American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-11-11
CANTON, MISS. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER II,
A MONSTER BALLOON,
The Monarch of Air -Shfps-A Monu-
mental Dome 1915 Feet High.

A MONSTER BALLOON.
The Monarch of Air-Ships-A Monu.
mental Dome 1915 Feet High.
from the London Times.1
Visitors to the Exhibition of 1867 may
remember on the Champs de Mars 6
captive balloon of large size. This wa:
the first captive balloon that had beer
unanswered by means of a steam en-
CINE, the balloon itself having beer
116,66O cubic feet in capacity, and capa-
BILE of rising upward of eight hundred
feet above the ground. This was al
the time considered an mrostatic tri-
umph, and was due to M. Henry Gift
fard, the inventor of the well known
"injector," from which invention fol
many years past he has been in the en-
| joyment of q handsome fortune. The
organizers of the Philadelphia Exhibit
ton asked M. Giffard, we believe, TO
construct similar balloon for the grand
Centenary display, but the wealthy
Frenchman would not listen to the pro-
posal, as he wished to reserve an seros-
tatic surprise to the visitors to the next
International Exhibition of Paris. M.
Giffard has devised the construction of
balloon for 1878, which will far sur
pass any effort hitherto made in this
direction, and which will, no doubt,
be one of the most popular attractions
at the forthcoming exhibi-
ton. The plans were submitted to
the Commissioners of the Exhibition by
M. G. Tissandier, who has just pub
lished some of the details of construc-
ton. This new balloon will be formed
of resisting material, absolutely i'm
permeable to hydrogen gas, manufac-
tured of alternate sheets of linen and
caoutchouc, protected externally by
several layers of varnish, and coated
with white paint to diminish the effects
of the SUMS rays. The balloon will
have capacity of nearly seven hundred
and ten thousand cubic feet, and will
form an immense sphere, the greatest
ever constructed, the diameter of which
will not be less than 112 feet. By means
of system of valves it will be managed
with the greatest ease. When moored
to the ground the balloon will form a
monumental dome 166 feet high, ex-
ceeding by Is feet the highest of the
Arc de Triomphe. The balloon itself
will weigh $500 pounds, and to
join the pieces together of which
it is composed will take nearly four
miles of sewing, with twenty-five
miles of thread. The car of the bal
loon will form gallery fifty feet in cir
conference. A circular space in the
center of ten feet in diameter will be
reserved; in the center of this space
the cable, a powerful rope of ten inches
in circumference, will be joined to the
upper circle by means of an apparatus
which will constantly indicate the as
cending power of the balloon. This
serial machine will be held to the earth
by eight cables, attached to iron rings
fixed securely in masonry, and will be
suspended above a vast conical basin.
The car will be reached by two nova
BILE gangways, and from forty to fifty
persons will be taken on board at each
ascent. The cable will descend to the
bottom of the conical basin, and by
means of secure system of wheels will
be carried along a tunnel to be worked
by an engine of 2O0-horse power. This
cable will be 1, $50 feet in length. The
captive balloon will be placed in the
center of circular Enclosure 1873 feet in
diameter. 1t will tower above the beau
tiful gardens and will form the most
dome in the Champs de
Mars. The greatest precautions
will be taken to have every
part of the great machine strong
enough to resist all possible contingent
cies; the cable that fixes the balloon to
earth will be so strong that hurricane
could not snap it. An elaborate but
apparatus will fill it with
hydrogen gas. With this balloon, then,
it will be possible to raise more than
100000 visitors LOGO feet above the
earth during the continuance of the ex-
hibition. They may contemplate from
that height, surprising that of eleven
Arcs de Triomphe, the fine tableaux of
the city of Paris and its surroundings,
and they will be able to see that the
scenes described by the eronants are
not exaggerated pictures. The steam
captive balloon will be located in the
center of the exhibitors great park,
between the Palace and the Jena Bridge
NJ. Giffard proposes to construct this
enormous machine entirely at his own
expense. 1t will cost several hundred
thousand FRANCISCAN insignificant sum,
however, compared to the fortune of
The inventor of the INJECTOR
In a Connecticut village a church
had a grudge against his pas
TOR. Instead of satisfying it in the Or
binary way, by bringing libel suit or
getting up scandal, he took novel
way of his own. At the evening prayer