Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1881-02-26

1t Is hardly necessary to say that the intro
ducion of locomotive machine which would
transport large number of people through the
air in any direction required, at the rate of
thirty miles an hour, would be startling nov
city in our travelling arrangements Let Us
glance at the advantages it would offer. Com.
| patlng 1t first with aquatic locomoton, it would
be far quicker than any boat hitherto made
| vastly less expensive 10 first outlay and cost of
| working, would require no hsrbors. would pro-
| duce 40 sea sickness and would escape the
greatest dangers iaherent 10 water navigation.
Viewing 1t, secondly, as means of laud trans.
port, 1t would be quicker than common road
| travelling, and would compare fairly with the
ordinary speed on railways while it would en-.
| tlrely dispense With the enormous provisions re.
qIislte for both these modes of getting over
lne ground, and be ftee from the multitude of
liabilities to accident attending them, But it
may naturally be objected that such mode of
locomotion would have peculiar dangers of its
own. No doubt balloons have hitherto been
very subject to accidents, and the bare idea
OF anything going wrong at height of
thousands of feet above the earth has in
it s,methiog very appalling. But much
of this impression will vanish before CON
mon sense reasoning. 1t must always be borne
IN mind that for tho purposes of locomoion,
there would be 20 reas ID for ascending high
into the air; 1t would only be necessary to keep
sufficient altitude to clear terrestrial impedi.
meuts, and this would not only do away with
much of the terror of the idea, but would great
ly increase the probability of safe escape from
accidents of whatever kind. Let US see in what
direction danger might, in extreme cases, lie.
The loss OF gas by rupture of the envelope or
otherwise is remote possibility; but the expe
rlepce OF many actual c.ses has proved that the
resistance of the air to the large surface expos
ed has suficed to prevent apy rapid ta special
measures might be easily pr~Vided. and at low
elevations over land no serious catastrophe need
be feared on this ground. 10 crossing over
water pre- cautions would sill be possible aud the
case would not be 80 hopeless as 10 many marine
casualties. Jbe danger Of fire, if properly
guarded against need not be greater than in
ship at ses. ladeed, if We believe NJ. Gifard,
who has tried the experiment. the idea of such
danger is quite an illusion. The accidents that
arise to ordinary balloons almost always occur
in the decent which, if the wind is high re- uuires
great care and skllful management Ia this
c'sa the propelllng power would be most es-
peclally useful; the aeronsut caud choose bis
place OF landing with precision. and. by turn.
lng his head to the wiud, be could avoid
the dragging which is so dangerous, and
which has so often brought fatal termination
to balloon voyages. The worst copjuncture con.
| celVsble would be break down of The propell-
ing machinery at time when it was wanted to
aid the descent in gale. But the risk of such
q break down could be made very slight by or
dinary mechanical precautions. On the Who.e
| there can beno good reason to believe that the
danger would be more formidable with this than
| with other kinds of locomoton, and when we re-
member the tright(ul casualties that 80 frequently
| now occur on land. river and sea traffic, and
! consider how many of these causes would be
| absent in the free paths of the air, we may
| probably even venture to assert that balloons
would be the safest as well Is the pleassntest
mode of travelling, As set.off against all this,
however there is one great objection to aerial
locomotion, namely. the uncertainty it must all
wsys be liable to in consequence of the effect of
| the wind. We must not ignore this; on the con.
| trery, we will ehdeavor to estimate its exact
value. We will assume that We can steam
| through the air in any direction at the rate of
| thirty miles an hour but this will only count for
| useful locomotion in dead calm; if there is any
| wind By Carving the balloon along with it it
will Clearly inf fence both the effective direc-
tion and the effective ,peed.-Dr Wm Pole
| IN Fortnight!y Review.