The Portland daily press., 1869-05-28
AGRICoLA.
A Balloon Trip Acro.. ,he Atlantic.


THE MAN WHO WILL MAKE 1T AND HIS PREpA-
RATIoNs.
NJ. Chevalier, who came to America about
three months ago, for the purpose Of going
back in a balloon, is not, it seems, humbdg
like Professor Lowe and Weston, the pedes-
trian. He has determined to start from Land
mann's Park, N. Y, about the middle of July.
Chevalier is Russian, wealthy and educated,
who claims relationship with the Gar. We
take the following paragraphs concerning him
from the New York Tribune:
He finally made one Invention in his art
which will give him an enduring fame, and
which goes far toward assuring the success of
his perious enterprise of traversing the wide
Atlantic. This was the "c0mpensator" bal
loon-a small reservoir balloon placed beneath
the mouth of the main balloon to receive the
gas which escapes by expansion in high alti-
tudes, and which in ordinary balloons is lost
1t was during his stay in Paris with Nadar
that Chevaler engaged in the greatest balloon
ing feat in history, the voyage of ~ ,.,.fl
THE FAMOUS BALLOON LIE GEANr."
The remarkable incidents of the ascent Of
"Le Geant," which took place in Paris in 1854,
are doubtless fresh in the memory of many of
our readers. Chevalier had with him as COM
pagnons du uoydge, the Princess De La Tour
ID Auvergne, then famous "girl of the peri
od,' Nadar, NJ. Delessert, the two brothers
| GODDARD, nj. Tirion, great-grandson of Mongol-
| fer, and M. De st. Felix. "Le Gsaaf' left
Paris at 8 Z. NJ. on the 18th of Ssptember.--
| The same night at ten o'clock, its electric
| lights attracted the attention Of the guard on
| boundary post between Holland and Ger
| many, who informed the balloonists that they
were 700 miles from home. They then ascend
| ed again, and during the night Chevalier
had the proud pleasure of seeing the value
of his compensator balloon practically
demonstrated, as it was at one time
halt full of gas that would otherwise have been
lost, and rendered further progress impossible.
The landing was effected the next day, at 8
o'clock, not without serious casualties. howev-
er, as the Princess, Nadar, ST. Felix, Deles-
sert, and Chevalier, all had limbs broken, and
| were otherwise seriously hurt The balloon
had trayersed 1900 miles in 15 hours.
| Several other ascents of Chevaliers have be-
| come historical. In 1867 he crossed the Eng
lish Channel from Dublin, landing in West
moreland, after q sail of 154 miles, done in
hours. In 1868, he ascended from Hull, Eng
| land, and attained the altitude OF 10000 feet,
a hight which he claims has never been equal
| ed, and beyond which he believes it is not Civ
en- to man togo. He was privileged to witness
| on this occasion phenomenon hitherto unre-
corded, but it was at the expense of the most
| acute suffering. AT the hight of IA, 900 feet
breathing became difficult, and some .pigeons
| he had with him were unable to fly. At $1,000
| feet the blood started from every pore of his
| body, as well as from bis nose, eyes, and ears,
| and his clothes were saturated.
HOW THE ATLANTIC VOYAGE Is TO BE ACCOM-
| PLIsHED.
NJ Chevalier has made 165 balloon VOYAGES.
and may be presumed to have q moderately
good understanding of the difficulties incident
TO voyage across!the Atlantic he declares
that these difficulties are not peculiar to the
Atlantic voyage, except as it is one Of unusal
| extent and duration. They naturally range
themselves under two heads, viz:
1. Maintaining the buoydncy of the balloon.
H.. Keeping direct course.
The great cause of the diminution of the
| buoyancy of balloon, is the rising and falling
| in the altitude Of its course. In the case OF
the ordinary balloon, every flight above the av-
erage costs an expenditure of both gas and bal
last.
Chevalier provides against the waste of gas
by means of the receiving reservoir, above al
luded to, and against the waste of ballast by
an ingenious contrivance which is too compii-
Gated for description here.
HOW THE DIRECTION is PRESERVED.
The second of the two great problems of the
undertaking is how to keep the balloon ON a
direct course. Chevalier is not by any means
a victim to a belief in balloon navigation. In
| fact, he has perfect contempt for the balloon
| considered as an air-ship, and says it is good
for nothing, but for the purposes of scientific
| observation. A balloon, he says, SO far from
L D6lQ2 u snip Is uOL even u DuOy leb l0Oo6 from
| its moorings; for buoy floats on the surface,
but the aerial sea has no surface. A balloon,
| says the Professor, is o jelly-fsh immersed in q
fluid by whose every current 1t is helplessly
carried to and fro; the jelly-fsh makes feeble
efforts to direct its own course, with about as
much success as that of balloon. How then
is M. Chevalier to know when he ascends
from Landmarks Park next July, whether he
| is about to cross the Atlantic or the Pacific?
The answer is, that though Chevalier does not
koIsn hall ko hall H.
rents. In every ascent during his long career,
| he says, he found on reaching an altitude any
where between 1000 and 10000 feet that the
wind was invariably from the west or rather
from the northwest; however way the wind
was blowing near the ground; in each OF his
one hundred and sixty five ascents he found a
northwest current in the atmosphere. Cheva-
lier believes this current to be a discovery Of
his own, and it is for the glory Of establishing
his theory rather than that of sailing three or
four thousand miles over the water, (which he
regards quite an everyday affair) that he un
dertakes his balloon voy age from North Amer
lea to Europe.
FINAL PREPARATION FOR THE VOYAGE.
Mons. Chevalier may be seen almost any
morning quietly at work putting the finishing
touches on his balloon at Landmarks Park
He is quiet, unobtrusive, yet prepossessing
young man of 80 years, of dark complexion
! and with black hair and moustache. He has
large and kindly black eye, and counte-
nance which impreSses one that It's owner IS q
stranger to physical fear. He converses and
writes in excellent English, though he speaks
and writes in French, German and Russian as
well. He is very communicative and enter
tanning in elucidating his plans and theories
He has not yet determined as to how many
and what companions he will take along with
him on his voyage. The applications for pas
sage on the rare but perilous journey have
been pouring in on him by hundreds. An op-
portunity to try the accommodations of the
ship will be given these aspiring candidates
for aeronautic fame during the several prelim-
mary ascents at the end Of a rope which will
be made at Landmarks Park next week. A
life-raft has been presented EEspsrdnce which
will be suspended beneath the ear Of the bal
loon in readiness for use should the aeronaut
find it desirable to take to the watery element
The balloon is 95 feet high, So feet in diameter
and has buoyancy capable Of sustaining
tons, .,t-
Gossip and Gleanings.