The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-11 00:00:00

AN ASC.YEN2 IN THE GREAT BALLOOS.

The preparations for the partial ascents of the
great Captive Balloon at Ashburnham Park, near to
Cremorne Gardens, were completed yesterday, and
several trial trips were made. The balloon is the
largest ever constructed, and was yesterday the
admiration of a number of gentlemen interested in
aeronautical science. The machinery to regulate the
ascent is elaborate and complete, and such is the
control exercised over the gigantic machine that she
will be a great aid in the further development of
meteorological science. After the apparatus bad
been thoroughly tested yesterday by Mr. G-laisher,
of Greenwich, in company with Mr. W. Smith,
civil engineer, and other gentlemen, a prelimi-
nary ascent was made by the proprietor and mato-
ger, and they having been again safely landed, the
preparation for the first general trial trip began.
At half-past four all was ready, and the company
numbering thirty, among whom were Mr. Glaisherl
his son (of Trinity College, Cambridge), Mr. W.
Smith, three ladies, a little boy, two aeronauts, one
of the proprietors, the representatives of the press,
and others, took their places in the car, and as soon
as the signal " all right" was given the ascent be-
gan, but with such a perfect steadiness of motion as
to be totally imperceptible. But at last, as it rose
above the height of the immense hoarding which
encloses the ground, the panorama of the metro-
polis and the valley of the Thames burst
upon the view. A stay was made for a short
time, about half the rope's length, at 3
height of 1,000 feet. From this elevation the
beauty of the immediate country was very striking.
Subsequently the party ascended to a height of
nearly 2,000 ft., and the scene became bolder and
more magnificent still. All at once a tremendous
shout of voices came from below, and burst uPnh
the calm silence with which the ascent had been
observed by the teeming thousands below.
looking for the cause it was observed that, in the
waving of hats, one of the party unfortunately
dropped his, and away it went rolling over and over
towards the earth, and a general race of thousands
from the adjoining district was being made to
scramble for it. Having remained up about half an
hour, the signal was given, and tire descent waS
made as gently and almost as imperceptibly as the
ascent, the party having thoroughly enjoyed the
ride without the slightest feeling or fear of
danger. It is already arranged that a series of
scientific experiments shall be made with the bal-
loon. The first of these will be made to-morrow
afternoon by Mr. Glaisher, with a view of deter-
mining more precisely in what manner and under
what circumstances the water in the air is dis-
persed. This, it appears, can now be done more
perfectly, as the apparatus for holding the
is so complete that it can be kept almost naetiee:
less, and raised and lowered perfectly at pleastn....
The size of the balloon is ninety feet in diameter'
it is almost spherical in shape, it holds 35°)
00.
cubic feet of gas, and can lift eleven tie.,e,
The gas with which it is inflated is pure by
ea.
gen. It is entirely made on the ground, in theei
closure, in thirty-six large retorts. It is obtain
by
bl
from vitriol and iron filings, then rarefied ~
mete,.
a water purifier, and passed into a large gase—.,o
capable of holding sufficient to fill the balloon/ ".
f
balloon
vg
being thus pure hydrogen, it is capable o
double the weight that ordinary coal gas vi? r
alaishe
Mr. Coxwell's large balloon, in which Mr. - 00
made his ascent of seven miles height, field 931%,
cubic feet. The weight of the present balloon, J.O
'
eluding the car, the netting, and ropes/ e- 0. is
of the large rope by which it is drawn d°WiTeeo
three tons and a half. The pressure is het The
five and six pounds to the square foot.
is
it
balloon is inflated from the top, so th
seat
perfectly full, and not a wrinkle is t° be. the
the mode of filling from the top preventbodij,
air from getting between the gas and the hich
is
and thus is avoided that bagginess w tor
caused by inflation from the bottom. , so
etinb'
feature peculiar is that the valve is self-a der a
that if it rises to a certain height or comes 1113,,h the
certain pressure it would descend, even lianas
coo,
aeronaut, through an extreme altitude, lost
sciousness. The car is also admirably coustr'
being in shape like a circular galley with e..,,Wne
hole in the centre, through which the large "tog
passed, and made fast at one end to the eht:a to
ropes of the netting. The other end is attaebea the
a cylinder, round which it is wound, and viu by 14
signal for descent is given it is worked r°ll di, ea•
200-horse power engine. The hoarding w XlO feet
circles the works is of immense height, and
n circumference.

CHRIST'S HOSPITAL.-OEt the 21st 1'114" u—'ll6
St'
willMatthew'sattend D
street, where alp.vsaienyrem,
Polehampton,
Fellow of Pembroke at Christ Church,
_.... T. 0.
M.A.,t Serviceoh
Rectorne
cLlrvooil 1 lde College,
,:PyoEr ei ari
feolah,ridadLd.e arlabctfsj ahhtrless;llo dest
will r
annualtt
hiens oppri taoaotnerlicsoue,
speechesao,. :—Greek to the great hall of Christ's Hospital haloo
bGrPePci
ine:
ITthheG
delivered by the senior scholars, accordinigto
R.
. W. L e
miooel
snl following wr ;
ei
"Onur
,gstitshhatGhreeeprogramiaebenefits;
(ill
jesoros.:
orations
same subject, C. A. Stokes, lst Grec',ltil
LGlrteti:niao awn, on the same subject, A. G. A. Hobartei.. J.
Henry
_nartyny;
VF.,
oration, on the same subject' fora
13iden:, 2d Grecian. The following translations from
~,Englishe poets will then be recited :—Greek lambics' 09,
R. H. Roe, Gth Grecian; Latin Oteelt
"Battle of Linden," A. L. Smitb, 7th GreCiao ; „till
, Grecian; Lactian:r
_aHexameter, - Time A. J. Butler, Bth Grecian; -).otu
Carter 9;thGreek E
There
,elAreetayi,eyssi
Breucireiiaganlia.of the Miunisink," S. Sire:3,l.. 0.
M. Field 1
Latin poem, not
evening
Caedonianß
yet adjudged. 1 0 eSPie
LORD
Lord NAPIER OF MAGDALA„--011 1 ir-dli b, b;
Castle Napierailw Railway,
,MaangddtahlawaicrerivperdocieuedEeccilintrproatioviDeo
conferred on
freedom of the city of Edinburgh is
Gf
REEN his lordship on Wednesday ne ,„, the
WICH REVISION.—Mr. Hugh Cade' fa
barrister appointed for that purpose, will hold 0, e°,lll;teetl"
twh.ec.rlevision of the voters' lists for the borough af,:j4 Oa
ial l'ia`dlSsaoAuldbraelsatE:3l:doorirg.,'ll:i
l 1 on Wednesday next. The borough conlPrPep' at.
parishes of Greenwich ; St. Paul and St. IsTcholas,
toe,
ford ; Woolwich, Charlton, and Phunstead. la ef,,to6t
yence of the addition to the boundary, the gr'-oor
increasei will be in the parish of Plunastead, and the
ftuency will probably number about 15,000 votes.
13e5t,
s
WEST KENT REGISTRATION.--gr.
old 0W• M. ertl
the barrister appointed for that purpose, will
h° fol,
If: the revision of the voters' lists for West '3l)t 9051,011
15th
:—Greenwieb, Monday, 12th Sept:nuber; 1-,eviri 'von'
; Lee, 18th ; Forest Hill. 21 ; 13romley, 23d ; '-'°
41 Eaeil
orik9, 25th ; Dartford, 28th ; WoolWieb, 390 ; au-
. bridge, 2d of October.
e