The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-05-22
DEADLY BALLOONING.

The names of Croce Spinelli and Swell
two OF the most daring and successful of
| French ;eronauts, are now to be added to
the long list of those who have laid down
their lives in the cause of Science. In COM
pany with NJ. CASTOR Tissandier, they at
tempted to ascend to higher altitude than
had ever before been reached. At $4,000
feet elevation, all three men became uncon-
scious. The balloon scared higher and
higher and then descended Tissandier
regained his senses on reaching respirable
air, to find his companions dead from suffo-
cation.
This voyage which has resulted so disas-
trously was the second of two recently pro-
iected by the French Society of -Erial Nav
igation. During the first, which was safely
| accomplished, the balloon was kept afloat
for twenty-three hours, and a number of
interesting observations of natural phe-
nomena of the atmosphere were obtained
The ieronauts, during the second ascen-
sion, were to test the atmosphere at the
highest possible altitude, make expert
ments for carbonic acid, conduct spectre
scopic observations and in general to OBJ
tain scientific data relative to the upper
;erial regions with greater accuracy than
heretofore attained. Thus it was believed
possible, through the respiration of oxy-
gen, to enable the Investigators to exist
in a highly attenuated atmosphere fact
already apparently practically demonstrat-
ed by the previous ascension of Croce- Sp-
nelli and Swell to a hight of $4,000 feet.
The balloon Zenith started on its voyage
from Paris at l o'clock p. NJ, on April 10.
1t shot directly upward, reaching the hight
of $1,000 feet in very few minutes. At
this elevation Tissander says: "My COM
panions were pale; felt weak, but inhaled
little of the gas, which somewhat revived
me. We still assembled" In response to
SiveIs request, he acquiesces in throwing
out ballast, and three of the nine eighty
pounds bags of sand were empticd. "All
at once, )" he continues, " | found myself SO
feeble that | could not even turn my head.
wanted to exclaim we are at s, 900 yards, ,
but my tongue seemed paralyzed." lis
sander then faints-but revives and finds
the balloon falling rapidly. Greatly alarm
ed, he arouses Sivel, who has fallen into a
stupor, and the latter, Selling the respira-
! tor, inhales large quantities of oxygen.
shall we go up?" exclaims Tissandier;
Eyes" replies Sivel, gaiy, land happy
the one of us that returns" Sivel becomes
! intoxicated with repeated doses of oxygen,
and in his exhilaration throws over the
respirator, besides the ballast and a num-
scars aloft, and Tissandier, as he lapses
once more into stupor, reads from the ba-
rometer an altitude of $4,000 feet Spi-
nelli and Sivel, he states, were still con-
scious, though apparently incapable of any
exertion. How high the air ship assembled
| will be known when the test barometers
are examined by the French Society,"
When Tissandier awoke. two hours later,
| the balloon was falling at fearful rate
| He hurredly cut away the grapnel and
other articles which had escaped Sivel,
| checking the speed; and then, on attempt
ing to rouse his companions, he found both
stone dead, their blackened faces and blood
suifused mouths denoting their struggles
| against the sutlocating atmosphere.
There is no definite period stated by the
| survivor at which he surmises the death of
his comrades took place. Tissandier was
the weakest, physically, of the three, and
his loss of consciousness at an early period
undoubtedly saved his life. G'aisher and
| Coxwell, at Northampton, England, in
1862, assembled, according to the calcula-
| tions of the former, to an altitude of 81
600 feet but this record cannot be regarded
as accurate, lnasmuch as it was only by
| superhuman eXertion that Coxwell was
enabled to open the valve by pulling the
| line III his teeth, and both 2ronautS had so
far succumbed to the cold and rarefied air
as to make their observations under such
conditions not very reliable.
| 1t is sad to chronicle that two such men
as the deceased lost their lives fruitlessly,
but we see no other conclusion. Their
death does not fix the limit of human exist
ence in the nights of the atmosphere, and
the most that can be gained will be the
| indications of the test barometers, and the
knowledge that the 4ronauts died before
| the marking shown was made. The fact
| of semi delirious state being produced by
the oxygen materially reduces the practical
value Of that gas as life supporter in rare
fled air, in cases where person requires
his wits about him. 1t certainly was of
little use in the present instance, as it's
effects caused Svel to throw overheard the
apparatus-probably while deprived of self
control-and thus to abandon the only
means of safety in the higher regions which,
| by tightening the balloon, it was his object
| TO reach.
Les 1N0ndes, in commenting on this un-
| fortunate casualty, points out that the way
of avoiding similar disasters in future is to
render the means of respiration completely
automatic. Either the erenauts should
have been provided with dresses similar to
those of divers, or, as suggested by M.
| Toselli, the car of the balloon should be a
metallic cylinder, perfectly alright, into
which, or into the dresses, small pump,
easily worked by hand, should force air
until a constant pressure is obtained, sutfi-
cient to maintain life.