National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-09-19
The European Balloon.
A Mammoth Affair--.Its Dimensions.

% A Mammoth Anair-.-Its Dimensions.
The great balloon OF Profs. Wise an
y Donaldson for the European voyage ID
!, with the life-boat just touching Tn
g earth, lG0 feet high, or over three time
, the height Of an ordinary house. Tn
a globe itself is about the width of fou
4 house fronts. The varnish covering oil
@ the white canvas gives ii dark stray
T. color. IL is able TO lit from the ground
: including its own weight, II, 40,
I pounds, and has net carrying capacit,
: for passengers and ballast of 300
pounds. The lifting powerof illumina
: ting gas-that il to say, tho difference
, between its own weight and that of tn,
airs thirty-six pounds for each on,
| hundred cubic feet. II will thus be seer
that il is contemplated TO put into tho
balloon 400, 600 cubic feet. II will, in
fact, be able TO contain GOO, 900 cubic
: feet ut the SUR ce of the earth, but in
the rarefed atmosphere of n mile and Il
half above the earth the amount to be
taken will expand to completely fill it.
Next IN Importance, for this purpose, to
the ballast slowed away in the car, will
be the safety-valve. An accidental loss
Of large quantity of ballast and n s, d.
den rise of the balloon would cause IN
expansion Of gas that the small opei-
ings constituting the mouth could BY
no means furnish escape for. Should
this happen, the aeronauts, by pulling
the valve. may produce n circular open
ing at the top OF the balloon, three feet
in diameter.
The balloon proper is made Of I'M
bleached sheeting, of thick, close
quality, known as Indian Orchard. "
For forty feet from the valve, this ma
terial is doubled and still third thick
ness was added, of what is known as
Manchester Mills " bleached, of which
$50 yards were required There are in
all 4,3l6 yards of cloth, and there are
1850 yards, or eight miles, of sewing,
in which l0,137600 stitches were
made.
The network is composed of three
strand tarred rope, known rs "marline.
1t is tarred to prevent its becoming
heavy by absorbing moisture. The
circumference of the net is 31S meshes,
and the breaking strength of each strand
is 2S8 pounds, which makes the COM
bined breaking strength of the not
81 ,58i pounds, or nearly 46 tons. At
its lower part it is attached to fifty
.inch Manila ropes, each fifty feet
long. These ropes will converge to
what is called the concentrating ring,
to which the car ropes will be attached.
The weight the marline" is 500
pounds, while $500 feet of Manila
rope will be required to attach the net
ting to the ring.
The car, which hangs from the con-
centrating ring, is fifteen feet high and
nine feet five inches in diameter at the
wild st part. The sixteen ropes which
form it's framework pass from the con-
centrating ring down over n distending
hoop ten feet below the ring and nine
feet five inches in diameter, thence
down four feet farther to another dis
tending hoop seven feet eight inches in
diameter, and then unite under this
last mentioned hoop. Upon each Of
these hoops is laid floor of matched
boards, and thus two of the compart-
ments of the car are formed, which may
be termed the cellar and the ." main
floor" Above these, and only two and
one half feet below the concentrating
ring, was stretched light floor of mar
line netting and canvas which forms a
third story,or outlook, for the voyagers,
and which can also be substituted for
the entire car if it become necessary to
cut that away to Tighten the balloon
In that case the voyagers would all
climb up to this outlook, which is six
feet in diameter and Just about large
enough to hold four men, and then cut
the car ropes just below the floor of
their perch and let it drop, thus reliev-
ing the balloon of several hundred
pounds of fixed weight, and, perhaps,
giving the balloonists another day in
which to continue their flight.
From the edge of the little floor Just
mentioned down to the edge of the
main tloer hang four curtains of blue
striped canvas, which will completely |
enclose the car when it is desirable to |
do SO, and in the centre of each of these
curtains is an oval window, twelve |
inches across and eighteen inches high, |
provided with its own little curtain,
which has tape strings to fasten it down
when necessary. Around the base of
the main compartment runs strip of |
marine netting three feet high, and in
the floor of this compartment is a trap
door leading down to the lower com
partment or cellar.
The cellar is four feet high, seven
feet eight inches in diameter at the bot
tom, and nine feet five inches in diane
ter at the top. All around its sides is
stretched stout marline netting and
one thickness of duck, so that the eel
lar is enclosed, rain-proof, and dark
From the edge of the main floor, all
around the car, hangs an ornamental
valance of white canvas bound with
red braid, so that, with its blue-striped
canvas sides, the car will display the
true tricolor of its country. In addi-
ton to this it's outfit includes the flags
of America and the European countries
in which it is likely to alight. These
are each four feet long and two feet ten
inches wide; they are mounted on stats
twelve feet long, and will project from
the upper periphery of the car when it
starts. They include the merchant flags
of the United States, England, France,
Germany, Spain, and Sweden.