Los Angeles herald., 1890-09-11
BALLOONING IN MANY LANDS.
The Queer Experiences of Aeronaut Welli
on the Other Side of the Globe.

The Queer Experiences of Aeronaut Wells
the Other Side of the Globe.
DR.. Rufus Gibson Wells, the famous aero
naut, has an aerial experience covering
period of thirty years, during which time
he made over 500 ascents in every country
in Europe, in the United States, India,
Australia and Brazil. Notable among these
were at the marriage of Princess Isabella
to the Count d'Eu in Brazil, the fetes given
in honor of the Prince of Wales in India,
the imperial assemblage at Delhi, the cor
onation fetes of the car at Moscow and St.
Petersburg, and the Paris exposition. His
trunks are filed with valuable presents
from kings, princes and rulers in all parts
of the world.
On Oct. 5, 1870, DR.. Wells contracted with
the French government to make balloon
for the purpose Of taking Gen. Bazaine out
of Metz. During the Franco -Prussian war
the doctor constructed balloons for both
governments. He made two ascents from
Rome for the benefit of the poor of the
Eternal City," after making the most re-
markable aerial voyage with the Montgol-
fer balloon related in history. This journey
was over the Apennine mountains, from
Rome to Benevento, which is situated al
most forty miles from Mount Vesuvius.
"My experiences in India" said the aero
naut, "were very pleasant At Lucknow
Parsee merchant named Hormiesjes gave
me 1900 rupees for an ascent He made
money on the gate receipts, however. At
Allahabad made captive ascensions, En-
glishmen and natives paying $40 head to
ascend. l also went up for the king of
Bhurtpore, rising from the famous kings
garden. He is very affable. The king of
Caehvroara +aI
entertainment. Cholera appeared and the
king went away. He afterward sent me
valuable presents, including a bag of
money and a cashmere shawl for my wife.
The king of Travancore gave me from his
own finger ring set with nine large dia-
monds The king of Cochin China was
present at this occasion. He gave me a
dress of gold and silver. an elephant tusk
worth 500, a sandalwood box containing
gifts and 100 rupees, besides which his
prime minister and other wealthy people
presented to me flag with the kings coat
of arms.'
"You have manufactured many bal
loons9" asked the reporter.
"Oh, yes. L made a new one at Bluert-
pore, which was painted with the heraldic
blazonrysof the maharajah. He desired me
to carry up an elephant and selected a
suitable one. When the balloon was near
ly inflated the pachyderm broke away and
escaped. The maharajah thereupon sent
us to his private palace at Deeg, where for
three days we roamed through the beauti-
full gardens, and at night slept on the
downy beds which had been occupied by
his queens"
"Have you been at Benares, the old holy
city?"
SAT Benares are nearly thousand tenn
pies, representing many faiths. l visited
the Monkey temple In the Golden temple
is stone as big as an ostrich's egg with a
hole in it. Through this stone rice and
sweetmeats are fed When entered they
garlanded me with flowers, as is customary,
expecting gratuity. A priest who was
tanning the stone told me it was warm;
that it was god and could feel like a hui
man being.
'The rajah at Benares agreed to give me
$400 to make an ascent just at the close of
the rainy season. used the same balloon
as in 1864 at the marriage of Dom Pedro's
daughter. When the day for the ascent
arrived the balloon was in need of recoating
with varnish. 1t was recoated and laid
upon the grass to dry. The rajah had in
vited many princes. The next morning at
of holes, thousands of white ants having
eaten through it. 1t took two days to repair
the damage, and the ascent was abandoned.
cat Batavia, on the island of Java,
made two remarkable ascents, the first ever
made there. At Samarang could get no
gas, and the admiring thousands could
simply gaze at the balloon. was at Lyons
buying silk when Gambetta escaped from
Paris, M. Bouree, secretary of the defence
rationale, having contracted with me to
construct the first cigar shaped balloon
ever made. 1t was IT'S feet in length, the
silk costing $4,000. My idea of a successful
balloon is one cigar shaped, to carry ten
or twenty horse power engine and run a
screw for propulsion when the air currents
are unfavorable. Electricity, however, is
BEST there being no waste of power"
On Nov. IA, 1889, DR.. Wells made his third
ascension at Paris, accompanied by Will
lam J. Hammer, Mr. Edison's representa-
tive at the exposition, and, carrying a
phonograph, they dropped messages to the
assembled thousands below. They were the
first messages from the clouds" in history.
st. Louis Globe-Democrat.