American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-12-18
BallOOning.

The Boston Advertiser gives the follow
ing syn opsis of a lecture recently deliv-
cred in that city by the veteran aeronaut:
Prof. Wise:
The lecturer began with a few words
about the first ideas of ballooning, saying
that Homer had the idea in his mind.
Bishop Wilkins, in tine sixteenth century,
spoke of men taking their flying machines
for a>sail through the air, and long before
any means of aerial locomotiOn was dis
covered the idea was considered feasible.
After a few words on the uses of bal
loon, he spoke of an aeronaut's first i'm
pressions. He said the impression of a
first ascension was very much as If the
earth were sinking away from you. There
was no vertigo at all, but one was bewii-
dered by the strange appearance of the
view beneath. 1t sank away from you
and appeared fiat; few thousand feet
higher and It seemed to be concave, SO
that the impression was always as if you
were in the middle of two concaves. This
was because we were looking from a
rarer medium into denser; the effect was
precisely that of looking at stick stuck
into the water-it appeared bent. 1t was
perfectly possible to see the earth by night
at a distance of mile high. There was
always an impression of profound still
ness and grandeur as one rose high above
the earth. 1t aroused the mind and made
it quicker in its action. The reason for
the absence of vertigo was the entire re-
moval of the sense of attraction to the
earth. One soon felt at home, and when
landing, if the balloon touched a tree, one
felt very much like stepping off. The
clouds, said he, were perfect sounding
boards above them the sound of artillery
was heard no more than if it were pistol
shot, but if it were under the clouds it
sounded with wonderful effect. The
clouds sent back an echo with wonderful
distinctness when the balloon was in the
midst of them, and the professor thought
that the sound of thunder was due to this
power of the clouds to re-echo. When
the professor first began the practice of
aerOstatics there was no gas, and he did
not know what the ozone was which he
smelled when evolving gas from water.
This ozone he had often inhaled when up
in the evening.
The next subject considered was the
danger of explosions. No one was ever
injured by the explosion of balloon. On
one occasion at Easton, Pa, the speaker
determined to try bursting, the balloon.
He tied the neck up so that he could do so
if he wished. He had got up above the
clouds, and found that the time when he
must burst it was approaching. The bal
loon was then full, and was up about two
miles and half He looked at his watch
and made note that his courage failed
him. The watch had just been put in
his pocket when the balloon burst. He
fell fast until the air was packed into
the top, and it had to stop. 1t began to
vibrate fearfully, and as he found himself
descending into the woods he threw out
ballast, and descended all right in clover
field He tried the experiment again in
Philadelphia, created an artificial cloud,
made up of mixture of lampblack and
WOO flashes, went up two miles and burst
the balloon. 1t ripped from top to bot
tom, but it fell gradually and he alighted
without danger on what are now the Cen
lennial grounds.