The morning call., 1891-08-09
THERE Is ONLY
ONE BALLOON FARM,
And That Is Located Ten Miles From
Utica, New York State.
A Visit to Professor Myers, Who Is Building
Balloons to Explode in the Clouds
to Produce Rain.

About half mile from the village of Frank
fort, and ten miles from Utica, this unique
Institution is found. The farm consists of
only five acres, but it is busy place. Pro-
fessor Myers calls his balloon mandatory
farm, because the same conditions of
weather are necessary for ballo0n-making
as for farming. Good hay weather is good
balloon weather.
In a raVine. back of the house, the princi-
pal part of the work is carried on. Here
the cloth used in the manufacture of the
balloon is vanished and hung on lines TO
dry. When it has been vanished eight or
ten times it is taken to the house, cut into
strips and sewed together into balloons.
The seams must be revarnshed by hand.
when the cloth is put together, and then
the air-ship is ready to receive the
netting and the basket to fit it for
air navigation. The machinery as well as
the materials used, are almost entirely of
Professor Myers invention. The cloth is
simply cotton cloth of a particularly light
and strong quality, covered with varnish of a
peculiar manufacture, pnt on with machinery
OF his own Invention. The varnish machine is
series Of rollers and scraDers, through
which the cloth passes after first passing
through a reservoir containing the varnish.
when 1t leaves the machine there is a thin but
very uniform coat of varnish on each side of
the process is repeated until the cloth has
sufficient varnish to make it thoroughly i'm
perviouS. Professor Myers has accom-
plshed what has never been done before,
and that is produced material which is i'm
pervlous to hydrogen gas. 1t will disspate
itself through
THE PORES OF THE DENSEST METAL
Or the most perfect glass, but when in
Professor Myers balloon it will remain as
long as necessary for ordinary uses. Great
care must be taken in handling the cloth
during the manufacture, as rain must not
be allowed to fall upon it, nor the wind be
allowed to play upon it. Consequently it is
dried in a sheltered ravine, which can be
made more secure from the wind by spread
ing canvas fence around it. When it rains
the cloth must be carried to the house and
hung on lines, for il it were left iii contact
1t would take fire by spontaneous combus-
ton.
The house in which Professor Myers
lives with his wife and daughter Bessie Is
handsome three-story mansion built at a
cost of about $4,000 1t is filed from cellar
TO roof with material or books suggesting
balloons. lie has large library filled with
books on aerOnautlcS and all kindred sub
jectS and his success in balloon manufa2-
ture is due to deep study and intelligent ap-
pllcattOn OF principles.
The rain-DrOducing bombs which the
United States Government are experiment
ing with are made by Professor Myers.
1ucN COulu Ut lIldtlt at ITO OlleT place In Tile
country. General Dyrenforth is the special
officer in charge of the experiments, and he
was found by an Observer reporter at the
balloon farm Saturday. He was making
the final arrangements with Professor Myers
for a trip to Northern Texas " here extensive
experiments will be made to see if rain
cannot be produced by explosions in the air.
One hundred balloons. each ten feet in d.
ameter, have been made and shipped TO
Texas for this purpose. This is the arid
safyI~ = Ia tod t,fa
be produced artificially upon this land it
will be of the greatest benefit to the farmers
in Southern Kansas and Texas as well as
South Dakota and
OTHER PORTIONS OF THE COUNTRY.
In a few words, the plan is to initiate a
balloon with one part Of oxygen gas and two
parts cf hydrogen gas. a small ordinary
cartridge connected with two wires, is
placed in the balloon, and the whole is sent
up. When the balloon is sufficiently high the
cartridge is exploded by means of electricity
sent through the wires and the two gases
unite, forming water. This serves as a
nucleus to precpitate the moisture of the
atmosphere, and there is rain. Last May
Professor Myers and General Dyrenforth
made their first experiment in this line in the
ravne q short distance from the farm Then
few balloons were taken to Washington
and in the presence of several officers and
scientific men another experiment was held.
There was perfect success. The balloon
was exploded and the gases united
with the most terrible report and
brilliant illumination. 1t rivals the sun
in brilliancy. Professor Myers says
that the explosion that would occur if
twenty-fOOt balloon were employed would
cause the most terrific report ever heard on
earth. In the experiments TO be performed
in Texas there will be bombs Of dynamite
carried up by kites and exploded in the air,
and mortars will discharge large quantities
of giant powder; Professor Myers has
shipped to Texas the most unique outfit ever
gotten together III the world 1t is a COM
plete laboratory to be used out of doors for
the manufacture of all the gases and
chemicals to be used in the experiments.
The most ingenious and practical air-ship
ever constructed is that invented by Pro-
fessor Carl Myers, which he calls his sky
bicycle air-ship. 1t is operated by screw
which revolves n sail much as a screw pro-
peller acts in the water. The machinery is
held in the air by cigar-shaped balloon
which can be guided through the air with
the greatest ease.
THE REPORTER NET r. j. sPAULDING
or Rosetta. Custer County, Colo, at the bal
loon farm. Mr.. Spaulding is the inventor
of a flying machine. and he brought it all
the way from Colorado to submit il to Pro-
lessor Myers to induce him TO assist in
proving its merit. The flying machine con-
sists of two wings and tail constructed as
near MS possible like the wings and tail of
bird. attached to leather jacket. The
man who does the flying straps the jacket
around him, is elevated by bal
loon and flaps his wings, and then
away he goes. Mr.. Spauldng does
not claim that he can lift himself from the
ground with his apparatus, but having been
lifted by balloon, he can work the wings
to propel himself through the air like a
large bird. Mr.. Spaulding unfortunately
arrived just at the time when Professor
Myers is about to start away with General
Dyrenforth, and is unable to give the
attention desired. Mr.. Spaulding says he
has devoted his life to the study of the binds
wings and is thoroughly familiar with their
construction. He feels certain that he has
built something that will be of great prac-
teal use in propelling light boats and ice
cutters. 1t might be used in propelling
vehicles along roads, but may not be prac-
teal for this purpose, because it would
scare horses. He was seven years con-
structiug his machine, and spent $1,000 on
it, He will remain in the East until the
merit of his machine has been thoroughly
tested, and try to get some assistance in de-
veloping its use.
The balloon farm is visited by hundreds
OF Professor and Mrs. Myers friends every
year, and the beauties and wonders of the
place are c0urteously exhibited. Both Mr..
and Mrs. Myers are enthusiastic in bal
looming, and give most interesting de-
scriptions and explanations of the business
in which they are both engaged, and
make visit TO the balloon farm an event in
q lifetime.-Utica Observer.