Morning journal and courier., 1880-08-02
Arctic BauOOning.
An EngIIShmnn's PIan-A Heated Car Supported by Three BaIIoOns-A Sue cessfu1 Experiment..
 From tbe Tondoo TeIeOraDh


 Supported by Three Ba1oons-A Sue
 cessfu1 Experiment..
 From the London Telegraph
 When, .some years ago, the Alert and Dis covery left England, the crowds which bade the crews goodbye gave them hearty cheer and wished them godspeed. There were those who hoped they would achieve success, and possibly plant the Union Jack on the North Pole. But less excitable and more thoughtful men, who knew what Arctic navi- gation meant, and what dangers and difficult ties had to be overcome, were less sanguine. The doubters were right, for, from some req son or other, the splendid sailors who went north never came within 600 miles of the magic point but overcome by scurvy, cold and fatigue, returned to say that the project of reaching the apex of the earth was a visionary and impossible one. Engishmen are proverbially difficult to beat and slow to despair, and it is not to be wondered at that at this juncture one of them, Commander Cheyne, devised way of meeting the difficult ty. = In his opinion, navigation by sea and land having failed, there remained but one | other thing to try to wit, the air; and, un- der the patronage of Lord Derby, the idea grew, till yesterday, at the Alexandra Palace it found it's first illustration in an experiment which, in point of interest, could not be easi- 1 ly surpassed. We all know that the regions near the Pole are cold, whatever the center may be- it is patent to all, ,also that to be left | by accident in balloon car helpless on the l ice, midway between ship and destination or, \ indeed, to be landed at the Pole without means of return, would be, to say the least of l 1t, somewhat inconvenient if not positively 1 unpleasant. Commander Cheyne saw this l and in his scheme included the idea of three l linked balloons. which, fastened togethsr to 8 strong triangle of wood, would bear four 1 cars, one at each point and one in the center, l so arranged that should any one balloon break down the car dependent on 1t could be slip 1 ped along the triangle and rest upon the re- maining globes, still passing along through the air without inconvenience. Still, Q trial | appeared necessary, though the principle was approved, and the experiment was made last night It must be promised, of course, that | the trial was accomplished under very differ ent circumstances than the Pole will ever wit I ness. In the first place, the three linked bal looms ascended without any other incubus than heavy sand bag and, therefore, caused no risk of life. But the interest of the un- dertaking lay in the fact that larger balloon to which was attached car containing MT. Coxwen and some other gentlemen, quilted the earth immediately afterward, and showed what difference was to be expected in a car held up by one balloon and @ car supported by three. The voyagers were not laboring, it must be remembered under precisely the same conditions that would hamper Arctic travellers. They were not boxed up in a close and heated carriage as they must in the north. Neither were they provlsloned with pemmican and lime juice, but had the choicest wine and food which the vast cellars and kitchens of the Alexandra Palace could afford. Still, there were many things of great interest to be noted, and they were the following: First, that the three balloons fast ened to the triangle bumped violently togeth- CT with great energy very often, and had they supported cars in the air must have giv- en the occupants 8 very fair idea of what sea- sickness meant. Secondly, that they took course somewhat different from that which was marked out by the single balloon, and so showed that some allowance must be made for this novel mode of aerial navigation Thirdly, they proved that the idea of triple team in the air was a possible and ''worka- ble'' one and that the balloons will not burst that they will go along merrily enough without fighting against each other, and that the arctic aerial navigator, with three of them, will be very much safer than the man who would attempt to go with one Alto found to be feasible, and, it is to be hoped, will now be carried into practice AS the rival balloons went aloft it was clere that had three instead of one balloon guided the des- tinies of Mir. CoxwelIs party the ascent would have keen as safe, and the result as satisfactory, as with the single aerial globe And difficult though it may be to forecast the adventures of any expedition in such un- known regions as those which immediately envelop the north, 1t is not too much to say after the experiment of yesterday, that a new line has been struck out and new idea orig mated which may very possibly end in the planting Of the British flag upon the North Pole.