The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-15 00:00:00

THE AERIAL SKIP.

The New York Times publishes a letter from
Professor T. S. C. Lowe, the aeronaut, who proposes
to undertake the aerial voyage to Europe in the
City of New York balloon. Professor Lowe reposes
great confidence in the efficacy of the apparatus he
has devised fer the accomplishment of his under-
taking, and avows his determination, in case of
disaster, to repair damages and try again.
" Some people," he writes," may think that I ant
insane, rash, or a seeker after fame, but this is not
the case. I have for two years coolly considered
the subject, and have provided for every contingency.
I intended to make my first trip aesess the ocean
entirely a private undertaking; but finding that
the amount of expense to be incurred would over-
tax my personal means, I have been compelled to
announce a public exhibition while preparing for
the voyage. lam confident of success for various
reasons :—First : I have a large balloon, which
has a capacity of 725,000 cubic feet ; therefore,
should the envelope be no more perfect than those
which are usually constructed, it will retain its
power for a longer period. Second : I have devised
mechanical appliances for raising and lowering the
balloon while in the air without expenditure
of the lifting power. Third : I havp invented
an apparatus for indicating the different cur-
rents below, so that advantage can be taken of
these currents should I find myself going too
far north or south. Should any accident occur, or
should the balloon, machinery fail to accomplish
its work, the metallic libeboat, which will be sus-
pended below the car, is rigged with sails, and will
prove sufficiently strong to endure any sea. It is
true, I would have preferred another season of the
year for undertaking this great experiment of
transatlantic aerial navigation, but should this
first attempt at an exploring expedition, as I term
it, not prove entirely successful, I shall not be
deterred from instituting experiments with a
view; to ascertaining the cause of failure and the
remedy thereof. I shall be supplied with all the
philosophical apparatus necessary to make meteo-
rological observations. If aerial navigation is ever
perfected, it will be accomplished by perseverance,
even in the midst of opposition and detraction. I
am willing to take the risk, and if I can do any-
thing to add, in however small a measure, to the
' store of our scientific knowledge, I shall feel amply
repaid. I have no doubt, but cherish a fervent
hope, that the time is not far distant when we can
travel in the air without the aid of balloons for a
buoyant force. I have already devised a plan for
an aerial carriage, which can be navigated in any
direction, and at a high rate of speed, as soon as a
propelling power can be discovered, the weight of
which shall be one-third of that we now employ.
It only requires some shrewd and intelligent in-
ventor to do this, and aerial navigation will become
a practical science."

Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Sheppard have arrived at
Farranco's Hotel, Belgravia, from their scat, Ashe High
House, Suffolk.

ROBERT COOMBES, LATE CHAMPION OF THE
Tiis.iaas.—At the last meeting of the Thames Subscrip-
tion Club, established for the encouragement of rowing in
the Thames and the relief of deserving watermen—the Hon.
George Denman, M.P., president—it was resolved to give
the sum of a from the funds towards the public subscrip-
tion now being raised to relieve the necessitous condition of
the family of this once celebrated and meritorious waterman.
The case is one well deserving public sympathy. The
father, who is in a lunatic asylum, has left eight children,
four of whom, girls, are wholly dopencient upon the mother,
one being unhappily a sufferer like her father. Mr.- C. J.
Selwyn, M.P., and Messrs. G. Antrobus, C. Curling, G.
Raphael, J. Nottidge, J. C Stahlschmidt, J. Draper, and
C. Clifford, all well known in the acquatic world, have
headed the subscription list, and the last-named gentleman
(the inventor of the excellent plan for lowering- ships' boats)
has been appointed treasurer of the funds subscribed to-
wards the above laudable object.
There is a rumour of an alliance between an
illustrious Princess and the brother of a reigning Duke of
Germany. The subject is yet too young to be spoken of
more distinctly on either side, and we only allude to it as it
is beginning to be whispered about, knowing that the re-
port of such-matters, in very early days, is not to be given
too great credence to. The avidity with which information
is sought is a proof that the country takes a lively interest
in nil that relates to the happiness of the illustrious lady
referred to,—Court Journal.