The Portland daily press., 1892-06-04

indicate that the balloon season has ar
rived and that the aeronaut and para
chutlst Is preparing for his seasons
work. However much romance there
may appear in ballooning, it is nothing
less than a trade, and difficult one, re-
quiring long years of training and e1pe-
rience for its mastery.
In the first place it differs from other
occupations in its constant excitement.
To the aeronaut each ascent means
fresh danger, and it is on this account,
perhaps, that comparatively few engage
in it.
Few people who witness balloon as
cension comprehend its destinations, its
perils or its methods, and ONLY those
who have made the trip into the clouds
can accurately describe its accompany
ing sensations. Professor Mortimer
.McKim, an aeronaut of experience, gives
it as his opinion that the aeronaut lives
a lifetime in the few brief moments of
his voyage. To those interested in
aerial navigation description of the
airship is necessary. The material en-
ployed in the construction consists of
superior quality of sheeting, the
breadths being stitched together firmly,
with the edges felled. The average
balloon being 100 feet in circumference
and 70 feet in height requires 800 or
more yards of cloth. At the mouth of
the balloon hoop the size of wagon
wheel and made of wood is attached to
keep the mouth open while the hot air
is being forced into it, and this orifce
remains open during the ascension. The
inside of the fire balloon is coated with
sizing of glue, whiting, alum and other
noncombiastibles, as a precaution against
sparks, which, with the hot air, arise
frequently to a height of thirty feet
during the imitation.
On being released, the balloon rises at
first slowly until at about height of
fifty feet, when its velocity is at the rate
Of forty live miles an hour. At the ex-
piration of two minutes the balloon has
attained an altitude of mile and a
half; then it commences to sail with the
air current which strikes it. This drift
ing about continues for period of four
minutes, when the escaping hot air
causes a gradual shrinking of the bal
loon and its consequent descent. The
unique sensations of the aeronaut begin
with the moment he mounts the trapeze
bar attached to the balloon. Grasping
the ropes, the feeling is much like that
of being seated in swing. For the first
100 feet there is a realization Of the
ascent; objects below appear smaller and
smaller until gradually they fade from
view. At a height of 200 feet the air,
rushing past with tremendous velocity,
= gives one the impression of leaning out
of the car window of limited express,
the soundsof earth die away in muir
muir, and it is then that the balloon
seems stationary, the earth falling away
from it.
Looking downward from the height,
all surfaces appear level, mountains and
valleys are alike and the world looks as
if spread out and fattened by rolling
pin. Roads and rivers resolve them
selves into narrow ribbons; forests,
fields and meadows are clumps of green,
red and black, with green as the DOM
inant color. At two miles earth is lost
to view, as in fog. Presently the bal
loon begins to sail, driven by an air cur
rent. There is now no apparent motion.
The aeronaut experiences feeling of
oppression, the air, deprived of its vital
principle, exhausts at each inspiration;
ringing sounds are heard in ears, and
one can, 80 to speak, hear the stiffness.
, The breath comes in quick, successive
gasps that do not satisfy the lungs. 1t
L. 81.