The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-08-01 00:00:00

SCIENTIFIC BALLOON ASCENT.

The Daily N. cives the following particulars of the
balloon sseent from Woolwich Arsenal :

The experimental balloon ascent from Woolwich
Arsenal took place on Saturday afternoon, under very
favourable circumstances. The strongly westerly winds
which rendered an ascent out of the question had
abated, and there was almost a dead calm, the best
condition possible for the ascent. The apparatus to
be tested was the invention of Mr. C. A. Bowdler, who
hoped by its means to steer the balloon in the air at an
angle of deviation more or less deflecting from the
direction of the wind. The value of such a discovery
in a military point of view may be estimated by the
one fact alone that it would enable a general to com-
municate with his friends in a beleaguered town or
fortress, by a careful calculation of distances, force of
wind, and the deflecting power of his machinery.

Mr. Coxwell, who holds foremost place among pro-
fessional aeronauts, liberally placed his large balloon at
the service of Mr. Rowdier, believing that there was
something in his theory of propulsion difte rent to any-
thing which had vet been tritd ; and permission was
readily given by the Government to inflate the balloon
at the gasworks of the Royal Arsenal, Major Beau-
mont, the President of the Army Balloon Committee,
himself a skilled teronant, being authorised to represent
the War Office. The balloon employed was a nearly
new one, in which Mr. Coxwell has made but three ,
scents, christened "The City of York" by the Lady
Mayoress of that city. Ps height, independent of the
car, is 80 feet, and it contained when iutiated 60,000
cubic feet of gas, so that it is a large balloon—too
large, the inventor thought, for a fair trial of his steer-
ing apparatus, but Mr. Rowdier, sanguine of success,
simply stipulated that any results he might obtain ,
should be reckoned slightly above their value in conse-
quence of his being at this disadvantage.
At three o'clock the balloon was fully inflated, and
there was assembled a large number of spectators
connected with the scientific branches of the army or ,
the manufacturing departments. The four passengers
in the balloon were Major Beaumont, Mr. Coxwell,
Mr. Rowdier, and a stalwart sapper, Sergeant T.
Murray, to assist in working the steering machinery.
This was fixed to the car in a few minutes. A tall
frame of wood was lashed inside, containing a few
small cogwheels and a common crank handle, while
outside and above the car were fixed in connection with ,
it two fans or screw propellers, precisely like the screw
of a ship, and made apparently of tin or zinc. The
simple nature of the affair and its immense dispropor-
tion to the colossal balloon which towered above it ,
suggested a very general doubt whether it could have I
any influence or control over the course which the I
monster must take if left to sail free before the wind, ,
and opinions were unreservedly expressed by men who
have studied the question that the object aimed at can
never be attained until some agency more potent than ,
manual power can be carried with the balloom—seme
engine which shall be capable of driving an arrangement
of fans at a high speed, but weigh only a few pounds.
Mr. Bowdler's apparatus was hut three feet in diameter.
and its rate of motion 12 or 14 revolations per second.
Delorne's apparatus, designed by the French Naval
Architect, is to have a screw 16 feet high, and a much
more rapid speed is calculated upon; but it is difficult to
see how it can be obtained except by largely augment-
ing the motive power. The second screw in Mr.
Bowdler's machine was fixed vertically, just below the
other, and with this he proposed to raise and depress
the balloon; it was decided to try this first. Major ,
Beaumont, mounted in the rigging, took command,
and Mr. Coxwell, by a careful expenditure of ballast,
got his balloon, which was held captive by a guy rope, '
to a nice balance about twenty feet from the ground.
The major gave the order, and the inventor and his
soldier assistant toiled at the crank, while the
vertical fan spun round, but no other effect was
produced, the balloon neither rising nor falling,
,to all appearances, a single inch. Major Beau-
mont suggested that perhaps the handle had been
turned the wrong way, and proposed another trial.
The balloon was brought to a balance again, this time
close to the ground, and when the machinery was set
going it slowly but unmistakably began to rise, until
it was checked by the guy rope, about forty feet from
the ground. What was even more convincing, as soon
as the crank ceased work the balloon began to descend,
and descended till it touched the earth. The experi-
ment was repeated several times, and always with the
same result ; the balloon rose when the fan was at
work, sometimes very slowly, but it always came
down when the apparatus stopped. The order was
next given to release the balloon in order to try the
propeller in the higher air. It ascended almost per-
pendicularly, the major still in the shrouds, and Mr.
Coxwell standing on the edge of the car. The spec-
tators below were unable to see what effect the steer-
ing apparatus had, as the balloon soon attained a
considerable altitude, and disappeared in misty clouds
as it drifted slowly an ay north-eastward. After as-
cending about a thousand feet, the steering apparatus
was tried, but failed to have the slightest apparent
effect on the course of the balloon. It developed,
however, one unexpected quality—it enabled the
aeronauts to make the balloon revolve either to the
right or to the left, according to the way in which the
fan was worked. In the opinion of the Government
officer, it quite failed to fulfil its original object.
After snaking a low dip over the Essex marshes by
letting out gas, and repeating the trial ix ithout success,
the ballast was discharged, and the balloon ascended
an altitude of two miles. The sky being hazy, this
carried them through a thick cloud, which quite hid
the earth from sight, and gave the voyagers a splendid
view ,tf the sun's effect upon the upper surface of the
clouds. After enjoying this for a while they opened
the valve, and dropped down, alighting safely, at
seven o'clock, on the farm of Mr. Morris, at Cray's-
bill, nine miles from Rumford, and four miles from
I Pitsea Station on the Tilbury and Southend line.