Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-05-08
A BALLOON VOYAGE
Ascended to the Height of 3D.
400 Feet.
THE HIGHEST AIR LEVEL REACHED
Dr.. A. Berson's Scientific Aeronautic
Journey into the Extreme Upper
Regions-Beats Glaisher.

The last and most important aero.
nautic voyage made by DR.. A. Ber-
son in the balloon Phoenix ON Dec 4th
last year is described by that gentle
man in the Journal of Aeronautics and
Atmospheric Physics.
On the evening of Dec. there was a
stormy east wind. which made the pos
sibility Of the journey doubtful, but it
fell during the night. and at 8 O'Clock
next morning Lieut.. Gross and Marker
proceeded, by the light of an electric
lamp to fill the Phoenix with 1000
cubic meters of hydrogen gas. DIR.
Berson somewhat altered his prepara-
tions to suit the special circumstances
and aims of his aerial trip. He left
the heavy anchor behind and stretched
out the long Sohleppgurt graphing
strap on the ground in the direction of
wind before commencing his tour. The
various instruments and baskets of
utensils were hung up in such man.
ner as to facilitate the government Of
the balloon and the conscientious re-
cording Of scientific observations even
during the exhaustion produced in the
human body when at a high altitude.
At 1928 the command to let loose"
was given. In quarter of an hour
the balloon had already arrived at a
height of 1000 meters. Stassfurt. the
place where it was filled. was sailed
over in northwesterly direction. The
whole of the beautiful Harz mountain
lay on the horizon below the voyager.
The air in general was foggy. and
thick fiooks Of small clouds hid the
earth now and then. At first the tenn
perature rose.
At height Of 800 meters it was
more than 5 degrees centigrade above
zero. DR.. Berson made double notes
Of the readings of the instruments.
cast a glance at the balloon and its
ropes, looked down at the earth and
threw out two sacks of ballast An
hour after the start he had risen higher
than 8, 900 meters and the temperature
sunk to Is degrees below zero, and the
air became very dry. The sun rays
were weak. When 1900 meters
height was reached the aeronaut felt
the first slight increase of his hearts
action after lifting the heavy sandbags.
At 11:49 a. m. he reached the height
of 5000 meters and the temperature
sunk to 25.5 degrees below zero. He
felt little palpitation of the heart and
slight general discomfort, but was
otherwise well. At 10 O'Clock, one
hour and half after the start, he be-
gan. at a height of 6.750 meters and
temperature Of 80 degrees below zero
to breath artificial oxygen from the
bags he had with him, and with excel
lent effect. At 1926 the bold aeronaut
had outpassed 5000 meters, at a tenn
perature of 80 degrees below zero. He
was now higher than he had been in
the preceding May, when his highest
point had been 1880 meters, and this
time he felt much better than then.
He now never dared to cease breathing
the bags of oxygen except for few
seconds at time, and during those
brief pauses he felt dizzy and danger.
ously weak. But while continuing
the artificial breathing he constantly,
and with relative ease fulfilled all
necessary work. Only once did his
eyes close in spite of himself, but the
next moment he reused himself, scold-
ing at his own negligence; his voice in
the rarefied air sounded strangely muf-
fed.
When at the height of 7,7O0 meters
he had already risen higher than
Glaisher, when the latter aeronaut
took his last note of the temperature.
At the height of 5000 meters DR.. Ber-
son thought Of the two French scien-
lists who had died at that height. At
about 800 meters Berson reached the
greatest height arrived at by Glaisher
on Sept. 5, 1862, when the latter
tainted away, only to awake after his
companions had stopped the balloon
from rising higher. But DR.. Berson.
after momentary examination Of his
own strength and his provision of bal
last, ventured to rise higher. The tenn
perature had already sunk to a2 de-
grees below zero (centigrade). At the
height of 5000 meters his balloon
passed through and above the thin
stratum of high cirrus clouds which he
had noticed high in the sky at his
start. The veil-like stratum consisted
not of ice crystals. but of well-formed
small snowfiakes. At 12:45 a. M,
two and a half hours after the start,
the barometer indicated only 1873 de.
grees. The balloon now stopped.
There were only six large and one
small sack of ballast left. which
were necessary for descending and
landing.
The balloon stood above the thir
snow clouds in clear sky, which
stretched family blue above. DR.. Ber
son felt so we'll that he could certainly
have risen another 1000 meters. But
he could not have done 80 without risk
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