Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-07-10
BERSON'S BIG FEAT.
TESTING THE EFFECT OF A HIGH AL
1lTuDE ON THE HUMAN BODY.

Five and One-half Miles-He Was sus-
tanned by Artificial Oxygen.
| At Stassfurt, on the evening OF Dec. .,
thcre was "a stormy east wind, which made
the possibility of the journey doubtful, but
| n fell during the night, and at 5 O'Clock
| roxt morning Leutenants Gross ana
| Marker proceeded by the light of an cleo
| tric lamp to fill the Phoenix with 2, 600 GU
bic meters of hydrogen gas. DIR. Berson
somewhat altered his preparation to suit
| tho special circumstances and aims or his
| aerial trim. At 10:2S the command to LET
| loose" was given. In Il quarter OF an hour
| the balloon had already arrived at height
| of 2, 900 meters.
| The air in general was foggy and thick
| 6ocks of small clouds hid the earth now
| and then. At first the temperature rose.
| At a height of 1900 meters it was more
| than degrees centigrade above zero DIR.
| Bcrson made double notes of the readings
| of the Instruments, cast glance at the
| balloon and its ropes, looked down ut the
| eortb. and threw out two sacks of ballast.
An hour after the start he had risen higher
than 4. 600 meters, and the temperature
sank to 10 degrees below zero and the air
became dry. The suns rays were weak.
When 4. 200 meters height was reached,
the aeronaut felt the first slight increase of
his hearts action after lifting the heavy
sandbags. At II 40 a. m. he reached tho
height of 6, 900 meters, and the tempera-
ture sank to 25 5 degrees below zero. He
felt slight palpitation of the heart ana
slight general discomfort, but was other
wise well. At IL O'Clock, y hours after
the start he began, at a height of q, 100
meters and a temperature of 20 degrees be-
low zero to breathe artificial oxygen from
the bags he had with him, and with excel
lent effect At 1926 the bold aeronaut
had outpassed 5000 meters, at temporal
tlire 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 sec
onds at u time, and during those brief
p,,iscs 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 rarified air sounded strangely muflied.
When at tho height of Z, 500 meters, he
had already risen higher than Glaisher
when the latter acronaut took his last note
of the temperature. At the height of s, 200
meters Dr. Berson thought of tho two
French scientists who had died at that
height. At about s. 500 meters Berson
reached the greatest height arrived at by
Glasher on Sept. 3, 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
turcd to rise higher. The temperature had
already sunk to AZ degrees below zero c.
At the height of 9, 600 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. Tho veillike
stratum consisted not of ice crystals, but
of well formed small snowflakes. At l2:4j
p. m, "a hours after tho start, the bar
ometer indicated only 231 millimctors |
which corresponds with a sea height of
5000 meters and a true height of $3.50 |
meters. The thermometer stood at 47.9 |
degrees below zero. Even the quicksilver |
in the barometer had cooled to 20 degrees, |
indicated only 23S 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. The balloon stood above the thin
snow clouds in a clear sky which stretched
family blue above. DIR. Berson felt so well |
that he could certainly have risen another
1000 meters. But he could not have done
SO without risking the whole of his sue.
cessful journey. AT this immense height
%, 100 meters-he felt much better than
a short time before DR. Berson opened
the gas valve now and then, and the
Phoenix gradually descended till at the
height of Z, 500 meters it stopped and again
began to rise. Another pull at the valve
caused 1t to rcdescend.
But now the terrible cold began to have
effect. DR.. Bcrson, 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, at the height of
3, 800 meters, to moderate the rapidity,
Meanwhile close stratum of heavy clouds
had hidden the earth and prevented any
ascertaining of the balloon S position. Th,
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
!, 400 meters Thence down to the earth il
sank again 3 degrees. A whole hour after
Herr Berson had been at tho greatest
height OF his trip two of his fingers were
frozen, but no brought them to life again
by energetic friction. In the enormous
cold tho Paragraph had stopped for awhile
In the afternoon at 3 o'clock the northern
skies showed unmistakable signs of wa
ter, and DR.. Bcrson decided that he must
descend more rapidly. After u few more
gentle ups and downs he could distinguish
the noise and steam whistles of some large
town. When ESQ meters high, there an,
peared at last below him the gray earth.
covered by cloudy sky Now, with the
drag strap the balloon passed over a lake.
and presently landed, with the help of
some countrymen who came up at BIAS d.
m, on stubblelleld at Schonwohld, In
the west of Kiel-Journal of Aeronautics
and Atmospheric Physics.