Geyser Judith Basin Times (Geyser, Mont.) 1911-1920, January 14, 1916, Image 2

4/ GEYSER ILIDrisii BASIN TIMES cy/4Rze.5 RC./.5-7ehh. By JERLE DAVIS. F a young fellow has the right stuff in him there is no limit to his soaring— especially if be invents an aeroplane that is as \safe as a rocking chair.\ And this is the situation which Mr. T. Charles Russell, a Chicago inventor. faces. After five years of hard work and fighting big odds he stands on the threshold of wealth and fame. Seven or eight years ago, Russell was a freshman in the academic course at Northwestern university, Evanston, Ill, lie had an uncanny knack for un- derstanding the why and wherefore of electricity and mechanics, and Willi able to earn his way through college by doing odd jobs for a light and power concern. During the four years he put in at literature. languages, mathematics and other subjects con- tained in a college arts course he was tinkering along on the side with toy aeroplanes of his own devising. Russell was slowly working out tho details of a dream—one of the kind of dreams that have made Edison. the Wrights. Hammond, Bell and Marconi scientific conjurers. After he had received his bachelor of arts de- gree, this young man—he was born at Midland. S. D., twenty-seven years ago—went into the en- gineering school and specialized in physics and engineering Then he began to experiment with his aeroplane for all he was worth. Because it wasn't a part of the regular course, Russell had trouble getting shop space in which to do this work. The school authorities, he says, had 'napped out a prescribed course and they considered that a deviation from it would emean ceinfusion in the ranks. Ile even went before the trustees and made a plea for special concessions, but without success Sympathetic members of the faculty came to the rescue, however, and Russell found room In Dear- born observatory to make experiments at night. Dozens of models were made, tried out and broken. The experiments had gone forward with fair steadiness for three years and longer, when the young man felt that he had discovered and worked out satisfactorily the principles of aero- dynamics he had sought. That was three years ago. Then he went gun- ning for patent rights. It was easy enough to get simple patents, but the inventor wanted basic patents. Simple papnts cover processes and methods, while basic patents cover principles. So after another long wait, voluminous correspond- ence and endless dealing with lawyers, Russell was notified a few weeks ago that the basic patent rights were his. He carried the glad news to a fraternity friend. The friend. carried it home to..his father. The., father went East on a business trip and told some Boston capitalists. And the Boston capitalists sent an aviator expert to Chicago to talk to young Russell and see what he had. What he had was \the goods\: evidently, for a short time afterward a company was organized, foreign agents -sup- posed to be representatives of the Angio-Erench- Russian allies—signed contracts, a big factory was leased and the inventor went on to the plant to supervise the manufacture of the machines. Just before Russell went East the Chicago news- papers printed brief accounts about the patent grants and the company's formation. Very little was said about the inventor. When he was ap- proached for the \inside story\ of his labors NI r. Russell wasn't easy to \get at.\ lie was found in a little chicken -coop office which occupies a corner in the machine shop which he calls his own Ilia sleeves were rolled high and his hands were grimy. The clatter and whang of machinery made conversation difficult, but not so difficult as the young inventor himself made it—for he is a shy and reticent person, who would make a poor self - advertiser. But once he began to talk about his machine he was a whirlwind of impulsive speech, making quick. draftsmanlike sketches to illustrate his points. His aeroplane differs in shape from all other known makes. It is a biplane. That is, it has two sets of wings, ono set several feet above the other. In other machines the planes spread straight across, and with the body and tall form a big capital T. In the Russell machine the wings form a double V. like this: VV. The tail is at tached to the place where the letters join and extends to the rear. The narrow points of the letters form the front of the machine, and the pilot, passengers and engine company occupy a sort of canoe which rests whore the wings and tall Join. The lower wings extend forward of the upper ones—like a man with an undershot Jaw. The two propellers twirl on either side of the tail Just back of the wings. Mr. Russell didn't have war in mind when he was working on his invention. His idea centered in commercial possibilities So long as the aero- plane remained unstable—so long as a driver had to keep his hands on the control , ' to prevent tho machine's capsizing—it would remain a sporting proposition. But when the time came that. by im iprovements in the aeroplane, the driver need only crank up and guide, simply as be would guide an automobile, the flier would be very useful In bum nese and pleasure. In the double -V machine the young Inventor he Reyes he has discovered the great secret of In 4 fl ERE'S AL 46S IS N (THE 4D WHA 00DJUDGE ARE PR !WOND11 R AMP IF HES GOINGTO MAKE ER TS HAPPENED THAT S DESPERATE GETS A REASON 'MAT' T HIS YOUNG MAN HAS INVENTED A NEW FORM OF AEROPLANE THAT MAKES FLYING SAFER. WEALTH IN SIGHT FOR. HIM AFTER LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST ODDS. I d • if' leifsVIEMSVPWRIVAMaraMalOv~~§414 , Wfi 1 f$P#Kr* ' \ \ --- 401400atifati ( Cop', ;rid IVeitern Newipape, [nun) herent stability. Placed in the positions de- scribed. the wings present a broad surface to air currents on all sides \The dangerous air pockets are no longer death gaps in the atmosphere.\ Rus- sell declares. All present types of fliers—that Is. 01 the new ones both in this country and abroad—use a gyroscope control. This is a sort of governor. like the governor on a stationary steam or gas en- gine, that automatically warps the aeroplane wings to meet constantly varying air surfaces when the machine Is in flight. These devices are just emerging from the experimental stage. With the gyroscopic stabllizsir doing the work, what is the advantage of the Russell machine? Let Russell tell: \The stabilizing devices are all artificial con- .trollets. If the stabilizer gets out of fix when the machine is 3.000 feet above ground it means dan- ger and possible death for the passengers. The Safe machine is one that needs no such control- ler. It Is a machine whose very shape Is an au- tomatic controller --a real autcmatic controller that cannot be tinkered with If the machine Is to leave the ground at all.\ This new aeroplane can hp made in any size. It Is understood that the fliers being constructed In Boston will have a wing spread of a hundred feet or more and will carry two independent en- gines, each developing 150 horse power. Machines of this size and power are capable of carrying half a dozen passengers, one or two rapid-fire guns, fifty to a hundred large explosive bombs, fuel for a :;00 -mile flight and acientiflc instruments for navigation. They can travel rapidly. too—fifty to ninety miles an hour. It is easy to imagine the value of such machines In peace as well as in war. Already the govern- ment is experimenting with aercplane mail routes, and Postmaster Deneral Burleson has recommended the establishment of regular aero- mail service. The possibilities are without limit. It SeeMS' And for war—we'll, we know a little of what they are doing with aeroplanes in Europe. All the chief belligerents are building huge planes, triple -winged and engined, that in a pinch can fly close to a thousand miles and carry half a dozen men with small cannon, ammunition and deadly bombs of large Size. In a report which he has submitted to President 11'ilson. and which will be made public soon. Secretary of the Navy Dan- iels tells of some remarkable developments in aeroplane construction by Ameriean designers and inventors. Ile mentions specifically \an aeroplane that practically sails 1i:eel( About all the aviator has to do is to crank up and sit at the steering wheel.\ Mr. Russell's explanation of the principle in- volved in his aeroplane is Greek to the layman - The problem is to maintain the center of up- ward pressure to coincide with the center of area at all times, no matter whether the machine is ill direct forward flight or is falling. This problem I have solved, if the success of all my experiments proves anything.\ There's a young inventor either at work or dreaming over wk to be done wherever you go in this broad land of ours. In the towns and cities you see amateur wireless receiving stations strung from barn gables to attic windows. In the country the youngsters are tinkering over the tool benches—working away at some idea that may revolutionize an Industry. The history of young Mr. Russell should be an Inspiration to every youth born without a silver 0 307 - 0j LI)\ - TIE //Y VE/Y TOR h5 1/0/Ple/IYG 0/Y AN ELECT/W./MC/Y.4We RAPID 17RE NACIUNE Cil/Y CIKE TCh' OP VIE RUSSELL /VACl/l/YE\.• spoon in his mouth. This inventor saw the light of day first in a South Dakota village. He spent some of his childhood at Evanston, another small town. Ile received his common school and high school education at Paw Paw. Mich., which Is no metropolis. He has had to paddle his own finan- cial canoe and \help the folks\ besides. Ile has been denied opportunity and has forced his own pathway. Does he expect riches to come immediately? This is his point of view: \I expect to get royalties later My invention has to prove its worth first. If wealth comes, it will be the reward for toil and discouragement. I certaintly don't expect to sit around and wait for money to be dropped into my hat. \Let nie pay a tribute to two men -who have stood by me and helped to make this aeroplane in- vention possible. One is Prof. Philip Fox of Dear- born observatory. The other is Prof. Henry Crew of the physics department at Northwestern. Mr. Fox helped me with my experiments as much as one man could help another. As or Mr. Crew— the training I got under him in learning to analyze things is priceless. \This analytic training has taught me to sit down with a vagrant idea and pursue it to first principles—to get to the heart of every proposi- tion.\ Mr. Russell's first money -making invention was an electric blanket. This device looks like an ordinary bed comforter. Its stuffing, however, is interwoven with line wires incased in asbestos. Connected with an ordinary light socket the blan- ket develops considerable heat—enough, say, to keep an outdoor sleeper comfortable when the mercury is huddled at the bottom of the tube Other inventions are an aero-fan, said to be an improvement on ordinary cool-breeze makers; an electric heating pad. similar in principle of con- struction to the blanket, and a thermostat for controlling electric heat. What promises to be another important inven- tion, however, is an electro-magnetic rapid-fire gun. Mr. Russell has been working at odd times on this idea for several months The principle is the expulsion of missiles from a gun without the use of explosive material, he says, and expert- ments with workshop models have been highly gratifying. \It may be years. though. before I perfect it.\ the young man smiles. \I have the idea fixed in mind and it is a matter of developing the idea. Someone else may produce a successful gun of this type before 1(10. I have a gun that will shoot all right. but it isn't ready for the war market by a long shot.\ And just to show you that a rising young Inven- tor is an ordinary human being like the rest of us, here's one on Mr. Russell: Ile didn't want the photographer to take his picture as he stood with his sleeves rolled up before a work bench be- cause he thought that the dense growth of black halroon his arms would show when the picture appeared in the paper. Furthermore, he was very careful to fix the knot of his four-in-hand tie \just so\ before lie said, \All ready!\ VULGAR DISPLAY OF WEALTH. -- \My face is My fortune,\ said the conscious beauty. \Well. it isn't necessary for you! to he eon stantly flashing your roll.\ remarked ' , he mai , cynic —Judge. When Paris determines to make use of a good, common-sense idea in cre- ating the styles for womankind, we may be sure the idea will be graceful- ly handled. Among the recent impor- tations are leather -trimly ed tailored suits and separate skirts which prom- ise to be entirely successful with American women, who are keen to ap- preciate the union of utility and beau- ty in their apparel. Among the best examples of the combination of fabric and leather are separate skirts made of t strong. soft, woolen plaids, trimmed with a glace leather, matching the predominating color in the plaid. They are short, fitted smoothly about the hips, cut with a moderate flare, and faced up about the bottom with leather. A belt of leather and leather pockets, or leather -trimmed pockets. usually ap- pear as finishing details. Entire skirts of leather or entire Jackets of leather followed in the wake of these first models but are not so well received. While every woman will see the advantage of a leather protection for the bottom of a cloth skirt and the harmony of leather in- troduced in the details of finishing, all -leather garments are too cumber- some to be graceful, and there is no good reason for making them. One of the leather -trimmed skirts is shown in the picture given here. The. leather facing about the bottom is Joined to the cloth by a piping of leather and the top of the facing is shaped into very wide and very shal- low scallops. On one of the best im- portations the leather facing was put on in four sections and these were laced together with a silk cord. Narrow leather bindings finish the pockets and belt. Skirts of this kind are cut very short, not reaching below the tops of high boots, which often miitch the leather trim in color. Never inveat in an alligator hide pocketbook. It's a skin game. Dressy Frocks for the Difficult Age To choose clothes for a girl of ten. or thereabout, is more of a task than confronts the mother of the very little girl, or presents itself in clothing the nearly grown miss. It happens that the child from six to fourteen is very likely to he too thin and, hence, angu- lar and awkward. Sometimes she is considerably too fat. In either case the mother must select styles that will tone down her defects of figure and keep her unconscious of them. Oc- casionally a little girl grows up with- out the usual experiences of \the awk- ward age.\ and the chances are that she owes much to a Judicious mother who clothed her artfully. Up to twelve years simple and al- most straight lines are to be recom- mended in the garments of children. The skirt reaches the knee or a little below it. But in the matter of length there is very good authority for ex- tending the skirt several inches below the knee, especially for the girl past eight. For a slender child a full long - waisted blouse and very short skirt to good style, or the high -waisted bodice with full flaring skirt. Elbow sleeves and square -necked patterns look well on her. Two pretty frocks for the ten -year - old are shown here which will prove successful on almost any figure. One is of sapphire -blue chiffon made in one piece with a small bolero of net and embroidery like the chiffon in color. It is finished with a double flounce and worn over a silk slip in the same shade of blue. The dress of white net is made in the long -waisted style that is always worn. The blouse is laid in plaits on the shoulder and the full. plain skirt is finished with a group of narrow tucks. It does not quite reach the knee and is worn over a fine lawn petticoat edged with val lace and longer than the skirt by almost the width of the edging.