River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-09-12
TWO MONTHS IN THE AIR.

A Balloon Trip icross me Ocean, uifdfng
q Balloon With a Capacity Of 400. 900
Feet IF Gas. 10 nail Through the sftr Fire
Hundred Feet .4bore the Watef-Fapect-
tn0 to C0rer the Continents ia Ttcentg
Days.
fPhiladelphia Recnrd.l
In producing men who are prepared to
undertake the accomplishment of unheard-
of feats of enterprise and daring the Ameri-
can nation can fairly be said to claim the
palm. Stanley penetrated the jungle of
Africa and excelled Livingstone, Boynton
swan the straits of Dover, an American
mariner and his wife crossed the ocean in
| tiny shell, while Fowler, another American
has Just succeeded in literally "walking'
over the English channel. And now a daring
aeronautical feat is to be attempted some
time during the present year. Professor
Samuel A. King, the well known eronaut,
and Philadelphian by birth, proposes to
cap the climax by doing his level best to start
| from New York on balloon voyage which
| shall terminate on some portion of the Euro
pean continent.
| Several years ago proposition was made
| to Professor King 10 undertake the task, and
the sum of $4,000 was guaranteed by some
wealthy New Workers to cover the necessary
| cADtISt. IOI ICdSpu9 ttip aNlp-
uaut at that time decided TO decline the offer.
Last winter, however. while making some
| improvements in balloons for the Howgate
expedition be was successful in discovering
| assistance of such impenetrability that a
balloon of capacity of 100000 feet would
not lose more than per cent. of gas in
twenty-four hours, 50 that after a journey
occupying twenty days $4,000 feet of gas
would still remain. The Importance of this
discovery is recognized when it is stated that
an average balloon will lose 20 per cent. of
| gas in twenty-four hours. The new idea was
communicated to the New Workers, who re
newed their previous offer. Professor King
at once accepted, and the construction of the
balloon, which will occupy the whole of the
ensuing winter and spring, will be at once
commenced.
The balloon in which the intrepid aero
naut is to attempt to accomplish the greatest
| feat of his life will, when completed, be the
! largest in The world. 1t will average about
| 80 feet in diameter AID Pts feet in circu ~
ference, with capacity of holding between
| 10000 and 400 600 feet of gas. The material
employed will be Pongee silk, of special
manufacture, coated with substance only
| known to the professor. The silk will be
doubled throughout. Pure hydrogen gas
| will be used, and the cost of imitation alone
| is approximated at $4,000. The car which
the aeronaut and his companions Of any
| will occupy will be q continuation OF boat
and basket, a wicker framework, covered
I with a heavy rubber substance, which can
easily be used as boat in case of emergency.
| II shall positively start early in June,
said the professor last night. II consider
that the month in which thunder storms,
which do not wish to encounter, are the
least frequent. The starting point will be
either New York or Brooklyn. ] propose to
keep in the lower currents and to maint lin a
permanent altitude of 500 feet above the
surface of the water l shall entirely dis
card the old theory of sailing in currents
from west to east at a height of three miles.
When you reach that height the gas begins
to lose by expansion. Then. when You be-
| Gin to descend. ballast must be thrown out.
You rise again: more gas is lost: another de
SCENT further throwing overheard of bal
| last and so on until all your ballast Is gone.
and then you CONS down for good. Under
nv scheme / expect to be able to keep In the
air for two months, if necessary, While there
has never been a balloon which has kept de-
| tched from the earth for longer period
than twenty.four hours"
'What period Of time do YOU anticipate
the transatlantic voyage will occupy?"
| "That is hard TO say, but expect to make
at least twenty miles an hour. In addition
to the ballast the balloon viii carry large.
heavy rope, which will drag the water This
will have n tendency to keep us IN the per
manent altitude of which I have spoken.
You see, shall have to depend on the fair
heather winds at the surface of the earth or
water, which at certain seasons, are general
ly from west to cast"
'Have you any fears as to the result of
the adventure?"
well, now, of course it is hazardous, ut
we shall take great care in the construction
of the balloon; and with enough provisions
on board. am fairly confident that the feat
will be accomplished with safety"
The only similar attempt on record was
that of the i'll fated Professor Donaldson in
1873. The balloon on this occasion was in
hated by Professor King, and was started
from Brooklyn, several newspaper CORE
spondents beng fellow-voyagers. 1t was
Donaldson's first attempt at handling bal
loon of such a size, and, consequently, after
going over about one hundred miles, he
came down at East Canaan, Conn.
Whether Professor King will take any
companions on his perilous voyage he leaves
to the future to determine. That plenty o
Ameri cans have the necessary courage
proven by the number of letters he la
already received from would-be yoyagers,
several of whom have been his companions
in previous aerial trips.