationality—he is an American—that he should be at the pains of proving a great antiquity for his favourite pursuit. "Kites were known," he says, "and flown a thousand years before the Christian era, and during the development and maintenance of the high order of civilisa- tion and of power in ancient Malaysia." He confesses that the early purpose of the kite in the Malay Peninsula is un• known, but conjectures that it was connected with some religious rite. Was the flying of kites ever practised by the early Occidental civilisation P Our author makes no mention of the Greeks and Romans, and we ourselves cannot recall any classic instance showing their knowledge of the pastime. But, granting the great antiquity of kite-flying in the East, which we are not at all inclined to dispute, either as a mere pastime or with some religious significance, we must still demur at accepting the author's statement as to its early use in warfare. "The antiquity of the kite for use in war," he writes, "is indicated by a Japanese record of the use, in Japan six hundred years ago, of structures large enough to swing a man into the air, seated upon such a contrivance as would be suggested by what is now, in marine parlance, termed a `bo'sun's chair,' whence he could espy the location and arrangement of, and the men and war. like apparatus in, an enemy's camp. The chair depended from the tail's end." The above sentence, by the way, is not an unfair specimen of the author's style, which is a little' angular. Nor can we easily believe his story of the attempt made by robbers to steal two gold-fish from the minarets of a Japanese castle with the help of a kite. The robber flew easily at the kite's tail to the coveted booty; but the kite, which carried a man, failed to carry back the weight of a solid gold-fish. For future protection against felonious kites, he informs us, the gold-fish were enclosed in iron cages. Now we cannot suppose that the author, with all his improved apparatus, has not produced a kite equal, if not superior, to any that could be flown by Japanese soldiers or robbers ; and on his own showing, the greatest feat he has performed is to lift a small boy 10 ft. above the ground. He remarks, it is true, that the boy might have been sent higher had he not howled in protest. We should have been more easily con- vinced if the author had successfully experimented with some dead-weight, of fifty pounds say, which was less capable of raising objections.
Having expressed our doubt as to their efficiency in the lifting line, it is only fair to describe what performances Mr. Woglom has succeeded in getting from his parakites. The floating of a 10 ft. American flag 1,000 ft. above the Washington Memorial Arch, on the occasion of the latter's dedication, does not strike us as very wonderful. A very pretty and a very patriotic feat, no doubt, but not particularly useful. We are told, on the authority of the New York Times, that "the sudden appearance of the emblem was acknow- ledged by a general uncovering of heads and a spontaneous outburst of prolonged cheers. The core of patriotic feeling was deeply touched, and the lofty flag became one of the most conspicuous emblems of the day." As a means for decorative display, it is possible that parakites may have their uses, though their flight will depend too much on the weather to make their assistance of much value in this country. Mr. Woglom, however, is able to produce a better proof of his parakite's utility than this. Amongst the illustrations are certain bird's- eye views of New York City taken by a camera suspended, at an altitude of some 500 ft., to a train of six to eight parakites. The photographs are excellent, and, to judge from our author's account of uis procedure, there was no great difficulty in obtaining them. Here, at least, there seems a possible future for the parakite. Though it may never attain suffi- cient lifting power to swing a soldier over the enemy's line— a very uncomfortable position for the soldier, whether seated in a "bo'sun's chair" or not, as long as the enemy possessed arms of precision—it might well carry a photographic camera to a necessary height above some fort or other defended place whence the most useful observation could be made. It would appear from the author's preface that an altitude of 6,700 ft. has been attained by a parakite—how many miles of twine this height implies the author does not say, but one's boyish recollections would suggest not less than six—and to be able to take observations at an altitude of more than a mile above a place about five miles or so distant should be extremely useful. Another use that he suggests for parakites is to carry a line from a vessel that has been blown upon a lee- shore. Instead of the people on shore having to send a line to the windward, the endangered vessel could send its line of com- munication to the leeward by a parakite. Theoretically the idea is excellent ; but if the more certain rocket apparatus, which can be used in any wind or weather, and can direct a line with greater precision, is available, the practical use of the parakite for life-ma ,ing purposes is not very apparent.
Nor can we quite follow the author's argument as to the use- fulness of the parakite in making weather observations. According to the authority whom he quotes, what is needed is some appliance which will carry meteorological self-recording
instruments quickly to an altitude of not less than two miles, and enable them to be drawn downward. Now the highest
flight he records, even of an unburdened parakite, is little over a mile, and the ascent of a parakite is extremely slow. Nevertheless, there is something infections about the author's enthusiasm for his subject, which almost persuades one, in spite of doubting reason, to become a convert to " parakiting." He, it is evident, has no doubts whatever as to the possible developments of this sport of kite-flying. His instructions in the art of constructing kites, of flying them, and of keeping records of flights and winds, are elaborate to a fault. He is not content with inventing innumerable dodges for facilitating their flight, but he also invents weird terms to describe their failings. All fishermen know, from sad experience, what is the meaning of a "tangle" or a " kink " in a line, but to the author belongs the credit for discovering a "toggle" and a " snar/." He has even invented a system of rating for kites, by which an owner may classify the works of his bands according to their dimensions and flight capacity. His own parakites all bear names, and we cannot refrain from quoting from his register :—
" 'Cecil,' 72 inches, weighs 20 ounces—decimally 20.000—which divided by 2,592 (72 x 72 ÷ 2 which is 2,592) gives quotient '0077 ; `Cecil' rates 77, and is a fine high steady flier in fresh winds. 'Realie,' a parakite which will climb faithfully upwards on a wind below six miles velocity per hour, is 43.375 inches high, weighs 2.25 ounces, and rates '0024. Libby,' a dream in pale blue China silk, 37'25 inches and 2-25 ounces, rates '00l6 and will recline gracefully and quietly on a zephyr as if enjoying a post- prandial siesta."
It will be seen that the author's system of rating, compli- cated though it be, has its poetical side. We confess to having
found most of his calculations too abstrusely mathematical for any criticism. Some of them are quite needlessly elabo- rate. Still, whether he will succeed or not in persuading his readers into the belief that kite-flying may be practised as an important branch of aerostatics as well as a health-giving exercise and amusement, there is no doubt that he has suggested in the course of this work more than one interesting problem to students of dynamics.
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