Western union. (City of Hannibal, Mo.) 1850-1851, 1851-08-14
NAVIGATING the Air.

lnBton NepuUnc.
For many years the art Of navigating the air
has been looked upon as the next great di.cov.
cry to follow in the train Of steam loconu,ion
aud the electric telegraph yet no art or sci
has ever been 50 stationary, or ha, made
sSntilc progress. Balloons are no more Use.
tul now than they were in the days of Mon.
COLLIER. Not single advance has been made
III presenting and ioresecing disaster, or in con
trolling the direction III witch it moves. The
French Gronauts the most sklul in the world,
despairing Of rendering their profession use
ful one, and, al the same time, well aware that
the mercurial Parisiaus must have Il continual
succession Of novelty, and that the ascension Of
Tomorrow must present some feature distinct
from that which characterized the ascension of
yesterday, have been obliged to limit themselves
to the invention OF extravagance and burlesque
IN Their gfIan exhibitions NJ. GODDARD would
give every dollar he has earned in his danger
Gus career to be able to announce that on such
day, aud at such an hour, the iavorie balloon,
EAGLE, will leave for Brussels, without regard
10 WIND or weather but as he can do nothing
oil the sort, he is forced to ada TO the stale dis
play oil common ascent the additional attraction
oil Three female riders Of the llippodrome, ias
tened, III luxurious attitudes upon the outside
of the Car. Nj. Pottevin, finding il ont of The
question to maze his balloon steer 10 the north.
1t 1t happens to want 10 go towards the south,
has to content himself with going I'M on the
back OF bull, or IN a carriage harnessed with
two horses. But if we are To believe what we
read IN The newspapers, the great problem, Of
nrIsh locomotioh is to he solved next month
"A man is to go up III balloon of novel cos
sTuclion IN company with his two sons Hav
ing arrived at certain height, they are TO put
on WIN gs, also uI n new pattern, and launch
themselves INTO The blue empvrean. They will
descend to the earth, skim along its surface, and
mount again to the balloon, winch will wait their
return without the least change of place. As
corroborative OF the successful termination of
his iubors, the gentleman mentions that last
Thursday, al the witehing hour of midnight,
when nobody was looking, he .tcw across the
!Neine a late traveller IN America, amazed a,
the vast number oil steamboats, navigating its
rivers, at The mngnificence and speed Of the
ocean llnes and at the development the tele-
graph has reached IN a short period of time
states his belief that the United States will vet
discover the secret Of travelling in the air. II
Brother Jonathan has any such an idea, he
mus, take care and not bo anticipated by our
friend Of the wings.
The"phile Cutter, one of the most pleasing
of the Paris ieuilletonisls, wrote, about three
years ago, an article entitled "a propos de Bal
Ions" He is firm believer in the splendid
future in store for NAVY cation in the upper re-
gions, and expresse, his faith in the following
manner:
"a strong curd still held to the earth, but
soon, upon signal from Mr.. Green, the cable
was cut, and the nran vessel arose steadil,
with IL movement at once easy, powerful, and Of
infinite majesty. AS much as the locomotive
has an internal appearance, SO has the balloon Il
celestial one, without any play upon words.
The one borrows its auXiliaries from iron, coal,
fire, and boiling water the other employs on.
ly silk aud gas-a thin cloth filled with light
air. The engine, with lis irighiul shreks, it.
noisy raliing and its black puff, of smoke,
runs upon ihilexible rails, roars through the
bowels 1.-THE EARTH and dives into the darkness
OF tunnels, seeming as if seeking the devil who
invented It the balloon, without noise or eff
fort, leaves the earth, where the laws of gravi-
y hold US, and mount. TRANQUILITY towards God.
Unha2pily, the ba!loon, like inspiration, goes
where the wind guides it--,his every one
knows; spiritus fiat nJe uuli; and the steam
engine, like prose, goes ,traigh, upon its rond.
1T has neither wings, nor tail, nor neck, nor
'eet-nothing viii ch can guide it it is vessel
without sail or helm, fish without fins, bird
without feathers i! floats, that is all it is
r,lnmen'e, and it is no'hingi i, is SO young that
1T does not know its way, and it goes in great
uncertainty as q lost child.
"We cannot understand why all the inven-
tors wise inechanicians, chemists, poets, do not
occupy themselves continually Ivy endeavoring
TO solve the problem Of the guiding Of balloons,
and that people pass their time in making rev.
olutIons more or less opportune, while this i'm
purtant problem is nvt searched out.
"Ihe government should promise a recon
pense Of 20 COO, 900 francs to him who should
discover the meaus OF directing balloons, and
appoint twenty wise men to make expert
enents upon the subject. This would oe money
we'll employed. Ii is necessary to hurry the
case is urgent. There will be spent in
years TO come one or two thousand millions
perhaps more, for the completion q railroads
1t is an unnecessary prodlga'ity; the railroad
in Comparison with the 9rostat, is a gross and
barbarous invention, and besides this it u
contrary to the conformation or disposition Of
the planet we inhab. The proof Of this is in
the immense labor required Tor the shortest dis.
lance Of railroad excavations, filling up OF
bitches, viaducts, tunnels and all this to make,
with thousand dangers, ten miserable leagues
an hour. The railroad evidently violates the
terrestrial CONFORMATION. 1t scratches too VIC
lently the face of its mother not to be a transi.
tory and subversive conception; not tina! we
would wish to depreciate tit has come at its
ume, and serves to render man patien, in salts
flying his desires for speed. To go in rail car
is to fly upon the surface of the earth but il il
time to quit the earth and soar into the regions
Of the empyrean
This epoch is so near that we hope to see it
That will be great day! Man will truly be-
come master Of his planet, and will have con-
uarel hia aiInn.nherel M mnra aea. M