The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1894-12-08
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BALLOONING.
PROF. HENRY ALLEN HAZEN.

~ h''oo ieadelS IL is pIobdble tne only
thought in connection with this subject
Will be in the line of the popular song,
up in Balloon, Boys" or of an hours
nloyment at some Playground. topped off
with a balloon ascension and parachute
jump. On the other hand. the balloon is
destined to be the most valuable adjunct to
the meteorologist in his attempt to bring his
intricate science out from it's uncertainties
its complexities and its speculations into
the full light of day and intimately into a
fixed science like that of astronomy. Much
has been accomplished already in proving
the extreme value of this means of eXplora-
ton and discovery of facts, but we have
hardly passed the Threshold as yet of the
possibilities which have lain dormant these
100 years in this most simple continuance.
An important question to he met with at
the very outset is the safety of the balloon,
for no one could contemplate with perfect
serenity the acquisition even of the most
important facts at the imminent risk of the
loss of life. In one instance, when an
attempt was made to obtain consent of a
life insurance company to carry policy
over balloon voyage. the reply was given
that from a study of statistics the risk was
about the same as for whole year of
ordinary insurance, and the policy would
he carried for about that premium. Now
the only way in which this result could
have been obtained was by taking all the
fatal accidents due to foolhardy persons
jumping with parachutes and to extreme
recklessness and carclessness in running
unnecessary risks. On the other hand we
have only to instance the $50 voyages of
Prof Wise and the 300 of Prof King to
show the great safety in careful balloon
manipulation. Undoubtedly, familiarity
with the balloon and its possibilities breeds
a rather remarkable feeling of safety in its
use. and to this reason we must attribute
the final untimely end of Prof. Wise, him
self, who went up in "A rotten balloon not
far from Lake Michigan and was never
heard from again.
The balloon over terra firma as at pre-
sent used, with its very long drag rope, its
valve at the top and its rip cord, is about
as safe a contrivance as one could wish, and
one is surprised at its stability the moment
he leaves the earth. In fact, there is abso-
lutely no feeling of motion or of uneasinesS,
and you can only tell that you have left
IL, Il ~
basket, and even the sensation is as though
you We're on a solid foundation and the
earth was simply moving away from you.
In five balloon VOYAGES one of diem to
10000 feet, have become perfectly salts
fed of the undoubted security and safety Of
this method of exploration.
In the past, one of the drawbacks to sue
cessful exploration of the atmosphere has
been in the lack of portable and rapid
acting apparatus for determining moisture
and temperature. The ordinary stationary
at all. In one case the temperature at a
point in rapid ascent was 200 higher than
at the same point a few minutes after on a
descent: that is, the thermometer carried
with it the temperature of the region it
it had Just left and was altogether too slug
gish To obviate all difficulty like this, the
sling psychrometer has been adopted and
perfected so that nothing is to be desired
further In several voyages it has given
the temperature of the same stratum with
in two degrees going up and coming back,
and it can be 50 readily handled that good
observations can be made easily once a
minute.
What has been accomplished? 1t is
rather remarkable that the 1000 voyages
thus far made have added so little to our
knowledge of the motions and upheavals in
this ocean of air just above our heads.
These voyages have been made, generally,
during clear weather and by men without
instruments or means of recording accu-
ratelv experiences of cold and heat. electric
action and violent connection in the air.
Experiments on audibility have been made,
and these have shown that in a balloon a
voice at the earth can be heard rather dis
tinctly up to 1900 feet; in the opposite
direction it cannot be heard more than $50.
1t is matter of great wonderment to
amateur balloonists that they cannot make
themselves understood by the loudest
shouts of which they are capable at heights
of only 300 feet, while they begin to hear
every word plainly at 1900 feet. OF course
the earth reflects the sound in the latter
case. Cracking of frogs has been heard at
5000 feet, barking of dogs at 5000 feet, and
the whistle of locomotive at 10, 600 feet.
This audibility, however, is dependent in
large measure upon the state of the air and
elements and would pay abundantly for
careful experiment. Sometimes i'll cloud
sounds seems to be a great deal louder than
below it. Above $1,000 feet one enters
another realm; absolute stiffness reigns,
and the observer is impressed with the
submlimity of the scene, especially If snow
white clouds with pillows, mountains high
stretch on all sides as far as the eye can
reach.