Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-08-13
AN AMBITIOUS AERONAUT.
He COntemplates Transatlantic
Aerial Voyage = Professor
King the Man for
the Occasion.

Philadelphia Press.l
Professor King, the veteran, is
booked for the voyage from this
country to Europe by aerial ship at
an early day, wind and weather per-
mitting, the necessary cash being
furnished and the professor himself
in his usual good health aud san
guine spirits. Such is, in brief,
what he himself told Press re-
porter when the latter sat down with
him for a chat yesterday afternoon.
The primary object Of the visit was
to ask the aeronaut if he had ever
been up in a balloonin such storm
as that which visited Philadelphia
on Thursday evening, and if so,
when, where, to what extent and
how it felt to be careening among
| the clouds to the music of the
rolling thunder and with the fine
pyrotechnical effects that usually
precede such illumipations.
eyes," said the professor, 81 did
have one such trip-only one, and
ana not apt to forget it. 1t was
in August, 1865, and at Burlington,
Iowa. There was room for two in
the car, but some Of the gas es-
capped, and when the time came for
starting, as the balloon was only
: half full, l went alone. Directly
after / left the earth a dense, heavy
dark cumulous cloud was seen, and
as l was in an oblique line my bal
loon just grazed the edge. In an
other moment, however / was, en-
veloped in fog, What | saw was
this: The upper section or stratum
of the cloud appeared to become
,, detached and it was expanding as it
, assembled. Suddenly a binding
flash of lightning Illuminated the
:, floating mass, this, as / believe, cre-
: ating a vacuum, and into this vac
uum the cold air rushed to supply
the place. Immediately after
! could feel the rain fall. This rare
: faction of the air caused the balloon
, to be distended to its fullest exten
:, with q suddenness for which | ha(
Il not looked, and this jerked up thu
!, car with such violence that | was
y almost thrown out. 1t caused, too
y the gas to rush out of the
neck of the balloon downward
: T. with such violence as to nearly suf
! focate me. | tied the valve rop,
! around my body and then Leaned
! as far out of the car as possible.
! could see the lightning flash ant
j. hear the thunder crash within sil
or eight feet of me, and to add t,
the horror of my situation the bal
y loon eareened so violently that
n n was pitched back aud forth by tn
car as if it were an enormous swing
h These explosions Of the detachel
strata of the cloud continued at FIRE
d quent intervals Of two or three min
n utes, and as the air was rarefe,
a. after each, the balloon kept dis
le tending, Notwithstanding all thl
lr gas was escaping from the twelve
e. inch valve above aud that pressed
t. out from the neck below and i'm
in mediately over my head. drop
it ped under the cloud and througl
Of it az last, and finally reached tn
ID earth twelve miles from where
es started. have made 2lQ ascen
1, tensions and it was certainly tn
O. most eyeatful of them all. 1t wa
10 Just such a storm as that describe
N in The Press, phenomenal in it
as violence by means Of its brief durQ
le ton and its being so unexpected
" And that was the way it appeare
Of to me up there"
ty Reporter.-NoW having had you
e. experience in this respect what
Sc your Judgment, in the light c
he your entire experience as an aero
OF naut, about flying machines -abou
e. aerial nayigationY
n, Professor King stroked his lon
ed beard and said; Well, it's bound t
lt come, | think, but we have mad
ed very little progress yet. Balloonin
in is vet in it's infancy-it isnow wha
ea you might cali 8 sort of scientif
,at amusement for the people. Rutg
to are OF what you might term I'll
I'd. inventive era Of the century, an
IL. the science Of aeronautics with a
ed its fascinating possibilities will +
me ceiye more attention than it HI
he before.
as Reporter, Don't you thing Pr
cir fessor RiehtePs ayiug machine is
lat step toward solving tho problem
he aerial navigation.
he Professor King (emphatically).-
1t don't amount to anything. Ric
at tel has done nothing new, III
III. same thing had been tried yea
lh- ago. Why thirty years ago ! saw
ifi- similar machine on the same pri
I'VE ciple at Peale's Museum in this cit
on But, candilly, my opinion is tn
,rk aerial navigation will never be /
ely complished until we have disco
DDS cred new motive power, and / !,
wn not believe the balloon, as at pre-
ION ent made. will be any factor in t
ith arrangement The new machi