Chapter 3 Chapter 3 has a new character who needs no introduction because he will introduce himself

"Citizens of the United States of America, my surname is Rober, and I am worthy of this surname. Although I don't look like I am 30 years old, I am actually 40 years old this year. My muscles and bones are as strong as iron, and my muscles are strong. , my body can stand any test. Moreover, I have an appetite that is second to none even in the ostrich world. My physical condition is roughly like this." Everyone stopped to listen to him.Facing this unexpected speech that came face to face, all the noisy people froze for a moment.Is this person insane, or is he trying to trick him?Whatever he does, his aggressive demeanor is convincing.The venue, which was still stormy just now, has become completely calm, and the monstrous waves have calmed down.

Moreover, it seems that Robier is exactly what he said: medium build, geometric shoulders, the upper body is in the shape of an isosceles ladder, and the longer bottom is the shoulder.Above the shoulders is a round head connected by a thick neck.If the "bionic theory" makes sense, then what kind of beast's head does this head look like?Like a bull's head, a bull's head with a smart face.He also has a pair of eyes that will flare up when he doesn't like it, a pair of eyebrows that are always frowning with great perseverance, and hair that is short and slightly curly like iron wire, shining with metallic luster, undulating like a blacksmith's bellows Broad chest and arms in proportion to the body.Slaps, legs and feet.

He had neither mustache nor beard, but an American sailor moustache on his chin--his jaws were evidently endowed with amazingly powerful masticatory muscles.Someone has calculated - is there anything that has not been calculated? —The jaws of an ordinary crocodile can have a force of 400 atmospheres, but a large hound has only 100 atmospheres of force.People have even worked out these interesting figures: per 1 gram of hounds has 8 grams of bite force, and 1 gram of crocodiles has 12 grams of bite force.It is estimated that this Robier can have a bite force of at least 10 grams per gram, which is between hunting dogs and crocodiles.

Where did this extraordinary fellow come from?can not say it clearly.In any case, he spoke fluent English without the drawls of the New England Yankees. He continued: "Dear citizens, let me talk about my spiritual side. I am an engineer, and my spiritual side is as good as my physical body. I am not afraid of the sky, the earth, or people. I have never bowed down to anyone. .If I identify a goal, even if all of America and the whole world unite, it will not stop me from achieving it. When I have an idea, I hope to get everyone's approval. I can't stand dissent. The reason why I emphasize These details, my dear citizens, are only to give you a more thorough understanding of me. You may think that I have talked too much about myself? But, nothing! Now, please think about it, is it right now? Let me stop, because what I am going to tell you may not be to your liking."

In the front row of the conference hall, there was already the sound of surf crashing against rocks—a signal that the sea was about to roar. "Speak, respected stranger," replied Uncle Pruddan, who was also trying to restrain himself. Robier didn't pay more attention to what the audience would think, and continued speaking as before. "Yes! I know! After a century of fruitless experimentation, there are still some unsound people who still stubbornly believe that balloons can be steered, and still want to turn the motor or something Other motors are attached to their vain air-resistance skins, thinking they can steer balloons as they steer ships at sea. Is it because a few inventors Or has successfully flown against the wind or against a slight wind on a mostly clear day to prove that it is practical to fly such a lighter-than-air aircraft? Forget it! Such a dream will become a reality, but it is throwing thousands of dollars, not in the water of course, but in the sky. This is really reluctant!"

It was strange that the members of the Weldon Society were listening to him without moving.Have they all become deaf and dumb and patient?Or are you restraining yourself to see what this daring opposition can do? Rober said again: "What a balloon! . . . It takes 1 cubic meter of hydrogen to get 1,000 grams of buoyancy! Want a balloon to resist the force of the wind by the power of a machine? You know? Blowing on a sail propels a ship The gale force of the warship is no less than 400 horsepower; during the Taiwan Bridge incident, the wind pressure has reached 440 kilograms per square meter! Balloons! Balloons! Whether it is birds with wings, or some fish with meat membranes or Mammals, nature has never created a flying animal with such a configuration..."

"Mammals?..." a member called out. "Yes! Bats can fly, if I'm not mistaken! Didn't the person who interrupted me know that this flying animal is a mammal? Did he ever see scrambled bat eggs?" So, that person had no choice but to temporarily put aside his ability to interrupt others.Robier went on eloquently: "Does this mean that since human beings have such good conditions for using trains, they should give up conquering space and not reform the customs and customs of the old world? Absolutely not! Human beings use paddles, sails, gears or Propellers, using ships to make themselves masters of the ocean, human beings can also use machines heavier than air to make themselves masters of atmospheric space. Because only heavier than air can they not be at the mercy of air."

This time the venue exploded again.It was like gunfire, and all mouths were directed at Robier.Doesn't this amount to an open challenge to the balloonists, and isn't there a renewed war between the "lighter-than-air" faction and the "heavier-than-air" faction? Robier's brow did not even wrinkle.He folded his arms over his chest, and waited courageously for the meeting to calm down again. Uncle Prudang made a gesture and ordered a ceasefire. So Rober went on to say: "Yes, the future belongs to flying machines. The air is its reliable support. If the airflow is jetted upward at a speed of 45 meters per second, the airflow is enough to lift a person up. The sole area of ​​his shoes is one-eighth square meter. If the airflow speed reaches 9,000 meters, he can walk on it with bare feet. When the blades of the propeller displace the air at this speed, he can also get Same effect."

Robier's remarks were all the former supporters of the aviation industry had said.It won't be that quick to implement, but the problem will be reliably solved eventually.Like Mr. de Ponton-Damecourt, Mr. de Lalandelle, Mr. Nadal, Mr. de Luzy, Mr. de Louvrier, Mr. Lier, Mr. Bellejique, Mr. Moreau .Brother Richard, Messrs. Barbinet, Messrs. Jobert, Messrs. Di Dampler, Messrs. Salifer, Messrs. Pano, Messrs. de Villeneuve, Messrs. Gosau and Tatin, Michel Low Mr. Edison, Mr. Plana Vergne, and many, many others, the honor belongs to them for propagating such plain and simple views.This point of view, although it has been discarded several times and brought up again several times, it will eventually prevail one day.The enemies of the flying enterprise, those who think that birds need only heat the air in their body cavities to stay in the air, have not hesitated to fight back, and have proved that a 5 kg eagle, only for It takes 50 cubic meters of hot air to support it in order to stay in the air.

It was this that Robier proved with irrefutable logic in the midst of the uproar—the following are some of the words he threw at the Balloonists at the end of his speech: "With your airship, you can do nothing, accomplish nothing, and dare not do anything! The most daring of your balloonists is John Wise, who has flown over the American continent for 100 years." , 200 miles, but he had to give up his plan to fly across the Atlantic! Since then, you have not taken a step, even a small step, on this road!" "Sir," said the chairman, unable to restrain himself at this time, "you have forgotten what our immortal Franklin said when the first hot-air balloon appeared, that is, when the modern balloon was about to be born: 'It's just a baby. But he's going to grow up.' It's grown up now..."

"No, Chairman, it hasn't grown up yet! . . . it's just fattened up . . . that's not the same thing!" This was a direct attack on the plans of the Weldon Society: the Society had indeed decided to support and finance the creation of a gigantic balloon.Immediately, some disturbing suggestions sounded in the venue: "Down with the uninvited guest!" "Throw him off the podium! . . . " "To prove to him that he is heavier than air!" And some other words like that. Everyone is still just talking and not putting it into action, so Robier can still calmly shout: "Balloonist citizens, progress does not belong to airships, but to flying machines. Birds do not fly like balloons at all, but by flapping their wings mechanically!" "Yes, it can fly, but it flies against all laws of mechanics!" exclaimed an angry Bart Finn. "Really?" said Robier, shrugging his shoulders contemptuously. Then he said: "Ever since people studied flying creatures, big and small, the simple idea has prevailed, that you just have to imitate nature, because nature is always good. From albatrosses that beat less than 10 times a minute , to flapping the knife every minute) the pelican under the wing..." "71 strokes!" said a mocking voice. "To a bee that beats its wings 192 times per second..." "193 times!..." Another mockingly said 114 times. "A common fly under 330..." "330.5 beats!" "To millions of mosquitoes..." "No!... It's billions!" Despite repeated interruptions, Robier did not interrupt his argument. "Among all the differences..." he went on. "There is a great man!" a voice continued. "...there is a possibility of finding a practical solution. When Mr. de Lucy discovered that the staghorn stag beetle, a flying insect weighing only two grams, could lift an object of 400 grams, that is, 200 times its own weight The problem of flight has been solved. Furthermore, it has been shown that the greater the size and weight of an animal, the smaller the area of ​​its wings. Since then, more than sixty flying machines have been conceived or constructed...” "None flew!" exclaimed Phil Evans, secretary of the Society. "It has flown, or is about to fly," replied Robier without haste. "Some people call this machine an aeroplane, others a propeller machine, some a wing machine, and others The name ship calls it a spaceship, but it's still the same machine. Its invention made it possible for man to be master of the skies." "Oh! Propellers again!" Phil Evans snapped at him. "As far as I know, birds don't have propellers!" "Yes!" Robbier replied, "Mr. Pano has proved that birds are actually propellers, and their flight is spiral. Therefore, the propellers of the future should be propellers..." "Such a slanted door is crooked, ah, please don't let us come across it! . . . " It so happened that someone in the room remembered this line from Harold's "Zambe" and sang it. All the people sang in unison, in such a tone that the French composer's celestial soul trembled. Those last few syllables were completely drowned out in a terrible din of uproar and jeers.Then Uncle Pruden seized a moment of silence and said to Robbier: "Strange citizen, we have not interrupted your speech until now..." To the president of the Weldon Society, it seemed that the backlash, the yelling, the inappropriate interruptions were not interruptions, but merely exchanges of ideas. He went on to say: "However, I want to remind you that the theory of flight has been declared bankrupt, and it has been spurned by most engineers in the United States and abroad. Although the death of this myth is a myth, the evils of this mythical theory are countless. It follows that the deaths of Sarajan Volan in Constantinople, Voador in Lisbon, Le Tier in 1852 and Grove in 1864 are not counted. The victim whose name I don't remember..." "This theory is not necessarily more to blame than the other," retorts Robier, "and the list of martyrs for the other is not necessarily short, including Pilatel of Calais. De Rozier, Madame Blanchard in Paris, Donaldson and Grimwood who fell into Lake Michigan, and Siwelle, Croce-Spinelli, Elufan, and many others Unforgettable others!" This is truly "an eye for an eye"! "Besides," continued Robier, "your balloon, however perfect it may be, will not be able to reach the speed required for practical use. It would take you ten years to circumnavigate the earth, but eight days for the flying machine!" The protests and yells that this statement provoked kept Phil Evans waiting for three minutes before he could speak. "Mr. Aviator," he said, "you have been boasting about the advantages of flying. Have you ever flown yourself?" "Fly!" "You conquered the air?" "Perhaps so, sir!" "Long live Robier the Conqueror!" cried a mocking voice. "Okay! Robier the Conqueror, I accept this name, I will use this name in the future, I have this right!" "We have a right to doubt!" cried Jem Ship. "Gentlemen," Robier frowned, "when I come to discuss a serious matter in seriousness, I cannot accept that the answer given to me is to categorically deny my point of view. I really want to ask for advice." The name of the person who interrupted me..." "My name is Jem Shipp...vegetarian..." "Citizen Jem Shipp," replied Robill, "I know that vegetarians generally have longer intestines than other people, at least a foot longer. There are enough Muslims... please don't make me do it." Your ears, which end up stretching your intestines even longer..." "Get out!" "Go to the street!" "Cut him to pieces!" "Execute him!" "Twist him into a propeller!" The balloonists were so enraged that they stood up and surrounded the podium.Robier disappeared among the raised arms, which shook together as if blown by a violent wind.Even the sound of the siren will not help the entire venue!Perhaps the inhabitants of Philadelphia really believed that night that a whole block of the city was on fire, and that the pouring water of the Shoekill River could hardly be put out. Suddenly, the rowdy crowd retreated, and Robier took his hand out of his pocket, and struck at the maddened crowd in the front rows. His hands wear American-style iron grips, which can also be used as pistols, which can be fired with a flick of the finger-pocket repeating pistols. Thus, the attacker is not only retreating, but also quieting down.He took the opportunity to say: "That's right, the people who discovered the New World were not, but, so, balloonist citizens, you should not be called, but..." At this time, four or five gunshots rang out.The gun was fired into the air and no one was hurt.The engineer disappeared in the smoke, and when the smoke dissipated, there was no trace of him.Robier the Conqueror flew away, very much as though he had been taken into the sky by some sort of flying machine.

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