Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-08-21
A NEW AERIAL ENTERPRISE
PROFESSOR KINGS coMING roHAGE.
His New-Fashioned Balloon Almost Conn
pleted-Facts About the Ascent to be
Made at Minneapolis to Demonstrate the
Existence of an Easterly Movement of
, the Atmosphere.
GPhiladelnhia Times

entrance OF WaySlue uuIIuluS out d
Haverford road and Seventy-sixth street
There was nothing about the buildin!
that suggested any cause for mystery. l
was a long, low, whitewashed, factory
like structure, built on the edge of ;
wooded stream, its one side brushing thu
clay bank Of dusty Haverford road where
1t disappears from the city line, on it
way out on the farthest verge Of Had
aington.
A reporter of the Times, in the act o,
entering the only door visible in the ole
whitewashed structure, saw the above
placard and stopped, looked about mo-
ment for the ''rear entrance" failed t
discover it and resolved TO go boldly for
ward to the forbidden door, which was
slightly ajar
The reporter clutched the door anG
pulled it towards him, when all of sud
den it resisted and looking down he saw
pair of mild, protesting eyes and red
bearded face raised towards him, the
owner Of which was squatted in front OF
large iron pot, in which he had been in
the act Of stirring some black, sticky
compound which emitted the powerful
but unmistakable odor of India rubber
''Prof King" said the reporter, in the
glad voice of recognition, before the pro-
fessor had time to file single word in
protest of the violation Of the precept OF
the placard. The suspicious, questioning
expression went out Of the professor
face, and instead there was the light of
recognition and welcome.
''How do you do?' said the professor,
cordially, getting up. "Come in"
Formalities over, the professor was re-
minded of his promise of several months
ago to have completed about this time a
mammoth balloon with which to demon
strate the theory that the atmosphere is
governed by constant movement from
the westward to the eastward, and, hav-
ing once established this, show conclu-
sively that an aeronaut may cross the
Atlantic ocean in balloon, provided it is
large enough and is made Of the right
cloth to resist leakage of gas.
''Did you come from my other placer"
asked the professor, resuming his stirring
of the black mixture, which proved to be
rubber cement in the process of manu-
facture, or, in other words, ladies' gossa-
mer cloth in its incipient stage.
NO." said the newsman. II didn't
knowyo had another place"
"This is my factory" said tho profess
or, ''where l make my rubber cloth,
gossamer and other material, but my
workshop is over at Fifty-second street
and Lancaster avenue. There's where
I'm making my new balloon. I'm going
over there myself in a few minutes, and
if you don't mind walk we can talk
while we go over"
AERIAL TIDES AND SHIPS.
The reporter did not mind the walk.
The professor, stirring the mixture until
it became thick and pitchy, then took out
his stick, and calling a workman told
him to bring the pot and It's contents to
the other shop when he came, end forth
with started out 1t would take book
to contain all the professor said about his
coming experiments and what he expect
ed to demonstrate The first thing to be
done is to ascertain as fact whether the
atmosphere as whole does move
from the westward to the eastward. This
is to be done by a series of voyages
in the s'Great Northwest" which the
professor in about three weeks will in
augurate If this is established the next
step will be to find what sort of balloon
will be necessary to cross the Atlantic in
The balloon which the aeronaut is now
building and which he expects to COM
plete this week is different from any 9TH
er balloon ever built in America.
'You saw that gossamer cloth at my
factory" said the professor, as with his
visitor he walked along. "Well, l take
two thicknesses of that cloth, either Of
which is impermeable to gas, and | &C.
ment them together face to face There
l have double thickness of doubly 1mper-
meable material, and out of this l am
making my balloon
At Park Hall, second story, where the
balloon sailor has his workshop, busy
scene was presented. The great, long
hall was Uttered with pieces of gossamer
canvas; six sewing women sat before six
sewing machines, stitching the pieces to-
gether; six workmen with pots of India
rubber, cement and brushes were at work
stretching out long sections of the bal
loon on the foer and cementing the
seams as fast as they were sewn togeth-
er. Coat after coat is given to each seam
so as to insure them against the possibil-
1ty of leaking. The long sides of the bal
loon, stretched out on the floor, gave one
vast idea of its proportions when COM
pleted.
AN IMMENSE BALLOON.
''The balloon" said The professor,
will be ninety-fve feet long and 100 feet
in circumference, and will have capac-
ity for 100000 feet of gas. The material
out of which it will be made IS almost the
same kind that was used in the great
Paris balloon which served for captive
ascensions during the Paris exposition in
1878. That was the largest balloon ever
made, having capacity for $4,000 feet
of gas. There is not the least doubt on
nv mind whatever but that balloon
would have enabled a person to safely
cross the ocean, provided this easterly
tendency of the atmosphere is fact"
The main difference between Prof.
Kings balloon and the Paris balloon
size out of the question-is that the form
er's balloon Will be much lighter proper
tionately than the latter. The builder of
the Paris balloon used four or five sides
of rubber material cemented together,
while Prof. King uses but two. He ex-
poets great things of this air-ship. If it
can be proven that this easterly movement
of the body of the atmosphere exists,
then it will be clear TO him that with the
,,;Dl,t GOVT Of q balloon ono may cross the