Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1875-08-12
BALLOONING.
The Danger of Balloon Voyages.

The uncertainty as to the fate o
Messrs. Donaldson and Grimwood, who
lately made balloon ascension from
Chicago, and disappeared ovor Lake
Michigan, has led to the usual newsPa'
per comments on the danger of balloon
, voyages. The Boston T'aueler says:
Goodness and experience have often
saved the imperilied lives of 2ronauts,
but as the vessel that often goes to the
fountain will at last be broken, so to
the balloonist who steadily pursues his
calling, the time will surely come
when skill and courage will be of no
avail" The same remark would ap-
ply with equal truth to the sailor or
sea captain "who steadily pursues his
calling" The opinion that it is very
dangerous to go up in balloon is one
generally entertained by those who
have never been in the air-ship, but it
is not shared by those who have had
experience. The dangers to which a
balloon may be exposed are similar to
those which a sailing vessel may meet,
but with ordinary forethought on the
part of the balloonist or navigator
these dangers may be as readily avoid
ed by the one as by the other. 1t is
dangerous to put balloon in gale of
/ wind, Just as it is dangerous to hoist
sail during gale; it is dangerous to put
up balloon, when the wind is in such
direction as to carry the balOonist
out to sea or over Il great lake before
there is time to make landing, just
as it is dangerous for ship to run be-
fore the wind to an ice shore An es-
sential difference between ballOoning
and sailing ship, and one that tends
to cause danger to the former is, that
the sailing of ship is no novelty, and
her failure to start eXcites no general
disappointment, while sailing bal
loon is novelty thai attracts great
crowd to see the start, who imagine
they have right to be indignant and
angry if the balloon does not ascend in
spite of wind and weather. The ship
master can postpone his voyage for IA
vOrable weather; the ballOOnist feels
obliged to take acknowledged risks to
please the crowd One day last Spring
Mr.. Donaldson was 10 have assembled
from Boston. The wind was ftom the
west and blowing a gale. 1t would
have carried his balloon over New Jer-
sey and would have forced landing
in few minutes, or have carried him
out to sea. Mr.. Donaldson said that
he could not possibly save his balloon
if he went up, but if the Manager said
go he would start. The knowledge
of water navigation, which causes the
sea captain to hoist sail, told the navi-
gator of the air not to leave his anchor
age, but the latter was surrounded by
a great crowd of expectant men and
women, whose behests he was willing
I to obey at the risk of his life. But
these dangers which arise from the
senseless bravado OccasiOned by the
novety of balloon voyaging are not
dangers necessarily belonging to air
navigation. The latter, except to
mountebanks, who do ioolhardy tricks
are very few, and exist chiefly in the
imayinatiOns of those not we'll inform
ed about the matter. Experienced and
careful balloonists rarely meet with Sc
rious accidents, and II any calamity has
happened to Donaldson, a thing we
would be very sorry to hear, 1t Is ell
ther such as might have happened TO
any sea-going ship, or else the result of
neglect of the teachings of his own ex-
perience.-Phila. Ledger.
A FEW MORE FACTS.
Many are the dangers to which ero-
nauts are exposed, but considering the
thousands of ascents, the frail materi-
ais of which the air-ship is constructed,
and the fickleness of the wind, to the
| full power of which the @rial voyages
are exposed, the fatal accidents have
not been nearly so numerous as might
have been expected. In fact, out Of the
thousands who have made ascensions
not more than twenty-five or thirty
have been killed, which is low death
rate. The falls which really occur are
often from a great height, and their
! terrible consequences are sufficient to
render them memorable.
The first balloon was sent up by the
brothers Stephen and Joseph Mont
golfer, June 5, 1888. 1t was not long
before men were found to venture their
lives on such journey into the air;
even in the year OF its discovery there
were several ascents made by different
persons, and with safe results. The
balloons used were at first the ordinary
hot-air Montgolfiers, but few months
were necessary to utilize the hydrogen
gas, whose superiority was evident, on
account of its great lightness. In 1885
occurred the first fatal accident from
the use of balloon. Two young men
attempted to cross from France to En-
gland in hydrogen balloon, to which
a hot-air balloon was attached. The
latter took fire, both were consumed,
aud the two men fell on the coast of
France and perished.
rrbo Y,oct arpinppt prOOaut WnS an
Englishman named Green. His ca
reer extended over thirty-six years, ,du-
ring which time he made l 400 ascen-
sions: crossing the North Sea three
times, and falling into it twice. On
one occasion he travelled distance OF
five hundred miles in eighteen hours.
It was. however, surpassed by Wise
and La Mountains great trip in 1859,
when they passed from st. Louis to
Henderson, n. V, distance of about
1.l5O miles, in less than twenty-four
hours, or at an everage velocity of
mile per minute. This was, we be-
lieye, the longest aerial voyage ever
made, while the highest ascent was
made by Glaisher and COXweli, who
reached the remarkable elevation of
81, 900 feet, or about seven miles above
the earth. They were both disabled by
the intense cold at that altitude, lost
the use Of their limbs, and Coxwell was
obliged to pull the valve-string with
his teeth, in order to release the gas
and return to warmer region.
A singular fact about aerial voyages
is the perfect calm which apparently
surrounds the balloon. No matter If 1t
be carried along with velocity Of
one hundred miles an hour, there is no
resistance; all appears to be still, and
only by comparison with terrestrial OBJ
jects can the traveller perceive his high
rate of motion. The danger to which
the balloon is exposed from lightning
strokes is supposed to be not very great,
since 1t does not communicate with the