The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-06
JOURNEY IN A BALLOON.
AN AERoNAUT'S FORTY MILE VoY-
AGE ABOVE THE CLOUDS.

Pleasure of Sailing Through Space-How
Professor King and a Companion Went
from Easton, Pa, Into Chester Town
ship in Eighty Minutes.
The aeronaut. has so many possibilities
to contend against that, particularly IN an
experimental trip, which this in reality
was, there is no telingsin advance what
may be the actual result. The proposition
of crossing,the Atlantic OCEAN IN a monster
balloon is continually raising insmy mind
questions bearing .upons the -practicability
of varioustdeHices for that voyage, ,includ-
ing the use of adslftiaEaE> balloons as a
means of 'stvrIng gas with which to keep
the mainabail0an supplied. y@s,--~s
The extra balloons, twas thought,
might possibly be attached to the large
one, and as thetlafser shotfld lose BY. perco-
lation the loss could be. cnunteractsd by a
fresh supply ofeas from the extra balloons,
andso for along time the great balloon
could beskept competely .fabe5, while, as
the gas was discharged from. the smaller
ones, they could one by one be disposed Of
as ballast Myfrst exper ment IN this di-
rection was made from Easton on Monday,
May 5, the celebration of'the centennial of
its existence since the. first meeting of its
orignaifive uurghers being the occasion
which enabled me TO make the experiment
|, feature in the programme of the day.
LACK OF GAS. ---'
Unforeseen. difficulties came near render
ing all my efforts valueless. In the first
place the gas company failed to supply the
amount OF gas equired for the large bah
loon and its seven satellites, the initiation
of the large balloon not being complete and
but four of the smaller ones receiving g
supply In addition 60 this we were so un-
fortunatetas to be harassed with high
wind which blew the smaller balloons
about in a promiscuous manner, bat al
the attachments were finally made, and at
$40 o. m. the ascent WAS made The smaller
balloons, holding 1000 cubic feet each, were
Suspended to the eentrating ring of the
larger balloon, the former gathering side
by side ON the lee side of the balloon and
holding; that position to the end Of the voy-
age Anoticeable effect produced by the
presence of the small balloons was the en-
tire absence of the usual rotation.
In consequence of the limited supply OF
gas and the nneagerQuGutityo of ballast, any
abandoned and we gave ourselves up 70
the enjoyment Of such time asnight be
availablefor keeping a1toat. / was accom-
panied by T. Chalmers Fulton, ID. D., of
this city, g. gentleman we'll qualified to en-
Joy the voyage and to make valuable OBJ
servations of a scientific character. We
followed a course north of east, across the
Delaware river andoper a fertile and ex-
tensively cultivated district OF Now Jersey.
RIDING IN THE CLOUDS.
He consulted the map for information Of
the various townsih sight, noting that at
3.25 Cooksvine laya short distance north
of us. About this time werose TO q level
with the clouds, the Thermometer falling to
SO degrees. Theballoon was, however, float
ing in clear air, while the clouds formed
a circle about u.s. completely shutting out
the horizon and distant portions Of the
earth. The clouds were detached masses,
throwing their Individual shadows upon
the earth below, making for Us rich con-
trast of sunshine and shade of incompara-
bic beauty, and this was further enhanced
by softeniag, flIny veil that covered AL
while n concealed nothing.
The earth below seemed more noun
famous and wooded, but still largely under
cultivation. While. sailing above the
clouds we had not lost sight Of the earth
nor the track of the balloon. At 343 we
crossed Pohntcongsc2 and were follow
ing the course of the Delaware, Lacka-
wanna and Western railroad and the Nor
ris canal We wsrethen so nigh that the
woods were Scarcely distiaguishable from
the fields, yet we could see a train looking
like black string drawn slowly over the
ground. Washington lay TO the left
north of US, and we crossed Musconctcon :
river at D. m, being then '6etTFeen Bea-
tiestown and Hackettsto~n. North Of Us
were observed two lakes one Of which was
marlborough lake and another a Lake
near Middlevilie