L SCIEMCE SERTHEPractical ScienceSeriesThe following Vols, arenowreadyorin thePress:BALLOONS,AIRSHIPS,ANDFLYINGMACHINES.By Gertrude Bacon.MOTORS AND MOTORING. By Professor HarrySpooner.RADIUM. By Dr. Hampson.METEOROLOGY; or, Weather Explained. ByJ.Gordon MTherson, M.A., LL.D.Others in Preparation'?1 2 1984THELIBRARYOFTHEUNIVERSITYOFNORTHCAROLINAATCHAPELHILLENDOWEDBYTHEDIALECTICANDPHILANTHROPICLIBRARYSOCIETIESgCHOOLJH629.13Baconc.2TheAuthoress,herFather, andMr. Spencermakingan ascent.Frontispiece.BALLOONS^co.AIRSHIPSAND FLYINGMACHINESl.0^BYGERTRUDE BACONNEWYORKDODD,MEAD&COMPANYLONDON:T. C. & E. C. JACK1905'CONTENTSPAGECHAP.I.THE ORIGINOFBALLOONING...9II. THECOMING OFTHEGASBALLOON.23III. FAMOUS BALLOONVOYAGESOFTHEPAST 38IV. THE BALLOONAS ASCIENTIFICINSTRU-MENT6?V. THE BALLOONINWARFARE...69VI. THEAIRSHIP84VII. THEFLYINGMACHINE.....105VIII.CONCLUSION119Digitizedbythe InternetArchivein 2011 withfundingfromUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapel Hillhttp://www.archive.org/details/balloonsairshipsOObacoBALLOONS, AIRSHIPS, ANDFLYINGMACHINESCHAPTERITHE ORIGIN OFBALLOONINGOneNovembernightinthe year 1782, sothestoryruns,two brothers sat over theirwinterfire in the little French town of Annonay,watching the grey smoke-wreaths from thehearthcurlupthe widechimney. Their nameswere Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier, theywere papermakers by trade, and were notedas possessing thoughtful minds and a deepinterest in all scientific knowledge and newdiscovery. Before that nighta memor-able night, as it was to provehundreds ofmillions of people had watched the risingsmoke-wreaths of their fires without drawingany special inspiration from the fact ; buton this particular occasion, as Stephen, theyoungerof thebrothers, sat and gazed atthefamiliar sight,the question flashed across hismind," Whatis thehidden powerthatmakesthosecurlingsmoke-wreathsriseupwards,and10 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINEScould I not employ it to make other thingsrise also?"Thenandtherethe brothersresolvedonanMedallionshowingBkotheesMontgolfier.experiment. Theymade themselves a smallfire of some light fuel in a little. tin tray orchafing-dish, and over the smoke of it theyheld alargepaper-bag. Andto their delightthey sawthe bag fill out and make a feebleTHE ORIGIN OF BALLOONING 11attempt to rise. They were surely on theeve of some great invention; and yet,try astheywould,theirexperimentwould not quitesucceed,because the smokeinthebagalwaysbecametoocoolbeforetherewas enoughin itto raise it from the table. But presently,whiletheywerethusengaged,a neighbour oftheirs,awidowlady,alarmedbyseeingsmokeissuing from their window,entered theroom,and after watching their fruitless efforts forsomewhile,suggested thattheyshouldfastenthe trayonto the bottom of the bag. Thiswasdone,with thehappyresult that the bagimmediately rose up to the ceiling;and inthis humble fashion the first of all balloonssailed aloft.Thatnightof1782,therefore, marksthefirstgreatstepever madetowardsthe conquestofthesky. Buttobetterunderstandthehistoryof"Aeronautics"a word that means"thesailing ofthe air"wemustgo backfarbe-yond the days of the Montgolfier brothers.For in all times and in all ages men havewanted to fly. David wished for the wingsofadovetoflyawayand beatrest, andsincehis time, and before it, howmanyhave notlonged to take flight and sail away in theboundless, glorious realms above, to explorethefleecyclouds,and to float freeinthebluevaultofheaven.And since birds achieve thisfeatbymeansofwings,man'sfirst ideawasto provide him-12 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESself withwingsalso. Butherehe wasat oncedoomedtodisappointment. Itis verycertainthatbyhisownnaturalstrength alone a manwillneverpropel himselfthroughtheairwithwings like a bird, because he is made quitedifferently. Abird's bodyis verylight com-pared with its size. The largest birds inexistence weigh under thirty pounds. Aman's body, on the contrary, is very heavyand solid. The muscles that work a bird'swingarewonderfullypowerful andstrong, farstronger in proportion than the muscles of aman's arm. To sustain his great weight intheair, amanof eleven stone wouldrequireapair of wings nearly twenty feet in span.But the possession of such mighty wingsalone is not enough. Hemust also possessbodily strength to keep them in sufficientmotion to prevent him from falling, and forthishewouldrequire at least the strength ofahorse.Suchstrengthamanhasneverpossessed,orcan everhope to; but even as it is, by longpractice and great effort,menhavesucceededat different times, not exactly in flying, butin helping themselves along considerablybymeansofwings. Amanis saidtohaveflowninthiswayinRomeinthedays of Nero. Amonk in the Middle Ages, named Elmerus,it is stated, flewaboutafurlongfrom the topof atower in Spain,another from St. Mark'ssteeple in Venice, and another from Nurem-THE ORIGIN OF BALLOONING13burg.But the most successful attempt evermadeinthisdirectionwasaccomplishedabout200 years ago by a French locksmith ofthenameofBesnier. Hehadmadefor himselfapair of lightwooden oars, shaped like thedoublepaddleofacanoe,withcup-likebladesat either end. These he placed over hisshoulders, and attached also to his feet, andBesnierandhis Oars.thencastinghimselfoff fromsomehighplace,andviolentlyworkinghisarms and legs so astobuffetthe air downwardswith his paddles,he was able to raise himself by short stagesfrom one height to another, or skim lightlyover a field or river. It is said that subse-quently Besniersoldhis oarstoa mountebank,who performed most successfully with themat fairs and festivals.Butitwassoonclearthattheartofhuman14 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESflightwasnotto be achieved bysuch means;and whenmenfoundthattheywereunabletosoar upwards by their own bodily strengthalone,theysetaboutdevising some apparatusor machine which should carry them aloft.Many ancient philosophers bent their mindstotheinventingofamachineforthispurpose.One suggested that strong flying birds, suchas eagles or vultures, might be harnessed toa car, and trained to carry it into the sky.Anothergravelyproposedthe employment of"alittleimp"forinthosedaystheexistenceof impsand demonswasmostfirmlybelievedin. Athird even went so far as to give anactual recipefor flying, declaring that"if theeggs of the larger description of swans, orleatherballs stitchedwithfinethongs,befilledwith nitre, the purest sulphur, quicksilver,or kindred materials which rarefy by theircaloricenergy,andiftheyexternallyresemblepigeons,theywill easily bemistakenforflyinganimals."(!)The first manwho appeared to have anyinklingoftherealwayofsolvingtheproblemof a"flyingchariot,"andwhoin dim fashionseemsto have foreshadowed the invention oftheballoon,wasthatwonderfulgenius,RogerBacon, the Learned Friar of Ilchester, theinventor or re-inventor of gunpowder, wholived in the thirteenth century. Hehad anideaan idea which was far ahead of histimes, and only proved to be true hundredsTHE ORIGIN OF BALLOONING 15of years afterthat the earth's atmospherewas an actual substance or "true fluid," andas such he supposed it to have an uppersurface as the sea has,and on this uppersur-face he thought an airship might float, evenas a boat floats on the top of the water.And to make his airship rise upwards toreachthisuppersea,he saidonemustemploy"a large hollow globe of copper or othersimilarmetalwroughtextremelythin,tohaveit aslight as possible, and filled with etherealairorliquidfire."It is doubtfulwhetherBaconhadveryclearideas of what he meant by "ethereal air."But,whetherbyaccidentorinsight,hehadinthesewordshituponthetrue principleoftheballoonaprincipleonly putintopracticefivecenturies later. Hesaw that a bodywouldrise upwardsthrough the air if it werefilledwith something fighter than air, even as abodywillriseupwardsthroughthewaterif itis made of, or filled with, something lighterthanwater. Weknowthat if wethrow anempty bottle tightly corked into the sea itdoesnotsink,but rises upwards,because it isfilled with air, which is lighter than water.Inthesamewayexactly alightbagorballoonwhichis filledwith some gaswhich is lighterthan air will not stay on the surface of theground,butwill rise upwards into theskytoa heightwhich depends upon its weight andbuoyancy.16 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESLaterphilosophers than Baconcametothesameconclusion,though theydonotseem tohave seen mattersmoreclearly. Asrecentlyas1755acertainlearnedFrenchpriestactuallysuggestedthat sincetheaironthetopofhighmountainsis knowntobelighterthan thatatan ordinarylevel,menmight ascend to thesegreatheightsandbringdownthelight air"inconstructionsofcanvasorcotton." Bymeansof this air he then proposed to fly a greatmachine,whichhedescribes, andwhichseemsto have been as large and cumbersome asNoah's Ark. Needless to say, the worthyFather'sproposal hasnever yet been putintopractice.But it is time nowthat we return tothetwobrothers Montgolfier andtheirpaper-bagofsmoke. Their experiments proved atoncethat in smoke they had found somethingwhich was lighter than air, andwhichwould,therefore, carrya lightweight upwards. Butof what this something was theyhad, at thetime, but a confused idea. They imaginedthattheburning fueltheyhadusedhadgivenoff somespeciallightgas, withtheexactnatureofwhich theywereunacquainted. Theveryword gas, be it here said, was in those daysalmost unknown,and of different gases,theirnature and properties, most people had buttheveryvaguestnotions.And so for some time the Montgolfiersand theirfollowers supposedthatthepresenceTHE ORIGIN OF BALLOONING 17of this mysterious gas was necessary to thesuccess of their experiments, and they wereverycareful about always using specialkindsoffuel,whichtheysupposedgaveoffthis gas,to inflate their bags. Later experimentsproved, however,what everyonenowknows,that the paper -bag rose, not because of thegases given off bythe fire, but by reason ofthehotairwithwhichit becamefilled. Nearlyall substances, no matter how solid, expandmoreorless under the influence of heat, andair expands very greatly indeed. By thusexpanding heated air becomes lighter thanthesurroundingair, and,because it is lighter,risesupwardsintheatmosphere,andcontinuesto rise until it has once more regained theaverage temperature.Encouraged by the success of their firsthumble experiment, the Montgolfiers nexttried their paper-bag in the open air, whento their delight it sailed upwards toaheightof 70 feet. The next step was to make amuchlarger craft of 600 cubic feet capacityand spherical in shape, which they called a"Balloon," because it was in appearancelikea large, round, short-necked vessel used inchemistry which was technically known bythat name. This great bag, after being in-flated,becamesopowerfulthat it broke loosefrom its moorings, and floated proudly up-wards 600 feet and more, and came downinan adjoining field. After a fewmoresuc-BMontgolfiek'sBalloon.THE ORIGIN OF BALLOONING 19cessful trials the brothers thought that thetime had come to make known their.newinvention. Accordingly they constructed agreat balloon of 35 feet in diameter, andissued invitations to the public to come andsee the inflation. Thiswassuccessfullymadeover a fire of chopped straw and wool, andthe giant rose up into the sky amid thedeafening applause of a huge multitude,andafter attaining a height of 7000 feet, fell tothegroundamileandahalfaway.The news of this marvellous event spreadlike wild-fire throughout the kingdom, andsoon not onlyall France,butallEuropealso,was ringing with the tidings. The FrenchRoyal Academy of Sciences immediatelyinvited Stephen Montgolfier to Paris, andprovided him with money to repeat hisexperiment. He accordingly constructed ayet larger machine,which stood noless than72 feet high, had it most magnificentlypainted and decorated and hung with flags,and sent it up at Versailles in the presenceoftheKingandall his court.This particular balloon is noteworthy ashavingbeen the first of all balloons to carryliving passengers into the air. They werethree in number,asheep,a cock,andaduck.Breathlesslytheassembledmultitudewatchedthese innocent victims placed in the basketand soar calmly and majestically above theirheads; and eagerlytheyfollowed the balloon20 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESto where it fell half a mile away to learntheir fate. Wouldtheyhavebeen suffocatedin those upper regions of the air which nohumanbeinghadyet explored, orwouldtheybe dashed to pieces in the descent? Butthey found the trio quite uninjured;theunimaginative sheep grazing quietly, and theduckcheerfullyquacking. Forthwiththecrythen arose that it was time for a man tohazard the ascent,and KingLouis,who,likeevery one else, was vastly excited over thewonder, suggested that two criminals thenlying under sentenceofdeath should be sentaloft.But now a brave French gentlemanM.PilatredeRozier,aname ever to be remem-beredinthehistoryoftheconquestofthe airuproseinindignation."Shallvilecriminalshave the first glory of rising into the sky!"he cried, and then and there he proudlyclaimed for himself thehonour of being firstamong mortals in the history of the worldto sail the air. His courageous resolve waswildly applauded, and forthwith preparationswere commenced for the new venture. Ayet larger balloon was made, in height astall as a church tower, with a mouth 15 feetacross. Around the mouth was fastened agalleryofwicker-work,threefeetwide,toholdthe passengers,and belowall was slung withchainsanironbrazierofburningfuel.Byway of precaution,when all was com-THE ORIGIN OF BALLOONING 21plete De Rozier made a few short captiveexcursions, the balloon being fastened toearthbyarope. Butall proving satisfactory,hedecided to hazard a"rightaway"trip onthe21stofNovember1783,whenhewas alsoto be accompanied byan equally courageousfellow-countryman, the Marquis d'Arlandes.It wouldbedifficult toconceivea moredaringand perilous enterprise than these two braveFrenchmen set themselves. They were toventure, by an untried way, into unknownrealms where no mortal had been before;they were to entrust their lives to a frailcraft whose capabilities had never yet beentested, and at a giddy height they were tosoar aloft with an open fire, which at anymoment might set light to the inflammableballoonandhurlthemtodestruction.Wildindeedwastheapplauseofthe crowdas the mighty craft, after due inflation, rosemajestically into the sky, carrying with it itstwobravevoyagersthefirst thateverburstIntothatsilentsea;andwithwhatanxietywasits coursefollowedas, rising rapidly to a height of 3000 feet, itdriftedawayon an upper current whichboreit rightover the cityofParis. Thetravellersthemselves experienced various excitementsduring their adventurous trip. They hadconstantly to stir the fire and feed it with22 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESfresh fuel;they had also with wetspongescontinually to extinguish the flameswhenthe light fabric from time totime ignited.At one period they feared descendingintothe river or on the house-tops, at anothera sharp shock gave them the impressionthatAnEarlyHydrogenBalloon.their balloon had burst. But they camesafely in the end through all perils andalarms, descending quietly, after a voyageof twenty-five minutes' duration, five milesfrom their starting-place.Thus was invented and perfected in thecourse of less thanayearthe first ofall craftTHE ORIGIN OF BALLOONING 23which carried man into the skythe Hot-AirorMontgolfierBalloon. Tothisdaylargehot-air balloons inflated bythesamemethodsemployed a hundred years ago occasionallytake passengers aloft. Indeed, there nowseemsalikelihood that the use ofthe Mont-golfier balloon will be largely revived formilitary purposes, since, with modern im-provements, it would appear to be morequicklyand easilyinflated than agas balloonin time of warfare. With miniature hot-airballoonswe are all familiar, for everyschool-boy has made them for himself of colouredpapers,andwatched them float away on thebreeze with as much admiration and delightasthetwobrothersof Annonaywatchedtheirbagfirst floatupwardstotheceiling.Butalmost beforetheinventionofthehot-air balloon had been completed, and beforePilatredeRozierhadmadehis ascent, a rivalcrafthad appeared upon the scene, to whichwe must more specially refer in the nextchapter.CHAPTER IITHE COMING OF THE GAS BALLOONDuring the time of which we are speakingtherewaslivingin London a famous chemistnamedHenryCavendish.Hewasthesonof24 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESa nobleman, and a very rich man; but heshut himself up entirelyfrom the world,anddevoted his whole time and energies to thestudyof science. So afraid was he of beinginterrupted in his work that he lived thelifeofahermit, commandinghis servants tokeepout of his sight on pain of dismissal, andordering his dinner daily by means of anote placed on the hall table. In the year1760twenty-two years before the Mont-golfierbrothersbegantheir experimentsthiseccentric manhaddiscoveredwhat was thenknown as "inflammable air," but what wenowcallhydrogengas.Cavendish'sexperimentsprovedthathydro-gen is the lightest of all known substances,being about fourteen times lighter than at-mospheric air;and soon after he had madeknownhisresearches, it occurred to a certainDr.Black of Edinburghthat if a sufficientlythin and light bladder were filled with this"inflammable air" it would rise upwards.Dr. Black even went so far as to order aspecial bladder to be prepared for the pur-pose; but by the time it was ready he wasbusy with other work, and the experimentwas never made; otherwise it is extremelyprobable that the honour of inventing theballoon wouldhavebeenwonforthis country,andnotforFrance.A little later Tiberius Cavallo, an Italianchemist living in England, came yet nearerTHE COMING OF THE GAS BALLOON 25tothegreat invention,for he filled a numberof soap-bubbles with the newly discoveredgas, and saw them float high into the air.Hedid not, however, think at the timethathis experiments would lead to any practicalresult, and so the matter dropped entirely,until the world was suddenly electrified bythe tidings of the wonderful hot-air ballooninvented by the brothers Montgolfier atAnnonay.The news of this discoveryrecalled to theminds of many the almost forgotten experi-mentsof the past,and it was forthwith sug-gested that balloons might be inflated withhydrogen gas more successfully than withhot air. Itwas resolved immediatelyto putthistheoryto the test. Alarge subscriptionto defray expenseswas raised in Paris with-out difficulty, for men's minds were keenon the new-found art of sailing the sky;and M. Charles, Professor of ExperimentalPhilosophy, and two brothers, the Messrs.Roberts, well-known mechanicians, wereappointed to construct a suitable balloonand inflate it by the new method.Buttheywereimmediatelyconfrontedwitha difficulty. Hydrogen being the lightestandmostsubtle of gases, theywere at a lossto know of what material to make theirballoon, to prevent the gas escaping. Afterseveral failures they eventually constructeda bag of a special kind of silk, and coated26 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESit all overwithavarnish made of indiarubberdissolvedinturpentine. Astheyfoundgreatdifficultyin manufacturinglarge quantitiesofhydrogen,theywereforcedtomaketheirbagacomparativelysmall one,aboutthirteenfeetin diameter. On the 25th of August 1783AttackontheFikst ChaklierBalloon.thebagwas successfullyfilled, andthe ascentwas made in Paris in the presence of anenormous crowd. The little balloon roseupwards with immense rapidity, until it waslost to sight in the clouds. Ascending yethigher, it presently burst, and came to theearth in a village, fifteen miles away, aftera voyage of three-quarters of an hour.THE COMING OF THE GAS BALLOON 27In the field where the balloonfell a partyof peasants were at work; at its approachtheyfled in abject terror. From a safe dis-tance theywatched the strange newmonstersettle to earth and lie prone, and then theycautiously drew nearer to inspect it. Thesilk still heaved with the escaping gas, andthe countrymen were fully convinced thatanactuallivingcreatureof mysterious naturelay before them. One man seized his gunand fired full at it, and then supposing itto be mortally wounded, they all rushed inwith flails and pitchforks to complete itsdestruction, finally tying it to the tail of ahorse, who galloped with it all over thecountry, tearing it to shreds. It was smallwonder that after such an occurrence theFrenchGovernmentissued a proclamation tothe people, telling them that these aeronau-tical experiments were to be repeated, andwarning themnot to bealarmed if theysawa balloon in the air, since it was a perfectlyharmlessmachinefilledwithgas,andincapableofinjuringanyone.This event took place about three monthsafter the first public ascent of the hot-airballoon. The new craft was immediatelycalled a"Charlier," after its inventor, andto distinguish it from the"Montgolfier."There followed various exhibitions of therival airships, and after the voyage ofPilatrede Rozier and the Marquis D'Arlandes,28 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESMessrs. Charles and Roberts resolved alsoto hazard an ascent in a balloon inflatedwithhydrogen.Anewmachinewas therefore constructed,whichdifferedinmanyimportantdetailsfromall others which had previously been made.It was twenty-seven feet in diameter, ofvarnished silk, and over it was spread a netof cordage. Instead of a gallery to carrythepassengers, asin the "Montgolfier," a carshaped like a boat was suspended from thenet with ropes and hung a few feet belowtheballoon. Avalve to let out the gas wasalso provided, and the voyagers carried intheir car ballast and a barometer to indicatetheir height. It will thus be seen that thisnew balloon was in all practical details thesameastheballoonofthepresentday.Theascent took place on the 17th of De-cember in Paris. Stephen Montgolfier waspresent,andlaunched a small hot-air balloon,which amused the onlookers and indicatedthe direction of the wind. Then MM.Charles and Roberts stepped into the car,and the balloon being liberated, they wereimmediately carried up to a height of 6000feet,where a glorious panoramaofParis andthe adjacent country was spread out beforetheir delighted vision. After staying aloftabout a couple of hours they descended toearth again, and Roberts got out ofthe car.CharlesdecidedtocontinuethevoyageawhileTHE COMING OF THE GAS BALLOON 29byhimself, and, lightened of his companion'sweight, the balloon this time rose to 10,500feet.Thesunhadbythis time set upon theearth, but at this height Charles saw it riseonce more and set asecondtime. Thether-mometer fell far below freezing-point, andhewas benumbedwith cold and felt violentpains in his ears. Whenat his greatest ele-vation he was obliged to pull the valve toprevent the balloon from bursting,and even-tually descended without mischance aboutseven miles from where Roberts had lefthim.It would be well now to describe a littlemore fully the way in which the "Mont-golfier" and"Charlier" balloons were in-flated. Each of the rival methods had itsadvantages and also its disadvantages. Inthe case of the hot-air balloon a shallow pitwas dug, in which a quick-burning fire ofchopped wool and straw was lighted, andthe bag simply suspended over it. Theinflation was thus rapid, and its cost com-paratively small; the great drawback beingthat as the bag was of very light material,it ran considerable risk of being ignited bythe fire ; and all the while it was filling itwastheuncomfortabledutyofanunfortunateattendant to stand actually inside, roastedwith the heat and choked with the smoke,armedwith a paddle with which to beat outtheflameswheneverthebagcaughtalight.30 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESThis danger of fire was done away within the method of filling with hydrogen gas.The balloon, suspendedfrom aloft as before,was connected by hose-pipes with a numberof casks containing iron or zinc filings uponwhichdilutesulphuricacidwas poured. TheFilling aHotAirBalloon.effect of mixing these substances together isto set upabriskchemicalaction,inthecourseof which hydrogen gas is given off. Inthiscasethe hydrogenthusliberatedcamethroughthepipesandfilledtheballoon. Thegreatdis-advantages of this method of fillingwhich,it may here be mentioned, is occasionallyemployed at the present dayare the longtime it occupies, the great labour entailed,and the enormous expense.oaoMOPW32 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESIt is said that when Roberts and Charlesreturnedfrom their adventurousvoyage theywere immediately arrested and thrown intoprison by order ofthe King, whoconsideredit hisdutyto put a stop to his subjects risk-ing their lives in such dangerous enterprises.Public opinionwas too strong for him,how-ever,andthetwoheroeswerequicklyreleased,and Charles was rewarded by a pension of200 a year for life. This newlydiscoveredart of sailing the heavens had indeed firedpopular imagination to an extraordinary de-gree. Probablynoinventionhaseverarousedgreater enthusiasm. Not only all Francebut all the civilised world went wild withexcitement for the time. Most extravagantstatements were made and written. Anewkingdom, it was declared, had been given tomankindtoconquer; voyagesmightbe madetothemoonandstars, andnowit wouldevenbepossibletotakeHeavenitselfbystorm!Ascent after ascent took place with the"Montgolfier" and the"Charlier," both inFrance and in other countries; nor was itlong before the balloon made its appearanceinEngland. InAugustofthenext summer(1784)aMrTytler ofEdinburghmadesomeshortvoyagesin a hot-air balloon of his ownmanufacture, and in the following month amuch more adventurous attempt was suc-cessfully carried out in London by a youngItalianofthenameof VincentLunardi.THE COMING OF THE GAS BALLOON 33Lunardi was at this time secretary to theNeapolitanAmbassador. He was keenlyinterested in the subject of ballooning, andpresentlybecamefiredwitha desire to repeatin England those aerial experiments whichwere creating such a sensation on the Con-tinent. Hewasonlyapoorman,and great diffi-culties stood inthe way of ac-complishing hisobject. He hadto excite publicinterest in hisventure, to col-lect subscriptionsto defray thecostof his balloon,which was to bea"Charlier,"andto find a suitablesite in Londonfor the inflationand ascent. He met with disappointmentsand disasters enough to discourage a lessenthusiastic man,but at length, after manytroubles,onthe15thofSeptemberhisballoonwas ready and in process of filling in thegrounds of the Honourable Artillery Com-pany, in the city, where 150,000 people hadassembled to witness the new wonder.VincentLunaedi.34 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESStill Lunardi's trials were not at an end.The balloon was advertised to ascend at acertain hour; but the supply ofgas was in-sufficient, so thatwhen the time came it wasonlypartially filled, and a long delay ensued.The vast crowdmore than half inclined tobelieve thewhole thingan imposturebegantogrowveryimpatientandunruly,anditwasonly the presence of the Prince of Wales,afterwards George the Fourth, which keptthem in restraint for another hourwhile thefilling continued.Even then the balloon was not full ; butLunardi felt he could wait no longer. Heleft behind him the companion who was tohave accompanied him, substituted a smallerandlighter car, jumpedinsideandseveredtheropes. Instantly the balloon rose high overthe delighted city, as the crowd, led by thePrince himself, rentthe air withtheir cheers.Wild was the excitement in every quarter.AtWestminster KingGeorge the ThirdwasinconferencewithMr.PittandhisotherchiefMinisters of State, but when it was knownthat Lunardi was in the sky the King ex-claimed,"Gentlemen, we may resume ourdeliberations at pleasure, but wemay neverseepoor Lunardiagain!" andwithoneaccordtheyadjournedtowatch his progress throughtelescopes. Tradesmen rushed out of theirshops, business men from their offices, evenjudgeandjuryfromtheircourts.Lunabdi'sBalloon,36 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESLunardicontinuedhisvoyageoverthetownintothecountrybeyond. His balloonappar-ently attained a considerable height, for hefound thatthe condensedmoisture roundtheneckhadfrozen,and the gas,whichto beginwith had only two-thirds filled the balloon,presently expanded so much that he wasobliged to untie the mouth to relieve thestrain. Hehadtaken upwith him as com-panions a dog and acat. The cat was veryill at ease in the cold of the upper regions,and he resolved to put her out; so, comingdowntotheground, he handedher to acountrywoman standing in a field. Throwing outballast, hethen rose again and continued hisvoyagefor somedistance, eventuallydescend-inginameadownearWare. Somelabourerswere atwork on the spot, but they at firstrefusedtocomenearhim,anda young womanwas the firstwhom he couldinduce to helphim out of his car. A stone with a longinscription, set up in a meadowin theparishofStandon,near Ware,markstothisdaytheplacewhere the first of all English balloonstouchedground.Thefollowing year witnessed a yet bolderenterprise. Blanchard, a French aeronaut,and Dr. Jeffries, an American, determinedon an attempt to cross the Channel. Onawinter's day, early in 1785, they had theirballoon inflatedwith hydrogenat Dover andboldlycastoff tosea. ThecoldairappearedtoTHE COMING OF THE GAS BALLOON 37chillthegasmorethantheyhadforeseen,andlongbeforethey wereacrosstheChanneltheirballoon began settling downupon the water.They threwoutalltheirballast, thenanumberof bookstheywerecarrying, thentheiranchor,extra ropes, and other gear. Still it seemedverydoubtful whether theywould reach theFrench coast, and as alast resort theybeganeven to throw away their clothes to lightentheballoon. Fortunatelyatthismomenttheballoon shotupintotheair again,and event-ually broughtthemdown in safety near theforestofGuiennes.So far, although several hundred ascentshadbeenmade,andin spiteof themanyandgreat dangers of the new-found art and theinexperience of the early voyagers, no fatalaccidenthad marredthedelightof sailingtheskies. Disasters,however,weresoontocome.It is sad to relate that the earliest to fall avictimwas the bravePilatre de Rozier him-self,thefirstofall mentogoaloft inaballoon.Firedwithadesire to emulateBlanchardandJeffries, he decided that he himself wouldcross the Channel, this time from France toEngland; and to avoid, as he imagined, thecoolingof thegas,whichhadsonearly proveddisastrousonthe previous occasion,hehit onthe extraordinaryideaof combiningthe prin-ciples ofboththe"Montgolfier"and"Char-lier" balloons, and suspending a fire balloonbeneathanother filled with hydrogengas. It38 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESseems a remarkable thing to us nowthat noone in those days saw the awful danger ofsuchacombination. Theinevitablehappened.When the balloon was high in the air thefurnace of the hot-air machine set fire tothe highly inflammable hydrogen, a fearfulexplosion followed, and De Rozier and hiscompanionwere dashed to pieces.CHAPTER IIIFAMOUSBALLOONVOYAGESOFTHEPASTUnfortunately the death of Pilatre deRozier was but the first of a series of fatalaccidents which marred the early years ofthe historyof ballooning. Shortlyafterwardsanother French aeronaut, going up in tooshallow a car, fell overboard when at a greatheight and was killed. Alittle later CountZambeccari,an Italian, ascended in a hot-airballoon, which, on coming near the earth,became entangled in a tree. The furnace itcarried set fire to the silk. To escape fromthe flames, the Count leapt to the groundand was killed on the spot. Afew yearsafter, Madame Blanchard, wife of the manwho first crossed the English Channel,madea night ascent from Paris with a number offireworkshungfromthe car. These,in someFAMOUSBALLOONVOYAGES OFTHE PAST 39way,ignited the balloon,which fell to theground,killingtheunfortunateladyin its fall.Ontheotherhand, many miraculousescapesareonrecord. Oneofthe earliest balloonistsspent the night alone aloft in the midstofaterrificthunder-storm,withthelightningflash-ingallaroundhim,andyetdescendedinsafetywhenmorningbroke. M.Garnerin,afamousFrench aeronautof this date, alsowaslost ina storm. Hisballoonbecameunmanageable,and borne to earth was dashed against amountain side,theoccupant losing conscious-ness,until the balloon, which had ascendedagain, brought him safely down once moremany miles away.Amarvellous escape took place in 1808,whentwoItalians ascended in a gas balloonfrom Padua and attained a great height,estimated as approaching 30,000feet. Herethe balloon burst, and came precipitately tothe ground; and yet, despite the terrific fall,the aeronauts escaped with their lives. Theexplanation ofthis seeming impossibilitywas,no doubt, the tendency which a balloon,emptiedofits gas, possesses toformanaturalparachute. During a rapid fall the lowerpart of the silk will, if loose, collapse intothe upper portion to form a kind of openumbrella,and thus veryeffectuallybreak thedescent. Many balloonists have owed theirsafety in similar accidents to this fortunatefact.40 BALLOONS ANDFLYING MACHINESThe bursting of balloons when at highaltitudes has already been referred to ashappening on several previous occasions. Itis a danger which is always present when aballoon is aloft, unless due precautions aretaken, and the neglect of these precautionshasprobablyledtomoreballooning accidentsthan any other cause. The explanation issimplythe varyingpressure exerteduponthebagof gas bythe weight of the atmosphere.Whenaninflated balloonis resting upon theground, the vast ocean of air above it ispressing upon it with a weight of approxi-matelyfifteen poundsto the square inch, andit is thispressurewhich prevents the enclosedgas from expanding beyond a certain limit.Theballoonthenriseshighintotheair,wheretheweightofatmosphere pressing upon it ismuch diminished. The higher it rises theless the pressure becomes, and the gas itholds soon expands so much that, unless aventis providedfor it, the balloon will burst.Atthe present daythe neck of a balloon isalwaysleft wideopenwhen the balloon is inthe air, to allow of the escape of the gasduring the ascent.Aperilous adventure befell Mr. Sadler,anEnglish aeronaut, in 1812.whilst attemptingto cross the Irish Channel. He started fromDublin with a wind which he hoped wouldcarry him to Liverpool, but had gone onlya short distance when he discovered a rent,FAMOUS BALLOON VOYAGES OF THE PAST 41which seemed to be increasing, in the silkof his balloon. Climbing the riggingwithdifficulty, hecontrived to tieuptheholewithhis neckcloth. Hewasbythis time overthesea, and having passednearthe Isle of Man,found himself, as evening was approaching,close to the coast of NorthWales. Hereheendeavoured to seek a landing, but just atthe critical moment the wind shifted, as itfrequently does in this treacherous Channel,and he was quicklyblown out to sea again.There he remained for another hour vainlyendeavouring to make the land, and then,despairing of the attempt and seeing fiveships beneath him, he came boldly down onthe water, trusting they would come to hisassistance.Buthecamedowntoofarawayfromthem,and one and all continued their course andtooknonotice. Hewasobliged, therefore,tothrow out ballast and to rise into the aironce more. The sunwas now set upon thelevelof the water,but as the brave aeronautrosehebeheldit oncemoreabovethehorizon,andwas cheered byits beams. Presentlyhesaw beneath him three more vessels, whichsignalled their willingness to help him, andheimmediatelycame down on the sea againas closetothemas he could. But the wind,now rising fast, caught the half empty silkof the balloon as it touched the waves, andbore it along over the surface of the water-42 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESat a terrific pace; and although the vesselscame after in full pursuit, they were unabletoovertakeit.Mr. Sadlerthendropped his grappling-irontoactasadrag, andthisnotprovingsufficient,took off his clothes andtiedthemtotheironasafurtherexpedient. Stillthevesselsfailedto overhaul him as he sped over the waves,and he was at length forced to let out aquantity of the gas still remaining, and socripplethe balloon. Butthiswasadangerousmove,forthecarnowinstantlysank;andtheunfortunatemanhad to clutch the hoop andthenthenetting,tokeephimselfabovewater.Chilledandexhausted,andfrequentlyplungedbeneath thewaves, hewas soon at the pointof death; for the nearest ship, though nowclose athand,fearfulofbecomingentangledinthenetting, still held off. Faintingashewas,Mr. Sadleryetmanagedto summon strengthto call to the sailors to run their bowspritthrough the balloon to stop its course, andthis being done,hewashauledonboardmoredeadthanalive.Five years passed, and no more attemptswere madeto cross the treacherousIrish Sea,until Mr. Sadler's own son, Mr. WindhamSadler, determined himself to make the at-temptwhichhad so nearlycost his father hislife. Choosing the same starting-ground forhisventure,heleftDublinonthelongestdayof 1817, and, fortune favouring him, reachedFAMOUS BALLOON VOYAGES OF THE PAST 43theWelshcoast notfarfromHolyhead,afteravoyageof 70miles, lasting five hours. ThiswasthelastattempttocrosstheIrishChannel,until November 1902, when the Rev. J. M.Bacon and Mr. Percival Spencer, startingfrom Douglas,in the Isle ofMan,landed ina rocky glen 15 miles beyond Dumfries,after a journey of 80 miles,accomplished inthree hours. Brave Mr. Windham Sadlerunhappily lost his life in a terrible balloonaccident in 1824.But a more celebrated balloonist, perhapsthemostfamousofall, hadbythistimecometothe foreCharlesGreen, fitly called" TheFather of English Aeronautics." It was hewhofirst introducedanewmethodofballoon-filling,whichquicklyrevolutionisedthewholeart and practice. Thiswasnothing more orless than the employment of ordinaryhouse-hold or coalgasfor inflation, inplace of thecostlyanddangeroushydrogen.Whileballoonswereinflatedonlywithpurehydrogenfor the uncertain and dangerousmethodoffillingwithhot airwassoonalmostentirelyabandonednogreatstrides could bemade in the art of sailing the skies. Thefillingofalargeballooneightyyears ago costno less than250, and fewpeople could befound willing to provide so much moneyforsuch a purpose. Coal gas, however, was bythentobefound in everytown of anyconse-quence;and it was Green's suggestion that44 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESthough this gas might be greatly inferior topurehydrogeninbuoyancyor"lifting power,"ityetcontainedasufficientquantityofhydro-genin itforallordinaryaeronauticalpurposes.Thecoronationof KingGeorgetheFourthwas the occasion chosen byGreentoput hisnewschemetothetest and fill a balloonwithcoal gas. The experiment was entirely suc-cessful, and henceforward balloonascents be-camemuch commonerthroughouttheworld,forGreen'sdiscoveryreducedthecostoffillingtenfold, andthetroubleandanxietyahundred-fold. Greenhimself becameoneof the mostfamous men of his day,andlivedto make athousand ascents,some of them of the mostdaringandexcitingdescription.Themostcelebrated event in all his career,however,wasthevoyageoftheGreat NassauBalloon, in November 1836. This voyagecreated a tremendous sensation at the time,and has always been considered one of themostadventurousenterprises inthewholehis-toryofaeronautics. Howit cameaboutwasasfollows:The managers of the Vauxhall Gardens,London,had made, with Mr. Green's assist-ance, averylargeandfine balloon of crimsonsilk, which stood eighty feet high and held90,000 cubic feet of gas, and which wouldcarry, if needed, more than twenty persons.After it was made the proprietors proposedexhibiting it in Paris, and there was someTheGreatNassauBalloon.46 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESquestion of how this valuable and fragileproperty had best be conveyed so far. Mr.Hollond, a young gentleman of considerablewealth, and a great lover of adventure, atonce cameforward,and proposed to taketheballoontotheContinentbysky. Hisoffer wasaccepted,andtomakethe ascent more note-worthy, itwas decided to startfrom Londonand cross theseabynight,making as long avoyage as possible, although it was alreadywinter time, and such a venture had neverbeforebeenmade.Preparations wereatoncecommenced. Thepassengerswerelimited to threeMr.Green,whowastomanagetheballoon,Mr. Hollond,and his friend Mr.MonckMason. Aton ofballastwastobecarried,provisionsfora wholefortnight were laid in, and, sincenone couldtell towithinathousandmiles ormorewherethey mightbedrifted,passportstoeveryking-dominEuropewereobtained.Theyleft London late oneNovemberday,and, rising under a north-west wind, skirtedthe north of Kent. Passing presently overCanterbury, they wrote a courteous messageto the mayor,and droppedit in a parachute.Sometimelater,when the shortautumntwi-lightwasbeginningto wane,they sawbeneaththem the gleam of white waves, and knewtheyhadreachedtheboundaryofthehithertomuch-dreaded sea. Immediately afterwardsthey entered a heavy sea fog, which hid all48 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESthingsfromtheirsight,anddarknessanddeadsilencereignedaround.This lasted for fifty minutes, when theyemergedfromthecloud andfoundthe brightlights of Calais beneath them. It was thenquite dark, and they sped on through thenightoverunknowntownsandvillageswhoselights gleamed fainter andfewer as the timewent on. Then once againtheyentered thefog-bank,andforlonghours nosignorsoundofearthreachedthemmore.As the night wore on they suddenly hada startling and alarming experience. Theirballoon,whichhad beenflyingneartheearth,was presently lightened by the discharge ofballast,androsetoaheightof12,000feetintothe air. Immediately afterwards, when allaround was wrapped in the deepest silenceand the blackest darkness, there came thesound of a sharp explosion from over theirheads, followed bya rustling of the silk, andimmediately the car received a violent jerk.The same thingwas repeated again and yetagain,and it is smallwonderthat the awfulconvictionthenseized the partythatthere, inthe darkness, in the dead of night, at thatfearful height, their balloon had burst, andthey were falling headlong to the ground.Great indeed must have been their reliefwhen they found this was not the case,anddiscoveredtherealreasonoftheiralarm.It is the tendencyof a balloonwhenflyingFAMOUS BALLOON VOYAGES OF THE PAST 49near the ground to assume an elongated orpear shape; and while their balloon was inthis position the netting,whichwaswetwithdew, had frozen hard and tight around it.Immediately they rose to great heights thegas had expanded, and the balloon had be-comeglobularinshape,with a resultthatthestiffened ropes sprang to their new positionwiththecrack andjerkwhich hadsostartledthe party. When day broke next morningthey found themselves over long tracts ofdesolate forest land, and fearing they wereapproaching the wild, inhospitable steppes ofRussia, they descended with all speed, anddiscoveredtheywereintheDuchyofNassau,inGermany, nearWeilburg,wheretheywerereceived with the wildest enthusiasm anddelight. From start to finish they had ac-complishedavoyage of 500 milesineighteenhours.After this event Green made many othervoyagesinthegreat Nassau balloon,andmetwithmanyexcitingadventures. Ononeocca-sion, ascending in a violent gale of wind, heand a passenger covered twenty miles in aquarter of an hour, and, on descending nearRainham, in Essex,were blown along acrossthe fields at a furious pace, until the anchorcaught, and brought them up with such awrenchthat it brokethe ring and jerked thecar completelyupside down. Green and hisfriendonlyescapedfrombeingthrownout byD50BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESholding on to the ropes,andtheywereafter-wards dragged wildly through fences andhedges until the balloon collapsed and cameto a stand,though not before theyhad bothbeenseverelyhurt.Onanothervoyage thefamous balloonmetwithserious injury,forhavingbeensometimeabove the clouds, during an ascent, Greenfound himself carried out to sea, and wasobligedtocomedown in thewatertwomilesnorthofSheerness. Asintheaccidentwhichbefell Mr. Sadler in his attempttocross theIrish Channel,the wind caught the silk andbore it along across thewatertoorapidlyforapursuingvesseltoovertake it. Green thenlowered his anchor, which by happy chancesoon became entangled in a sunken wreck,and so brought the balloon up. Aboatim-mediately put out to his assistance, and heand a companionwere speedilyrescued; butthe balloon was so restive in the wind thatit wasdangeroustoapproach it. Greenhim-self then suggestedthatavolleyofmusketryshould be fired intothesilk toexpelthe gas,andthiswasaccordinglydoneandtheballoonsecured, though it afterwards took Green afortnight's hardlabour to repair the damagedonetothefabric.But the saddest event connected with theNassau balloon was the fatal accidentwhichbefellMr. Cockingin 1837,the year afterthegreat Nassau voyage. Before relating this,FAMOUS BALLOON VOYAGES OF THE PAST 51however, it will be necessary to refer brieflyto the historyof a most important accessoryof the balloon, hitherto unmentionedtheparachute.The nameparachutecomes from twoFrenchwords,parer,to parryandchute, afall, and itsignifies a contrivance, made more or less inthe formof an enormous umbrella,to breakthe fall froma balloonor other great height,Theprincipleoftheparachute wasunderstoodevenbefore theinventionof the balloon. InEastern countries, in particular, where theumbrella or parasol has been infamiliar usefromearliest ages,parachuteswere frequentlyemployedbyacrobatstoenablethemto jumpsafelyfrom great elevations. In Francealso,attheendoftheeighteenthcentury,acaptiveofficerattemptedtoescapefromaloftyprisonbysimilarmeans.The aeronaut Blanchard was the first toconstruct aparachute for use fromaballoon,his idea being that it mightprove of servicein the event of an accidentwhile aloft. In1785he let down fromagreat heightapara-chutetowhichwasattachedadogin abasket,which reached the ground gentlyand safely.After this M. Garnerin,the famous balloon-ist already referred to, hazarded a parachutedescent in person, and his attempt beingeminentlysatisfactory, parachutedescents be-came fairly common.In August 1814 Mr. Cocking, an English52 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESgentlemanofscientific tastes, readapaper onparachutes,suggestinganamendmentin theirshape and construction,before the Society ofArts,forwhichhe wasawardedamedal. Histheorywas never put into practice,however,till twenty-three years later, when, fired nodoubt bythe interest aroused by the famousNassauvoyage,he resolved to put his inven-tiontothetest.He accordingly constructed his parachute,which was of enormous size, of unwieldyweight, and in shape rather resembling anumbrella turned inside out. Despite thewarning of friends that the untried machinewas unwisely built, he insisted on making adescent with it, and succeeded in persuadingMr. Green to take him and his craft aloftattachedtotheNassauballoon.Onthe27thofJuly1837 theystartedfromtheVauxhall Gardens,Mr. Green in the caraccompanied byMr.EdwardSpencer(grand-father of the present well-known firm ofaeronauts),hisfriendandfrequentcompanion;Mr. Cocking seated in his machine slungbelow. Aheight of 5000 feet was attained,and thenMr. Cocking,after biddingaheartyfarewell to the others,pulled the ropewhichliberated his parachute from the balloon.Relievedfromtheenormousweight,the latterrushed upwards into the sky with terrificvelocity, the gaspouringinvolumes fromthevalvesandalmostsuffocatingtheoccupantsofCooking's Pakachute.54 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESthecar. Their position, indeed, for the timewasoneofthegreatestdanger,andtheywerethankfulto reach the earth unharmed,whichthey eventually did. But their fate washappier far thanthatof thelucklessCocking,whoseparachute,after swaying fearfullyfromside to side, at length utterly collapsed, andfallingheadlong,was,withitsinventor,dashedtopieces.While Charles Green was making hisfamous ascents in England, an equally cele-bratedaeronaut,JohnWise,waspursuingthesame art in America. During a long andsuccessful career, unhappilyterminated byanaccident, Wisemademanyexperimentsintheconstruction of balloons, their shape, size,varnish, material, and so forth. His results,whichhecarefullyput together,havebeen ofthe greatest value to balloon manufacturersuntil the presenttime. In the courseof hismany voyages he met with various excitingadventures. On one occasion while aloft hesawbeforehimahugeblackcloudof particu-larly forbidding aspect. Entering this, hefoundhimself intheheart of aterrific storm-His balloon was caught in a whirlwind,andsetsoviolentlyspinningandswingingthat hewas sea-sick with the motion, while, at thesametime,he felt himself half-suffocatedandscarceableto breathe. Withinthe cloudthecold was intense; the ropes of the balloonbecame glazed with ice and snow till theyFAMOUS BALLOON VOYAGES Oj THE PAST 55resembledglass rofts; flair feflsmound,andthegloomwas sogreat that fromthecar thesilkabovebecameinvisible."Anoiseresemblingthe rushing of a thousand mill-dams, inter-mingledwithadismal moaning soundofwind,surrounded mein this terrible flight.'1Wiseadds,"Bright sunshine was just above theclouds;" butthoughheendeavouredtoreachit bythrowing outballast, the balloonhadnosooner begun to rise upwards than it wascaughtafresh bythestorm andwhirleddownagain. Neither was he able, by letting outgas, to escape this furious vortex from be-neath; and for twentyminutes hewas sweptto and fro, and up and down in the cloud,before hecould get clear of it, or regainanycontroloverhisballoon.Onanother occasionWisemadeanexceed-inglydaringandboldexperiment. Convincedof the powerwhich, as has before been said,an emptyballoonhas ofturning itself into anatural parachute, he determined to put thematter to the test, and deliberately to bursthis balloonwhen at agreat height. For thispurposehemadeaspecialballoonofverythinmaterial, and fastened up the neck so thatthere was no vent for the gas. He thenascendedfearlesslyto a heightof 13,000feet,where,throughtheexpansionofthehydrogenwithwhichitwas filled, hisballoon exploded.The gas escaped instantly, so that in tenseconds not a trace remained. The empty56 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESballoonat firstdescendedwithfearfulrapidity,with a strange moaning sound as the airrushed through the network. Thenthe silkassumingparachuteshape,thefall becamelessrapid, and finally the car, coming down inzigzags, turned upside down when close tothe ground,and tossedWise outinto a fieldunhurt.ItwasJohnWise'sgreatdesire atonetimetosail aballoonrightacrosstheAtlanticfromAmericatoEurope. Longstudyof the upperwindshad convinced himthataregularcurrentof air is always blowing steadily high aloftfromwestto east, and he believed that if anaeronaut could only keep his balloon in thisuppercurrenthemight be carried across theoceanquicker,andwithmore easeandsafety,thanin the fastest steamship. Wisewentsofarastoworkoutall the details forthisplan,the size of the balloon required, the ballast,provisions, and number of passengers ; andonlythe want of sufficient money preventedhimfromactually makingtheattempt. Curi-ously enough, about the same time, CharlesGreen,inEngland, was, quite independently,working at the same idea,whichhe also be-lieved, with proper equipment, to be quitefeasible.THE BALLOON A SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT 57CHAPTERIVTHEBALLOONASASCIENTIFICINSTRUMENTSofar, inour historyof aeronautics, wehavereferred to ballooning onlyas a sportorpas-timefortheamusementof spectators,and forthe gratifying of a love of adventure. It isnowtimetospeakofthepracticaluses oftheballoon,and how it has been employed as amost valuable scientific instrument to teachus facts about the upper atmosphere, itsnature and extent,the clouds, the winds andtheir ways, the travel of sounds, and manyotherthingsof whichweshould otherwisebeignorant.Before the invention of the balloon menwere quite unaware of the natureof the aireven a short distance abovetheir heads. Inthose days high mountain climbing had notcomeintofashion,andwhenPilatredeRoziermade the first ascent, it was considered verydoubtfulwhetherhe mightbeabletoexistinthe strange atmosphere aloft. Charles andRoberts were the first to make scientificobservations from aballoon, fortheytookupa thermometer and barometer, and madecertainrough records, as also did other earlyaeronauts. Themostinteresting purelyscien-58 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINEStific ascentsofearlydays,however,weremadein the autumn of 1804, from Paris, by GayLussac, a famous French philosopher. Hetookupwithhim all manner of instruments,among them a compass (to see if the needlebehavedthesameasonearth), anapparatustotest the electricity of the air, thermometers,barometers, and hygrometers, carefully ex-haustedflasks in whichtobringdownsamplesof the upper air, birds, and even insects andfrogs, toseehowgreat heights affected them.Inhissecondvoyage his balloon attained theenormousaltitudeof23,000feet,ormorethanfourmilesandaquarter,and nearly2000 feethigher than the highest peaks of the Andes.At this tremendous height the temperaturefellto far below freezing-point, and the aero-naut became extremely cold,though warmlyclad ; he also felt headache, a difficulty inbreathing, and his throat became so parchedthat he could hardly swallow. Nevertheless,undismayed bythe awfulness of his position,he continued making his observations, andeventually reached the ground in safety, andnonetheworseforhis experience.Gay Lussac's experiments at least provedthat thoughtheairbecomesless andlessdenseaswe ascend into it, it remains of the samenature and constitution. His second voyagealso showed that the limit to which mancould ascend aloft into the skyand yet livehad not yet been reached. Almost sixtyTHE BALLOON A SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT 593^ears later other scientific ascents threwfreshlight on this point, and also continued theother investigations that Gay Lussac hadcommenced.Towardsthecloseof CharlesGreen's famouscareer, scientific men in Englandwokeuptothe fact that the use of a balloon as an im-portant means for obtaining observations onmeteorology and other matters had of latebeenverymuchneglected. The BritishAsso-ciation took the matter up, and providedthe money for four scientific ascents, whichwere made by Mr. Welsh of Kew Observa-tory, a trained observer. Green was theaeronaut chosen to accompany him, and theballoon used was none other than the greatNassau balloon, of whosemanyandwonder-ful adventures wehave alreadyspoken. Greenwasthennearlyseventy years of age, but hisskill as anaeronaut was as great as ever, andWelsh was able to obtain many valuablerecords. Duringthelastvoyageaheightwasattained almost as great as that reached byGayLussac,andbothmenfound muchdiffi-culty in breathing. While at this elevationthey suddenly noticed they were rapidly ap-proachingthesea, andsowereforcedtomakea very hasty descent, in which manyof theinstrumentswerebroken.The veteran Green lived to aripe oldage,dyingin1870,agedeighty-five. Whenaveryold manhestill delightedintakingvisitorsto60 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESan outhouse where he kept the old Nassauballoon,nowwornoutanduseless, and,hand-ling it affectionately,wouldtalk ofits famousadventuresandhisownthousandascents, dur-ingwhichhehadneveroncemetwith seriousaccident or failure. After his death the oldballoon passed into the hands of anotherequally famous man, who, after Green's re-tirement,tookhisplace asthemostcelebratedEnglishaeronautoftheday.ThiswasHenryCoxwell. Hewas thesonof a naval officer,andwasbroughtupto theprofession of a dentist. But when a boy ofonly nine years old he watched, through hisfather's telescope, a balloon ascent byGreen,which so fired his imagination that hence-forward balloons filled all his thoughts. Ashegrewolder the fascination increased uponhim. He would go long distances to seeascents or catch glimpses of balloons in theair, andhe wasfortunateenoughtobepresentat the first launching of the great Nassauballoon. He did not get the chance of avoyage aloft, however, till he was twenty-five;but after this nothingcouldrestrain hisardour, and, throwing his profession to thewinds,hemadeascentafterascenton all pos-sible occasions.Inoneofhis earlyvoyageshe metwith whathe describes as one of the mostperilous de-scentsinthewholehistoryofballooning. Theoccasion wasaneveningascentmadefromtheTHE BALLOON A SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT 61Vauxhall Gardensoneautumnnightof 1848.Theaeronautwas a Mr. Gypson,andbesidesMr.Coxwellthereweretwootherpassengers,oneof whom wasthe well-knownmountaineerand lecturer, Albert Smith. Anumber offireworks which were to be displayed whenCoxwell. GrLAlSHEK.aloft were slung on a framework forty feetbelowthecar.The balloon rose high above London,andthepartywereamazedand delightedwiththestrange and lovely view ofthe great citybynight, all sightofthe housesbeinglostinthedarkness,andthethousandsof gas lamps,out-liningtheinvisiblestreets and bridges,twink-62 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESling like stars in a blue-black sky. Coxwellwas sitting, not in the car,but in the ringofthe balloon, and presently, when they wereabout7000feet abovethetown,henoticed thatthe silk, themouthof which appearsto havebeen fastened, was growing dangerously dis-tendedwiththeexpandinggas. Byhisadvicethe valve was immediatelypulled,but it wasalready too late ; the balloon burst, the gasescapedwitha noise likethe escape of steamfrom an engine, the silk collapsed, and theballoon began to descend with appallingspeed, theimmensemassofloose silk surgingandrustlingfrightfullyoverhead. Everythingwas immediately thrown out of the car tobreak the fall ; but the wind still seemed tobe rushing past at a fearful rate, and, to addtothehorroroftheaeronauts,theynowcamedown through the remainsof the dischargedfireworks floating in the air. Little bits ofburning cases and still smouldering touch-paper blew about them, and were caught inthe rigging. These kindled into sparks, andthereseemed everychanceof the wholeballooncatchingalight. Theywerestill awholemilefromtheground,andthisdistance theyappearto have covered in less than two minutes.Thehouse-tops seemedadvancing uptowardsthem with awful speed as they neared earth.In the end they were tossed out of the caralong the ground, and it appeared a perfectmarvelto themallthattheyescapedwithonlyTHE BALLOON A SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT 63a severe shaking. This adventure didnotintheleastabateCoxwell'sardourforballooning,andexactlyaweeklater he and Gypson suc-cessfullymadethesame ascentfromthesameplace, and in the same balloonand loadedwithtwicethenumberoffireworks !ButCoxwell'smostcelebratedvoyageofalltook place some years later, on the occasionof a scientificvoyage made in companywithMr.JamesGlaisher. In1862theBritishAs-sociation determined to continue the balloonobservationswhichMr.Welshhad so success-fully commenced, but this time on a largerscale. The observerwas to be Mr. Glaisherof Greenwich Observatory,and Mr. Coxwell,who by this time had become a recognisedaeronaut, undertook the management of theballoon. The first ascentsweremadeinJulyand August. Mr. Glaisher took up a mostelaborate and costly outfit of instruments,which, however, were badly damaged at theoutsetduring a veryrapiddescent,madeper-force to avoid falling in the"Wash." Oneachoccasiona height of over fourmileswasattained;buton the thirdvoyage,whichwasinSeptember, it wasdecided to tryandreachyetgreateraltitudes.Theballoonwithits twopassengersleft Wol-verhamptonat 1 p.m.thetemperatureontheground being59.At about a mile high adensecloudwasentered,andthethermometerfell to36.In nineteen minutes a heightof64 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINEStwo miles was reached, and the air was atfreezing-point. Six minutes later they werethree miles aloft, with the thermometer stillfalling; and bythetime four miles high wasattainedthemercuryregisteredonly8.In forty-seven minutes from the start fivemileshadbeenpassed; andnowthetempera-ture was2below zero. Mr. Coxwell, whowasupintheringoftheballoonandexertinghimself overthe managementof it, foundhewasbeginningtobreathewithgreatdifficulty.Mr. Glaisher, sittingquietlyinthe car watch-ing his instruments, felt no inconvenience.Moreballastwasthrownout, and the ballooncontinuedtorise apace; andsoonMr.Glaisherfound his eyes growing strangely dim. Hecould not see to read his thermometer, ordistinguish thehandsofhiswatch. He noticedthe mercury of the barometer, however, andsaw that a height of 29,000 feet had beenreached, and the balloon was still rising.What followed next had best be told inMr. Glaisher'sownwords:"ShortlyafterIlaid my armuponthetable,possessed of its full vigour, but on beingdesirousofusingit, Ifoundituseless. Tryingto move the other arm, I found it powerlessalso. ThenI tried to shake myselfand suc-ceeded,but I seemed to have no limbs. Inlooking at the barometer myhead fell overmyleft shoulder. I struggled andshookmybody again, but could not move my arms.THE BALLOON A SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT 65Getting myhead upright for an instantonly,it fellonmyright shoulder; then I fell back-wards,mybodyrestingagainstthesideofthecar,andmyhead on the edge. I dimly saw-Mr. Coxwell and endeavoured to speak, butcould not. In an instant intense darknessovercameme; but I was still conscious,withas active a brain as at the present momentwhile writing this. I thought I had beenseized with asphyxia, and believed I shouldexperience nothingmore,asdeathwouldcomeunless wespeedilydescended. Other thoughtswere entering mymind,when I suddenlybe-cameunconsciousasongoingto sleep." Mr.Glaisheradds:"I cannottellanythingofthesenseof hearing, as no soundreaches the eartobreaktheperfectstillness andsilenceof theregions between six and seven miles abovetheearth."Meanwhile,as stated, Mr.Coxwell was upin the ring, trying to secure thevalve-line,which had become twisted. To do this hehad taken off a pair of thick gloves he hadbeenwearing,and in the tremendouscold ofthat awfulregion themomenthis barehandsrested on the metalof the ring theybecamefrost-bitten and useless. Lookingdown, hesawMr. Glaisher in afaintingcondition,andcalled out to him, but received no answer.Thoroughlyalarmed bythis time,he tried tocomedowntohiscompanion'sassistance; butnow his hands also hadbecome lifeless, andE66 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINEShe felt unconsciousness rapidly stealing overhim.Quickly realising that death to both ofthem would speedily follow if the ballooncontinued to ascend, Mr. Coxwell now en-deavoured to pull the valve-line;but hefound it impossible to do sowithhis disabledhands. Fortunately he was a man of greatbodilystrength, as well as of iron nerve,andby a great effort he succeeded in catchingthe valve-line in his teeth. Then,putting hiswhole weight upon it, he managed to pullopen thevalve,and hold it until the balloontook adecided turn downwards. This savedthem. Aslowerregions were reached,wherethe air was denser, Mr. Glaisher began torecover, and by the time they came to theground neither of these two brave menwere any the worse for their extraordinaryexperience.Neither Mr. Glaisher or Mr.Coxwellwereable to note the exact elevation when theywere at their greatest height;but fromseveral circumstances they were convincedthat it must havebeen36,000or37,000feet,or fully seven miles high. Later aeronautshave been inclined to doubt if this surmisecan be quite correct ; but whether it is soornot is of no great moment, for this greatballoon ascent will always stand unrivalledin thehistoryof ballooning. Since that daynearly as great, or perhaps even greater,THE BALLOON A SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT 67heights have been reached in balloons; butnowadays those who attempt to ascend togreat elevations always provide themselves,before they start, with cylinders of com-pressed oxygen gas. Thenwhen the atmos-phere aloft becomes so thin and rare as tomake breathing difficult, they begin to filltheirlungs with the life-giving gas from thecylinders,andatoncerecover.After this perilous voyage Glaisher andCoxwellmade several other scientific balloonascents. Theymetwith various experiences.Onone occasion, during a lofty ascent, theylost sight of the earth above the clouds forawhile,but,themist suddenlybreaking,theyfoundthemselvesonthe point of drifting outto sea. Not a moment was to be lost, andboth men hung on to the valve-line untilit cut their hands. The result was a tre-mendously rapid descent. The balloon fellfourandaquarter milesinless thanaquarterof an hour, covering the last two miles inonlyfour minutes. Theyreached earth closeto the shore, and were fortunate to escapewithonlyafewbruises,thoughall the instru-mentswereoncemorebrokenintheshock.Mr. Glaisher was able to make manyinteresting notes of the condition of thewinds and clouds at high levels. He ob-served how frequently different currents ofair are blowing aloft in different directionsat the same time. These differing winds68 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESaffect the shape of the clouds amongwhichthey blow. High above the ground hefrequently met with a warm wind blowingconstantly from the south-west; and he be-lieved that it is largely dueto this mild air-stream passing always overheadthatEnglandenjoys such much less rigorous winters thanother countries that lie as far north of theequator. This mildness of our climate haslong been attributed to the Gulf Stream,that warm current of the sea which sweepsupfrom the tropics past our shores. But itmaywell bethat there is besides an" AerialGulfStream,"asMr.Glaishercalls it,blowingconstantlyaboveourheads,which also servestowarmthe air, andmakeourwinter climatemildandmoist.One fact these experiments seemed toestablish was, that when rain is falling fromanovercast sky,there is alwaysahigherlayerof clouds overhanging the lower stratum.Nothing surprised Mr. Glaisher more thanthe extreme rapidity with which the wholesky,upto avast height, could fill up entirelywith clouds at the approach of a storm.Another point noted was that, when a windis blowing, the upper portion of the currentalways travels faster than that next theground. This is due, of course, to theobstacles the wind meets as it sweeps overthe earth, and which check its onwardprogress.THE BALLOON IN WARFARE 69These, and very many other facts of thegreatest interest to the meteorologist, werethe outcome of Mr. Glaisher's experiments.Later voyages of a similar kind have addedgreatly to our knowledge of the conditionof the air, and it seems certain that in thefuture the balloon will be much more usedbyscientific men,and by its means theywillbeabletopredictthe weathermoreaccuratelyand further ahead than at present, and learnmany other things of which we are now inignorance.CHAPTERVTHE BALLOON IN WARFAREBut there is another practical use for theballoon to which we must now refer, andthat a most important oneits employmentin war-time. It was notlong after the in-ventionofthis ship ofthe skies that soldiersbeganto realisewhat avaluable aid it mightbe to them in times of battle,enablingthemto see inside a camp, fort, or beleagueredcity, or watch the enemy's movements fromafar off. The opportunity for first puttingthe matter to the test very soon arose.Within a veryfew years of the earliest bal-loon experiments inFrancetherecommenced70BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESin that very country the dreadful FrenchRevolution,and soon the nation found itselfat warwith all the world,andforced to holdits own,alone, against the armies of Europe.This danger quickened the minds of all tothe importance ofmaking use of every pos-sible means of defence in their power. Itwas suggested that the newly discoveredballoon might be turned to account, andimmediately a school for military ballooningwas established near Paris. Fifty youngmilitary students were trained inthe newart, and suitable balloons were provided.The value of their work was soon apparent.In June 1794 was fought the battle ofFleurus, between the French and Austrians.Beforethefighta balloon partyhad carefullyobserved the position of the Austrian forces,and, through the information they gave, theFrench were able to gain a speedy and de-cisive victory. In thisway,and at this earlystage, the value of the war balloon was atonceestablished.Curiously enough, Napoleon would makenouse ofballoons in his campaigns,andevendid away with the balloon school at Paris.Thereasongivenforhis prejudice is acuriousone. Atthe time of his coronation a large,unmannedballoon, gailydecorated,andcarry-ing thousands of lights, was sent up fromParis during the evening's illuminations. Itwas a very beautiful object, and behavedTHE BALLOON IN WARFARE71splendidly, sailingawayintothenight,amidstgreat popular rejoicing, until it was lost tosight in the darkness. Butatdaybreaknextmorning it was seen approaching the city ofRome, where it presently arrived, actuallyhovering over St. Peter's and the Vatican.Then,asifits missionwere fulfilled, it settledto earth, and finally fell in Lake Bracciano.Butas it fell it rent itself, and left a portionofthe crown with which it was ornamentedon the tomb of the RomanEmperor Nero.Napoleon, who was always a superstitiousman, saw in this extraordinary voyage somedreadful forecast of his own fate. He wasmuch disturbed, and forebade the matterever to be mentioned in his presence; norwould he henceforward have any more todo with balloons.Militaryballoons were used bythe Frenchagain, however, during theirwarinAfrica in1830. TheAustriansalsousedthemin 1849,and it is said the Russians had them at thesiege of Sebastopol in theCrimeanWar. AMontgolfier balloonwas made use of bytheFrench in 1862 at the battle of Solferino;and the Americans also employed balloonsduring the Civil War a year later. TheAmerican war balloons were comparativelysmall ones, inflated with hydrogen. Thehydrogen was manufactured in the way al-ready described, by pouring dilute sulphuricacid upon scrap-iron. For making the gas72BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESuponthefieldtwolargetanks ofwood called"generators"were used. Inthese thewaterandscrap-iron wereplaced andtheacidpouredupon them, the gas produced being carriedto the balloon through pipes, passing first^:^>^r>*AmericanWarBalloon.through vessels filled with lime-water to cooland purify it. When on the march fourwaggons were sufficient to carry the wholeapparatus. The inflation, which took sometime, was made as close to the scene ofaction as was considered safe, and whenthe balloon was once full a party of menTHE BALLOON IN WARFARE 73could easily tow it about to where it wasneeded.But the time when the balloon was mostlargely and most usefully used in time ofwarwas during the Siege of Paris. In themonthofSeptember1870,duringtheFranco-PrussianWar, Paris was closely invested bythe Prussian forces, and for eighteen longweeks lay besieged and cut offfrom all therest of the world. No communication withthe city was possible either by road, river,rail, or telegraph, nor could the inhabitantsconvey tidings of their plight save by onemeans alone. Only the passage of the airwasopentothem.Quite at thebeginning ofthe siege it oc-curred to the Parisians that they might useballoonstoescapefromthe beleagueredtown,andpassovertheheadsoftheenemytosafetybeyond; and inquiry was at once made todiscover what aeronautical resources were attheir command.It was soon found that with only one ortwo exceptionsthe balloons actuallyin exist-ence within the walls were unserviceable orunsuitablefortheworkonhand,beingmostlyold oneswhich had beenlaid aside asworth-less. Onelucky discovery was, however,made.Two professional aeronauts, of well-provedexperienceand skill,wereinParisatthetime.These were MM. Godard and Yon,both ofwhomhad beeninLondononlyashort time74 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESbefore in connectionwithahuge captive bal-loon which was then being exhibited there.Theyat once received orderstoestablish twoballoon factories, and begin making a largenumber of balloons as quickly as possible.For their workshops theywere giventheuseoftwo great railway stations, then standingidle and deserted. No better places for thepurpose could be imagined, for under thegreat glass roofs there was plenty of space,andtheworkwentonapace.Astheballoonswereintendedto makeonlyone journey each, plain white or colouredcalico (of which there was plenty in thecity), covered with quick-drying varnish,wasconsidered good enough for their material.Hundredsofmenandwomenwere employedat the two factories ; and altogether somesixty balloons were turned out during thesiege. Their management was entrusted tosailors, who, of all men, seemed most fittedfor the work. The only previous trainingthatcould be given themwas to sling themup to the roof of the railway stations in aballooncar, andthere makethemgothroughthe actions ofthrowing out ballast, droppingthe anchor,and pulling the valve-line. Thiswas,of course,verylike learning to swimondryland;nevertheless,these amateurs made,onthewhole,veryfairaeronauts.Butbeforethefirst of the newballoonswasready experiments were already being madeTHE BALLOON IN WARFARE 75withthefewoldballoonstheninParis. Twowere moored captive at different endsof thetown to act as observation stations fromwhence the enemy's movements could bewatched. Captiveascentsweremadeinthemevery few hours. Meanwhile M. Duruof, aprofessional aeronaut, made his escape fromthe city in an old and unskyworthy ballooncalled" Le Neptune," descending safelyout-side the enemy's lines, while another equallysuccessful voyage wasmade with two smallballoonsfastenedtogether.And then, as soon as the possibility ofleavingParisbythis meanswas fully proved,an important new development arose. Sofar, aswasshown,tidings ofthebesiegedcitycould beconveyedtothe outside world; buthowwas news from without to reach thoseimprisoned within? The problem was pre-sentlysolvedinamostingeniousway.There was in Paris, when the siege com-menced, a society or club of pigeon-fancierswhowere speciallyinterested inthe breedingandtrainingof"carrier"or"homing"pigeons.The leaders of this club now came forwardand suggested to the authorities that, withthe aid of the balloons,their birdsmight beturned to practical account as letter-carriers.The idea was at once taken up,and hence-forward everyballoon that sailedoutof Pariscontainednotonlylettersanddespatches,butalso a number of properly trained pigeons,70 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESwhich,when liberated, would find their wayback to their homes within the walls of thebesiegedcity.Whenthe pigeonshad beensafelybroughtoutofParis, andfallenintofriendlyhands be-yondthe Prussianforces,therewere attachedto the tail feathers of each of them goosequills, abouttwoincheslong,fastenedonbyasilkenthreadorthinwire. Inside theseweretiny scraps of photographic film, not muchlargerthanpostagestamps,uponwhichalargenumber of messages had been photographedbymicroscopicphotography. Soskilfully wasthisdonethateachscrapoffilmcouldcontain2500messagesof twentywordseach. Abirdmight easilycarry a dozen ofthese films, fortheweightwas alwaysless thanonegramme,or15grains. One bird, in fact, arrived inParisonthe3rdofFebruarycarryingeighteenfilms, containing altogether 40,000 messages.Toavoidaccidents, several copiesof thesamefilmweremade,andattachedtodifferentbirds.WhenanyofthepigeonsarrivedinParistheirdespatches were enlarged and thrown on ascreen by a magic-lantern, then copied andsenttothosefor whomtheywereintended.This system of balloon and pigeon postwent on during the whole siege. Betweensixtyandseventyballoonsleftthe city, carry-ing altogether nearly 200 people, and twoand a half million letters, weighing in allabout ten tons. The greater number ofTHE BALLOON IN WARFARE77thesearrived in safety, while the returnjour-neys, accomplishedbythebirds, werescarcelyless successful. The weather was very un-favourable duringmostof thetime,and coldandfogsprevented manypigeons frommakingtheir waybacktoParis. Of360birdsbroughtsafely out of the city byballoon onlyabout60 returned, but these had carried betweenthemsome100,000messages.Oftheballoonsthemselvestwo,eachwithitsluckless aeronaut, wereblown outto sea andnever heard of more. Twosailed into Ger-manyandwere captured bythe enemy,threemore came down too soon and fell into thehands of the besieging armynear Paris, andone did not even get as far as the Prussianlines. Others experienced accidents androughlandingsinwhichtheir passengersweremoreorlessinjured. Moreover,each balloonwhich sailed by day from the city becameatonceamarkfor the enemy's fire;so muchso that before long it became necessary tomake all the ascents by night, under coverofdarkness.They were brave men indeed who daredface the perils of a night voyage in an un-tried balloon, manned by an unskilled pilot,and exposed to the fire of the enemy, intowhose hands they ran the greatest risk offalling. It is small wonder there was muchexcitement in Paris when it became knownthatthefirst ofthenewballoonsmadeduring78 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESthesiegewastotakeawaynolessapersonagethanM.Gambetta, the great statesman,whowasatthetime,andforlongafter,theleadingman in France. He made his escape byballoon on the 7th of October, accompaniedby his secretary and an aeronaut, and man-agedtoreacha safehaven,though not beforethey had been vigorously fired at by shotand shell, and M. Gambetta himself hadactually been grazed on the hand by abullet.Another distinguished man who hazarded thesame perilousfeat,thoughfor averydifferentreason,wasM.Janssen, afamous astronomer.Onthe 22ndofDecemberof that yeartherewas to take place an important total eclipseofthe sun, which would be visible in SpainandAlgeria. It had long beenM. Janssen'sintention to observe this eclipse, andfor thispurpose he had prepared a special telescopeand apparatus; butwhenthetimedrewnearhefoundhimself andhis instruments shut upin besieged Paris,with no possible means ofescape except the dangerous and desperatehazard of a voyage by sky.But so great was the astronomer's en-thusiasm for his work, that he resolved tobrave even this risk. Taking the essentialparts of his telescope with him,and,as aero-naut, an active young sailor, he set sail inthe darkness of a winter's morning, longbefore dawn, passed safely over the enemy'sTHE BALLOON IN WARFARE 79lines, and continued the voyage till nearlymid-day, when they sighted the sea, andcame down near the mouth of the riverLoire, having travelled 300 miles in littlemore than five hours. Neither Janssen orhis telescope were injured in the descent,though the wind was high at the time; andboth reachedAlgeria in time for the eclipse.It musthave been a most bitter disappoint-ment to the ardent astronomer, after all hisexertions, that when the great day arrivedthe sun was hidden by clouds, and he wasunable to observe the sightforwhich hehadriskedsomuch.Since the Franco-Prussian war, militaryballooning has been largely developed, andnow all great armies possess their properlyequipped and trained balloon corps. Theballoons in use in the British Army at thepresentdayaremade,notofsilk, butofgold-beater's skin,averythin,butextremelytoughmembranepreparedfromthe insides ofoxen.This is, of course, much stronger and moredurablethanordinaryballoonfabric,butmuchmore expensive. The balloons are compara-tively small ones,of 10,000 feet capacity,andareinflated with hydrogen. Thehydrogenisnow no longer made upon the field, but ismanufactured in special factories, and carriedcompressed in large steel cylinders. Bythismeansthetime occupiedin filling the balloonis much reduced, but the weight of the80 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINEScylinders is very great. As will be remem-bered,balloonsweremadeofconsiderableuseduring the late Boer War. At the siege ofLadysmiththeywere thought ofmuchvaluein directing the fire of the British Artillery,and again at Spion Kop and Magersfonteinaresaidtohavedonegoodservice.Sofar wehaveshownofwhatuse balloonsmaybe in times of peace and war. Everyyear sees fresh improvements and develop-mentsinballoonsformilitarypurposesand inthoseemployedformakingmeteorological andother similar observations; and there is nodoubt that great advances may shortly beexpectedin both these directions. Butthereis yet another and totally different science towhich the balloon maylend its aid,and helpgreatlyto add to ourknowledge; and this isthe science ofgeography,or the studyoftheearth's surface.Oneoftheearliestideassuggested by Mont-golfier'sinventionwas that the balloonmightbeturnedtopracticalaccountintheexploringof unknown andinaccessibletracts of the world.Itwassuggestedthatinaballoonmenmightsail over and survey country that theywerenot able to reachinanyotherway. Desertscould be crossed in this fashion, forests andmountain ranges, and even the desolate ice-tracts oftheNorthandSouthPoles.All this is, intruth, perfectly possible,andanother day may be accomplished; but atTHE BALLOON IN WARFARE 81present great difficulties and dangersstandinthe way of exploring by balloon, and up tothe present time, with one great exception,no special attempt has been made. It hasalready been mentioned that bothWise andGreen wished to cross the Atlantic by sky,and indeed at the present momentplans areactually being made on the Continent for asimilar voyage. This, however, can scarcelybe called exploring. Other suggestionswhich may presently be put to the testare the crossing of the Sahara, and also ofanother great desert in Central Arabia, intowhich no white man has ever succeeded inpenetrating. Recent expeditionsbothto theNorth and South Poles have also takenwiththem balloons to be used captive for theobservation of the state of the ice ahead,and for obtaining wide views around.The one great attempt at exploring byballoonwhich has so far been made has, un-fortunately, met with hopeless and terribledisasterthiswasthe ill-fated voyage to theNorth Pole of Andree and his companions.The idea of reaching the Pole by balloonwas first proposed manyyears ago,and bothFrench and English aeronauts at differenttimes have made suggestions as to the bestway in which it might be accomplished.Nothing,however,wasattempted until abouttheyear1894,whenM. S. A.Andree,awell-known Swedish balloonist, who had already82 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESmetwithexcitingexperiencesintheair,madeuphismindactuallytorisktheventure.Hisplanwastotakeasuitableballoon,andtheapparatusforinflating it, to a placeas farnorth as a ship could safely go, then to fillthe balloon and wait for a favourable windwhichshouldcarry himrightoverthePoleandbeyond until inhabited country was reached.Bythe summer of 1896 all his preparationswerecomplete. Hisballoonwasanenormousone, capable of holding 162,000 cubicfeet ofgas, and was fitted Avith a rudder sail and along trail-rope, by means of which Andreehoped to be able to someextentto steer hiscourseacross the ice. Two companionsweretoaccompanyhimonhisvoyage,andonJune7th the party embarked with all their appa-ratus,andwereconveyedto Spitzbergen.Theylanded at Dane's Island,where theirfirst work was to build themselves a shed.They then got their gas-making apparatusinto order, and filled the balloon,and bythe27th of Julywereall readyfor a start. Butthewindwascontrary,anddayafterdaytheywaited invainfor a change, until at last thecaptain of the shipwhich had brought themwarnedthem theywould befrozen inforthewinter unless they returned without delay.Very reluctantly, therefore, they abandonedtheir venture for that year,and went home,leaving behind themtheshed and gas-gener-atorforanotheroccasion.THE BALLOON INWARFARE83Thewinter passed,and bytheend of nextMaytheywere back again at Dane's Island.Theirshedandapparatushadsuffered damageduringtheir absence,andhadto be repaired,andtheirpreparationswerenotcompleteuntilthe end of June. But againthe windwascontrary,andforthreeweeksmore theywaitedimpatiently. All this whilethe balloonre-mained inflated,and bythe long delaymusthavelost a considerableamountof its buoy-ancy.Atlast thewindchanged,andthoughit wasnotexactlyinthedirectiontheywished,beinga little west of south, insteadofduesouth, Andree felt he couldwait nolonger,and at half-pasttwointheafternoonofJuly11thsetsail,withhis twofriends,onhisdaringvoyage.Whatfollowedis soon told.Elevendayslater one of the carrierpigeonstakenbyAndree in his balloon was pickedup by afishing-boat offSpitzbergen.Fastened to itwas the followingmessage:"July13th,'12.30 p.m.82 2'north lat.,15 5'east long.Good journey eastward.All goes well onboard.Andree."Thiswas the latest newseverheardof theill-fatedvoyagers.Laterontwo ofAndree'sbuoys, thrown out fromthe balloon,werefound;butthemessagesthesecontainedweredatedontheeveningofJuly11th,onlyafewhoursafterthestart. If the date ofthefirstfoundmessagecanberelied on, itwouldseem84 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESthat after forty-eight hours Andree's balloonwas still sailing well, and he had alreadyaccomplished the longest voyage aloft evermade.Ofhis subsequentfate, andthatofhiscom-panions, nothing is known. Search expedi-tions havefailedtofindanytrace ofthem orof theballoon,andthe many rumoursreceivedhave been proved to befalse. Therecan beno possible reason todoubt that these bravemenperishedintheirdaringattempt,andthattheirboneslieintheArcticSeaorinthewasteoficeandsnowthatsurroundsthePole.CHAPTER VITHEAIRSHIPSofarin our storywehave traced the originandprogressof theballoon,showinghow fromsmall beginnings it has grown to be an im-portantinvention,ofgreatusetothescientificobserver,thesoldier, andtheexplorer,andthemeansofteachingusmuchfreshknowledge.But in spite of the high hopes of earlyaeronauts, and the extravagant propheciesmade when the first balloons ascended intothe sky, it has long been evident that theballoon alone has not solved the problem ofhuman flight or accomplished the conquestTHE AIRSHIP 85of the air. An ordinary balloon is, in fact,nothing more than a mere lifting machine,no more capable of sailing the sky, in theproper sense oftheword,thanacorkfloatinginthewateris capable of sailing the sea. Ithasnomovementofits own,butdrifts simplyat the mercy of the wind,and quite beyondcontrol. By the discharge of ballast, or bythelettingoutofgas,theaeronautcanindeedcause it to rise or sink at pleasure,andsome-times when two currents of air are blowingaloft indifferent directions at the same timehe may, by passing from one to the other," tack"his balloon tosomeextent across thesky. Otherwisehe has no power of guidingor directing it in the least degree,andshouldhe lose sight ofthe earth above the clouds,has even no method of telling in whichdirection he is travelling.Earlyinventorsthoughttheywouldbeabletosteerballoonsbymeansofsails,likeaboat,buttheysoonfoundthat thiswas impossible.The effect of hoisting a sail at the side ofa balloon was merely to swing the balloonrounduntil the sailwas in front,whilemean-time it continued its course unaltered. Theuse of a rudder and other means were alsotried, but without success ; nor can suchmethods ever hope to succeed so long as aballoon floats in the air at the same pace asthe wind that carries it forward. Aballoontravelling with the wind may be compared86 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINESto a boat drifting idly with the tide. Aslong as she drifts she refuses to answer herrudder,whichswingsidly. Butpresentlytheboatmanhoistsasail, andthewindcarries theboat onwards faster than the tide, and thenimmediately the rudder comes into action.Or should there be no wind,he mayaccom-plish the same thing by dragging an anchororotherweight in the water,and so slowinghis boat down until it moves slower thanthe current; he will then again find that hisboatwillanswerherhelm.To steer his course in a balloon,therefore,the aeronaut must so arrange that he istravelling faster or slower than the wind inwhich he finds himself. To travel faster, hemust employ some sort of engine or motortodrivehis craft onwards. To travel slower,he must trail something along the groundbeneath to act as a drag.Part ofthe equipment of every balloon isa long trail-rope, which, when the balloonis aloft, hangs some 300 feet below the car.The object of this rope is to breaktheforceof the fall when the balloon comes down tothe earth at the end of the voyage. In thegreater number of cases aballoon,in its finalswooptotheground,fallsthelastfew hundredfeet with considerable, and often uncomfort-able, speed. Butwhenprovided with a trail-rope, as it descends more and more of theheavyrope will lie along the ground, andsoTHE AIRSHIP 87lighten theweight ofthe balloon,and lessentheshockoffalling.Ifthenatrail-ropewereusedofsuchlengththat it would sweep along the groundwhilethe balloon was flying in the air, the effectwould be to put a drag or brake on theballoon, and so render it capable of beingsteered to some extent with a sail ; and thisiswhathas actuallybeendonein allattemptsof the kind. But sincealongrope draggingrapidlyacross the countryis averydangerousobject, capable of doing great damage, andalsoliabletocatchintreesandotherobstacles,suchexperimentscanonlybetriedwithsafetyover the sea, or, as in the case of Andree'svoyage,overdesertoruninhabitedcountry.The best wayof steering a balloon, there-fore, is to provide it with some mechanicalpower whichshallurgeitonwardsatagreaterspeedthanthewind; and when this is done,it has ceased to be a balloon in the popularsense ofthe word, and has become an"air-ship."There is a great deal ofconfusionbetweenthe terms "airship," and "flying machine,"and the two words are often considered asmeaning the same thing. Butwhile, strictlyspeaking, neither word in itself has anyverydefinite meaning, it is gradually becomingmore general to apply them to two widelydifferent objects. According to this plan,althoughbothnamesstandforanaerial vessel88 BALLOONS AND FLYING MACHINEScapable of travelling in the sky by its ownmotion, an airship is a machine supportedin the air by reason of its buoyancy, whilea flying machine is kept aloft onlybyvirtueofitsonwardmovement.Inotherwords,part ofthe construction ofan airship consists of a bag or balloon, filledwith gas or hot air, which causes the wholeto rise and maintain its position in the air.Thisballoonpart is quite independent of themachinery which drives the airship forward,and indeed if the engine ceases working,thevesselbecomesnothingmorethananordinaryballoon in its nature, and will behave likeone. An airship, therefore, is in principlean apparatus lighter than air.A flying machine, on the contrary, isheavier than air, and maintains its positionaloft merelybythepower it obtainsfrom itsengines, assisted by its special construction.The inventors of flying machines take astheir ana