The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-05-05

IL Assemble TO the highest FONT Ever At
tafnad -Insatestiuc Experience


mountaineering Experience.
The last and most important scientific
| aorouauuc voyage made by DR. 4. Der
| son. Il German. In TIE balloon Phoenix. on
December ,th, Of last year. is described
| by that gentleman in the Journal OF Aer-
onautics and Atmosphere Physics.
on the evening Of December 81. there
VAS A stormy east wind, which made the
possibility of the journey doubtful, put II
| fcu during the night, and az CLOCK
| next morning Lieuts. Gross and Marker
| proceeded by the light Of an electric lamp
| TO fill the Phoenix with 200 cubic me-
tps OF HYDROGEN gas. Or. Berscn some
| " hat altered his preparations 10 suit tne
| srecfal circumstances and aims OF MS
| aerial trip. He left the heavy anchor ne
| hind. and stretched out the long 'Schlepp-
gurt' grdppling-strap on the ground I'D
! the direction of the wind before cOmIncNt-
| irg his tour. The various instruments
and basket Of utensils were hung up IN
such a manner as TO facilitate the gov
| eminent OF the balloon. and tho conscleN-
| tious recording Of scientific observations,
eyou during the exhaustion produced IN
-he human bcdv when AT a high altitude.
~ 10.2S the command 10 "let loose was
eivsn. In a quarter Of an hour the bal
| loon had already arrived at a height OF
200 meters. Stassfurt the place Wl.Ie
| Il was nlled was sailed over To non rl-
westerly direction. The whole or the
beautiful Harz Mountains lay ON tne no.
rizon below tho vOyager.
The air I'm general was fogsy and thick
focks Of small clouds hid the earth now
| and then. At first the temperature rose
Al a height OF 80 meters Il was more
| than r deg. centigrade above zero Dr.
Rers0n made double notes OF the fta'i,5s
Of the Instruments, east a glance "a the
/ q
earth and threw out two sacks q ballast
An hour after the start he had ri7fn high
or than SOM meters. and the temperature
sank TO 10 deg below zero, ana the AR
| hstamo dry. The suns rays were weak
| When 4zjl meters height vas reached the
aorouaut felt the first slight Increase OF
his hearts ,ction. after lliiins the htalf
! sandhags At ll.it A. NJ, he rrach'h To"
! hoightof 600 meters. and Tho temperature
sank 10 30 below zero. Tie felt hitle
palpitation Of the geart and slight general
| discomfort. hut was otherwise we'll ~
~ o'ciock. one hour and "a BALI after The
start. ho began. az a height OF 6.,o meters
and a temperature of - deg below 1'Io'
| 10 breathe artificial oxygen from the
| bags ne had with him, and with excel
| lent effect. At u .25 the bold deronant mas
| 0utpassod 500 meters an a temperature "i
90 deg. below zero. he was now higher
than he bad been in the preceding lldy
when his highest point had been 1880 me-
ters. and this time he felt much better
| than then.
! he now rovcr dared 20 cease breath
! ing the bags of oxygen, except for a Few
seconds at time. and during those ufltl
pauses he felt dizzy and dangerously
weak. But while continuing the arti-
! fetal breathing. he constantly and Win
relative ease. fulfilled all necessary Work.
| only once did his eyes close in spite OF
| himself but the next moment De reused
himself, scoldiug az bis oWn negligence,
ms voice I'm the rarihed air sounded
| strangely muflied.
when al the height Of $50 meters. DE
| has already risen higher than Glaisner'
/ when the latter aeronaut took ms last
| note of the temperature At the height
J of SEQ meters Or. Berson thought OF inc
two French scientists who had died az
| that heilht Al about 500 meters ber-
son reached the greatest height arrived
az by Glashier on september b, lS-' "hch
| the latter tainted away, only 10 awake
after his companions had stopped The
| balloon from rising any higher But Df.
] Berson, after momeniary examination on
his own strength and his provision OF
| ballast venturei 20 rise higher lhe
temperature had already sank 10 y Hes.
below zero lccutigTadcl At the height "l
900 meters his balloon passed through
and above the thin stratum OF hi-h cif-
rus clouds which he had noticed hisn ln
/ the sky az his start The Nell-AAe slia-
| uu consisted. not Of ice crystals but
OF well formed small snowiaNes. a.
| l2.t5 y. NJ, II hours after the start the
! barometer indicated only 81 mllllneuta.
which corresponds with a sea height or
0O meters and true height Of $50
meters. The thermometer stood az fs
degrees below zero. Even the quicksil-
Yer I'M the barometer had cooled 10 -
degrees. and the ray thermometer ln
fuu sunshine. indicated only Ib degrees.
| The balloon now stopped. There were
only six large and one small SACK or hai-
last left which were necessary TOT He-
| sccullug and landing. The uallooh 7,oou
above the thin snow clouds in "a clear
skv. which stretched family blue above.
Dr Borson felt so well that be would
certainly have risen another 100 meters.
! Bur hs couldn't have done So without
risking the whole of his successful jour
ney At this immense height-9,lD meters
he felt much better than a short time
before. Dr. Bersou opened the gas Na'Fe
now and then, aud the fhothiA
gradually descended, until. at 'he
height OF 800 meters. 1t stopped
and again began 10 rise. Another
pull az the valve caused IL TO redescehd.
Al the height of $500 meters II sailed over
a river with mighty curves. IL Was the
Elbe at the part, as was Afterwards
found. near D0mity'
But now the terrible cold began TO have
effect Dr. Berson. clothed as he was, IA
thick furs began TO shake IN every limb
50 violently that sometimes he was oblig
ed 20 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
al the height OF $3.50 meters, 90 moderate
the rapiditv. Meanwhile a close stratum
Of heavy clouds had hidden the earth
and prevented any ascertaining Of the
hsIloon's positiou The slow descent
however allowed Of another set or obscr-
vatfons being taken, and now the highest
femperaturc. about degrees above zero,
WAS found at the height OF l.40O meters.
Thence down 10 the earth IL sank again
r degrees. 4 whole hour after Herr Ber-
son had been ar the greatest height OF
his trip. two Of his fingers We're frozen,
but he brought them 10 life again hy en-
ereetic friction. In the enormous cold the
Paragraph had stopped for a while. Ia
the afternoon. at 3 o'clock. the northern
skv showed unmistakable signs Of wa
ter" and Dr. Berson decided that he must
descend more rapidly. After a few more
gentle u3s and downs he could distin-
ruish the noise and steam whistles or
some large town. When 30 meters high
there appeared al last below him the
gray earth. covered by a cloudy sky.
Now. with the drag strap. the balloon
nassod over a lake. and presently land
ea. with the help OF some countrymen.
,,.bo ap,. IN ar 24g b NJ on "A sinh