Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1895-07-26
BERSON'S BIG FEAT.
TESTING THE EFFECT OF A HIGH Al
TjTuDE ON THE HUMAN BODY:

Record of His Trip In the Phoenix, When
He Ascended to a Height Of More Than
Five and One-half Miles-He Was Sus-
tanned by Artificial Oxygen.
At S~tassfurt, on the evening of Dec. 8,
there was Il stormy east wind, which made
the possibility Of the journey doubtful, but
1t fell during the night, and at s o'clock
next morning Lieutcnants Gross and
Marker proceeded by the light of an cleo
trio lamp to fill the Phoenix with 2, 900 Gu
bic meters of hydrogen gas. DR.. Berson
somewhat altered his preparation to suit
the special circumstances and aims of his
aerial trip. At 10:2S the command to "lct
loose'' was given. In q quarter of ar hour
the balloon had already arrived at a height
of 2, 900 meters.
The mir in general was foggy and thick
focks of small clouds hid the earth now
and then. At first the temperature rose.
At IL height Of 1900 meters it was more
than 5 degrees c%entigrade above zero. DIR.
Berson made double notes of the readings
of the instruments, cast q glance ut the
balloon and its ropes, looked down at the
earth, IN threw out two sacks of ballast.
An hour after the start he had risen higher
than 5000 meters, and tho temperature
sank to 10 degrees below zero and the air
became dry. The suns rays were weak.
When 1920 meters height was reached.
the a%eronaut felt the first slight increase Of
his hearts action after lifting the heavy
sandbags. At II 40 a. III. he reached the
height of 6, 900 meters, and the tempcra-
ture sank to 25.5 degrees below zero. He
felt q slight pulpitution of the heart and
c1irbt rnr,nro1 Iicon,nfopf Inf yynS nthnT-
wise well. AT - o'clock, ~ hours after
the start, he began, ut a height Of $3.50
meters and Il temperature of 20 degrees be-
low zero, to breathe artificial oxygen from
the bags he had With him, and with excel
lent effect. At :. 25 the bold aeronaut
had outpassed 1000 meters, at a tcmpera-
tllre Of 80 degrees below zero. He was now
higher than he had been in the preceding
May, when his highest point had been
I, 1880 meters, and this time he felt much
better than then.
He now never dared to cease breathing
the bags of Oxygen except for q few sec.
onds at a time, and during those brief
pauses he felt dizzy and dangerously weak.
But while continuing the artificial BREATH
ing 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 rarificd air sounded strangely muttled.
When at the height of 7, 500 meters, he
had already risen higher han Glaisher
when the latter acronaut took his last note
of the temperature. At the height of $500
meters DR.. Berson thought of the two
French scientists who had died at that
height. At about s, 500 meters Bcrson
reached the greatest height arrived at by
Glashier on Sept. s, 1862, when the latter
tainted away, only to awake after his
companions had stopped the balloon from
rising any higher. But DR.. Berson, after
momentary examination Of his own
strength and his provision Of ballast, ven
tured to rise higher. The temperature had
already sunk to ~ degrees below zero G..
AT the height of {, 1000 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 veillikc
stratum consisted not of ice crystals, but
of well formed small snowflakes. At 1916
p. M, 2% hours after the start, the bar
ometer indicated only 231 millimeters,
which corresponds with a sea height Of
5000 meters and a true height of 9,150
meters. The thermometer stood at AZ
degrees below zero. Even the quicksilver
in the barometer had cooled to go degrees,
and the ray thermometer, in full sunshine,
indicated only 23.S degrees. The balloon
now stopped. There were only six large
and one small sack Of ballast left, which
were necessary for descending and land
ing. TIL balloon stood above the thin
snow clouds in a clear sky which stretched
family blue above. DR.. Berson felt SO well
<L,4 L., oo-ll ,n+,;,,1 ,,> -;,>, o,@Al,,
1000 meters. But he could not have done
so without risking the whole of his sue
cessful journey. AT his immense height
g, $50 meters-he felt much better than
a short time before. DR.. Berson opened
Phoenix gradually descended till at the
height Of 1900 meters it stopped and again
began to rise. Another pull at the valvc
caused it to redcscend.
But now the terrible cold began to have
effect. DR.. Berson, clothed as he was in
thick furs, began to shake in every limb SO
violently that sometimes he was obliged to
hold on to the rim of the basket. In slow.
waving motion the balloon sank and sank
and during the whole descent only one sack
of ballast was thrown out, ut the height of
$500 meters, to moderate the rapidity.
Meanwhile q close stratum of heavy clouds
had hidden the earth and prevented any
~ascertaining of the balloons position. The
slow descent, however, allowed of another
set of observations being taken, and now
the highest temperature, about 6 degrees
above zero, was found at the height Of
1,40O meters. Thence down to the earth il
sank again 5 degrees. A whole hour after
Herr Berson had been at the creates,
height of his trip two Of his fingers were
frozen, but he brought them to life agai1
by energetic friction. In the enornlou.
cold the Paragraph had stopped for awhile
In the afternoon at 8 O'Clock the northern
skies showed unmistakable signs of IVA
ter and DR.. Berson decided that he mus
descend more rapidly. After a few NOR,
gentle ups and downs he could distinguish
the noise n steam whistles of some larg'
town. When $50 meters high, there ap
peared at last below him the gray earth
covered by n cloudy sky. Now, with tn
drag strap the balloon passed over a lake
and presently landed, with the help O
some countrymen who came up at 3:45 o
M, on a stubbleield at Schonwohld, il
the west of Kiel.-Journal of Aeronautic
and Atmospheric Physics.