The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1879-06-26
SAILING THE AIR.
The Big Balloon with which Prof Kin(
VIII Gross the Ocean.

Tho Big Balloon with which Prof. King
VIII Gross the Ocean.
Out in the suburbs of Philadelphia Prof
Samuel A. King has for the past eight
weeks been buisily at work making the bal
loon with which he is to experiment all
the summer preparatory to making the
trip across the ocean by balloon in 1880.
The centennial of the Mongol6er FIRE bal
loon is yet four years in the future, but
long before that time the American
Aeronautic society, which is behind the
professor in this scheme, hopes to see the
problem of transatlantic aerial navigation
thoroughly solved.
For eight weeks Prof. King has been
making the two largest balloons ever seen
iHthis country, and they are not nearly
finished yet, though q very considerable
hole has been made in bank account OF
$4,000 to pay for the material upon
which forty men and women have been
working ten hours day. In the first
place little more than eight thousand
yards of the best Belfast linen that could
be bought have been cut up and stitched
into these two aerial monsters. They will
be IS feet in diameter, 205 feet in cir
conference, will contain IA, LOCO feet Of
gas, and when inflated will stand about
80 feet In hight. In making balloon the
first thing is to cut the cloth. One pattern
is all that is needed. It is only a single
strip of brown paper 102 feet long and 8
feet in width In the centre, tapering
down to a point at each end. Twenty
three OF these stripes having been cut out
with mathematical exactness they are
handed over to the seamstresses and the
half dozen sewing-machines make quick
work of the long seams, though it is not
such work as any one can do, for the cloth
has to be doubled so closely and nicely
put together that there shall not be a
wrinkle in the whole. For purposes of
handling with more ease and less risk of
tearing or ripping it is made in halves
which will rot be joined togeather until
the painters have entirely finished their
work. The whole sbrface is lined out
paper-mache patterns in the first place
with and then they begin the ornamentation
with paints mixed with gum arabic. The
top is to be silvered over 80 as to prevent
dazzling appearance when exposed to
the sun. just below the centrels broad
band twelve feet in width on which is the
name Pioneer" in letters eight
feet high. The name, large as
it is. does not take up the
whole OF the two hundred and FIVE feet of
circumference, and there is room enough
left for a remarkable painting of Column
bus on board ship looking for the new
world. This is In a medallion with fig
ure of Boreas on either side and allegon-
cal figures of Europe and America kept
cool by the breeze blown from the nostrils
of the wind-god. The background of this
band is black and yellow, and the prevail
ing color of the lower part of the balloon
which is painted in panels converglng to
point at the neck-is blue. The whole
circumference is painted over thickly for
the double purpose of protecting the cloth
and making the balloon look snowy. This
adds enough to the weight to make it turn
the scale at one thousand pounds, but it
has vet to receive a coat ofballoon varnish
which is oil boiled down until it is very
thick, and the four thousand two hundred
yards Of linen will then weigh fully ton.
Thus do we adopt the ideas of English
manufacturers, but for other purposes than
cheating the purchasers Of cloth.
The Pioneer having been duly painted
and vanished, the two parts will then be
sewed together. and it is a job that the
seamstresses have already begun to dread
Working at such an enormous mass with
double thicknesses is bad enough. but
when it is made twice as thick and hard
with paint and varnish it will offer stur-
dy resistance to any needle unless driven
by an unrelenting thimble. Then will
come the netting which has already been
made. No inflated balloon ever yet es-
capped from its netting but Prof King pro-
poses to make assurance several times sure
and will put double netting over these
two. The inner one is of cotton webbing,
an inch and quarter thick, sewed togeth-
er diagonally just as the netting is made
Over this will 20 the ordinary netting of
Irvine. The car will be fastened to the lat
ter; but it will also be firmly attached to
the inner netting, the ropes being left
slack. Then the serenauts will be ready
for the basket, which will then be ready
for them. A Brooklyn rattan factory is
now building it. 1t will be oval in shape
weight two hundred and City pounds and
carry fifteen people without undue crowd
ing.
The structure in which the ascensions
will be made is already begun at Coney
island. 1t is just beyond the Manhattan
Beach house at the terminus of the road,
sheltered on one side by the hotel and on
the ocean side by the bathing pavilion. |
II is to be two hundred feet in circumfer-
ence and thirty-fve feet high, Hoored over
and with gallery about twelve feet above
the floor, which will be rooted over 80 as
to afford protection from the weather
from which those in the center Of the en- |
closure will be deprived. Outside will be |
a thirty horse power engine for hauling |
down the balloon and making the gas.
Two kinds will be used-pure hydrogen,
which will be made by passing steam over
iron turnlngs, and an impure hydrogen,
which can be made for twelve and half
cents thousand feet. will be about thirty
seven pounds, and of the pure hydrogen,
which will cost twenty tunes as much,
about seventy. The balloon itself will
weigh ton, the MEETINGS 600 pounds, the
basket 200. the cable-an inch and half /
hawser ], 200 feet LONG,, 200, and fifteen
passengers about $3.50 more, making a
total weight to be lifted of little more
than 5000 pounds. The balloon, contain
ing la, 900 feet Of pure hydrogen gas, will
have lifting power of 1900 pounds. but
# impure gas is used it will only lift 5000
pounds. II will therefore be necessary to
Infuse enough pure gas to give a lifting
power of about fifty-6ve or sixty pounds
10 the thousand feet. The leakage is esti-
mated at not more than per cent. a day,
70 that it will not be necessary to make
gas more than once or twice a week.
The establishment of this enterprise, a.
,as been said, Is for the purpose Of max
no L..