, 1876-03-05

hell when it reaches the required aItituue. 1he
"a. we propose To use is that one Oh 1ne eum
gas discovered gone three years ago ny
french chemist, and By him given the name OF
Abaron, eiguilying without weight. It's density
q only oue-,entb that OF ordinary hydrogen,
But they say that the announcements u 'uas
liscoyery Waa hoax"
. Not word OF truth in it. Tho fact is that
The discoyerer OF that gas mover intended that IL
should be published, until he had been able TO
use it to his own personal profit, n1id When the
announcement crept out, as l suppose al
through tho unnecessary vigilance of reporter
IS in this case. the chemist ut once acted Ako
SNAIL that draws its horns within its sholl on tne
scent of approaching danger. Ills silence On .no
subject has been construed into failure, rs Is the
case with the kecly Motor. but We have entered
iuto correspondence with him. ana "o tu4oA No
know what We are ta}iiDg about
But haye heard that the reason Wh! pure
hvdrocen-cas is not used for initiating baiioons'
ia that it escapes through the texture OF tho pa
loon much more rapidly than coai-Sas' anu 1nua
the balloon rapidly loses rs ouosane W atiI
it not probable that the difficulty would De SILL
greater IN the case Of AbaEon
You seem to forget that hayo told you taaE
we propose to use ....
ALuo1lSCl AND NOT sILK.
for our balloon. Experln1enisha have alrcaus peen
naso which chow that tho very thinneat plate
that c1n be made OF that metal, Is aoso'usc!y
impervious to gas, and We have no loes tnat tno u
gas can escape from it except through Tic
automatic y0lye."
What VII 10 the form and dimensions of
YOUR balloon a.
..Wo proposed to make it almost spherical,
but think that it Will bo best to take pattern
from the moon, which seems to be iiatter than .
half spherical surface, on the SIDE tnat 10
turned away from Us. hnd eiongstea !. 20 enr .no
est to us, We shall probably make tho balloon
in that shape keeping the small enc OF tnc
ere towards tho carth By means of ballast, and
putting the dynamite charge On top sofesula'eo
by Incaus OF q
PERCUSSION HAMMER,
that when it strikes the diamond-shel the
charge will explode directly against the precious
material We shall probably make BALLOON
about 10 feet in diameter but 1t may oe more !;
the exact dimensions are not get eettlea. :,,
:. Do you purpose constructing it in the bald
ing which spoke of when first met you :"
s.Tlat ia our intention.
!, And when do you think the balloon will be
es expect to have it ready by about the end
OF March the exact time ID 10 De tnat'el u
astronomical calculation .
..What points vii be necessary to observe IN
that calculation ., .
=. IL tie tirst place re must choose the time
90 that the balloon will strike the shell when IL -
nearest to the surface; that VIII oe aDou1 n =
o'clock in tho morning, as then ne ehatl DO a.
rcctly facing that point in the oroit to"at4s =
which the enrth is tecdiQg. have already tod
you tnat it must also be about the t'mo OF tne
moons first quarter, and it Will be necessary 70
be not far from, the time Of the vornal equinox,
! hecsrse then the direction OF tho carsh's move
mcut is northward, and the nearest appfo2en
| will be on this side Of the equator
But it is the eun that ia then moving north
ward, as I used to learn astronomy ~ SCHOOL.
The earth is going soushWaru 3. tnas u1'o az 40
| feyred to the plano Of our equatos. u sho mol
IT never thought Of that but It it Is go, our
| astronomer will inform US OF 1t, and We snail
simply have to delny the thing Tor
ABOUT SIX MONTHS
till the earth sots to the oppo=ite point IN her
orbit" ...,.,
| ..Tnat difficulty being supposed to be settlco'
| how will you know whe1 to send mp the ba!ioon.
because it won't strike the moment It u Aoefat.
ed. Do you know how long it will take TO rase ::
| s.So: We have to calculate that, too, aud We
cannot do it until we have found about how near
the snen viii be to the earths surface. Nnen
| we know that. I think We can easily nnd the
time. We suppose 1t to be about an hour snd u
| half. In that case we should start the pailooI
| nearly q. balf-past O'CLOCK III Inc uu1n4uH' ano
| then it would
STRIFE TIE SHELL At t.
sWhy not start from the top OF the lsocs9
| Mountains, as 1aen the balloon would not have
| 80 far to trayel:"
nothing would be gained by it. It IS calculated
| TO starI III dcnse atmosphere, so AZ to turnlsl
| the balloon with IN impetus, which the rarity o.
The air at the 1nountain-top would not give"
1T seems to me that there ls one Erea. v1d alln
cultv that you have not yet arranged for. Wller
will the shattered pieces Of diamond come down
and how will you collect them:'
s.That is our greatest puzzle. We 40 no
know yet now to insure our hndlng all tn
| njeces: but We think that inasmuch as the We
iocity Of rotation Of the earth in communicated
to tho alr aboyo it, the balloon will 60 u
| nearly in q straight direction, aud the ptohel
pieces of diamond will fall in 4bont the SAINT
line. We think judging from tho extent o. set
| ritoxv over which neteor5 have falen Nhen sne
exploded, that the greater portion OF 1t
WILL FALL WITHIN TIE LIMITS
| of one township; and We shall go organize on
forces that We can search that townshlp qollt
thoroughly, and. it VIC tnd only 4uaster O
what actually comes down. We Shall al Do mao'
You refer to the falling OF naeteors; whor
| do YOU think they come from 1t they com
from outside tho shell then how do they &c
through it without breaking it :"
We do not believe that nonsense. We 90 nc
believe in meteors rushing through the depth
of space st the rate Of 20 to 50 miles secont
and being drnwn to tle earth by her attraction
when she can only pull stone through Ii zee
| in i second ut her surface; and the astronomer
tell Ms that the force Of her attraction decrease
with an increase in the distance OF the oejec
1t seems to me such ridicaloualy small attrac
ton wculd no more change velocity OF ::
miles second than the taking OF .
BUCEET-FULL OF WATER
from lake Michigan would alter the level OF th
whole lake. beieTc. with Aristotle. that thes
meteors are formed in the upper air, aud thi
the aroiites, IS they arc called, arc thrown II
by volcanoes on tho earth's surface, aud con
down in come other place. I don't beneve the
come from the region oil the stars at all.
1T may be TINT you are night; at least II
} | not nv business to contest tie point with yo
I am here to seek information, not 70 arSu
! | hut there ie one more question I would like
ask before leaving You say that but for the g:
, isteuce of this shell tho earth would lose her
mosphere nov, when you break that shell,
ouly to the extent Of q square milo or 30, y
! not the carths atmosphere get out through tt
That is not at all improbable j; We think
likely that it will, but tho philosophers toll I
that tue earth is losing her atmosphere. dor
belieyo it; but if she ebould commence to 10
her aerial envelope in consequence OF our semen
: tho world would not bo disappointed, as It Wou
only suffer wlat is at present expected thoue
from different cause. have calculated som
r thing on that point too. estimate at least
TEN T1oCsASD TEARS WOULD EI4fsE
hefore enough of our atmosphere would get o
;, through that comparatively little opening,
render impossible the existence OF human ana .
Q incs on the ea1th's eu1face. Now, lo,ooo yea
f