The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-02-22
HIGH.
treme Upper Regions--A Height of 31,- 496 Feet Attained-Interesting Records


 nautic voyage made by pr, A. Berson
 in the balloon Phoenix on the 4th of De
 cember last year is described by that
 gentleman in the Journal of Aeronau-
 tics and Atmospheric Physics"
 On the evening of the Sd of December
 there was a stormy east wind, which
 made the possibility of the journey
 doubtful, but 1t fell during the night,
 and at five o'clock next morning Lieu
 tenants Gross and Marker proceeded,
 by the light of an electric lamp, to fill
 the Phoenix with two thousand cubic metres of hydrogen gas. pr. Berson somewhat altered his preparations to suit the special circumstances and aims of his aerial trip. He left the heavy anchor behind. and stretched out the long Schleppgurt grappling strap on the ground in the direction of wind be- fore commencing his tour. The various instruments and baskets of utensils were hung up in such manner as to facilitate the government of the bal loon and the conscientious recording of scientific observations, even during the exhaustion produced in the human body when at high altitude. At 102S the command to "let loose" was given, In quarter of an hour the balloon had already arrived at height of two thou sand metres. Stassfurt, the place where it was filled, was sailed over in north westerly direction. The whole of the beautiful Harz mountains lay on the horizon below the voyager The air in general was foggy, and thick focks of small clouds hid the earth now and then. At first the temperature rose. At height of 1,500 metres it was more than five degrees Centigrade above zero. Dr. Berson made double notes of the readings of the instru- ments, cast a glance at the balloon and it's ropes, looked down at the earth and threw out two sacks of ballast. An hour after the start he had risen higher than five thousand metres, and the temperature sank to eighteen degrees below zero. and the air became very dry The sun rays were weak. When forty-tWo hundred metres height was reached the aeronaut felt the first slight increase of his hearts action af- ter lifting the heavy sand bags. At II 49 a. m. he reached the height of six thousand metres, and the temperature sank to 25.5 degrees below zero. He felt little palpitation of the heart and slight general discomfort, but was oth- erwise we'll Att twelve o'clock, one hour and a half after the start, he be- gan at height of 6,750 metres and a of twenty degrees be- low zero, to breathe artificial oxygen from the bags he had with him, and with excellent effect. At 1925 the bold aeronaut had outpassed eight thousand metres, at a temperature of thirty-nine degrees below zero. He was now high CT than he had been in the preceding May, when his highest point had been 2, ,93O metres, and this time he felt much better than then. He now never dared to cease breathing the bags of oxygen except for a few seconds at time, and during those brief pauses he felt dizzy and dangerously weak But while con tinuing the artificial breathing he con 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 fled. When at the height of seventy seven hundred metres he had already 'isen higher than Glaisher, when the alter aeronaut took his last note of the At the height of eighty .wo hundred metres Dr. Berson thought | )f the two French scientists who had | lied at that height. At about eighty | i've hundred metres Berson reached the | greatest height arrived at by Glaisher | ,n September 5th, 1862, when the latter | ainted away, only to awake after his | had stopped the balloon | rom rising any higher. But Dr. Der | on, after momentary examination of | lis own strength and his provision of | ballast, ventured to rise higher. The | had already sunk to forty wo degrees below zero (Centigrade). | 1t the height of nine thousand metres lis balloon passed through and above he thin stratum of high cirrus clouds which he had noticed high in the sky | t his start The veil-lilSe stratum con isted not of ice crystals, but of we'll ormed small snow flakes, At 12:45 a. a., two and a half hours after the tart, the barometer indicated only two undred and thirty-one millimetres, which corresponds with a sea height of inety-six hundred metres, and true eight of 9,150 metres. The thermome- CT stood at 47.9 degrees below zero lven the quicksilver in the barometer ad cooled to twenty-nine degrees, and he ray thermometer, in full sunshine, ldicated only 23.S degrees. The bal ,on now stopped. There were only six lrge and one small sacks of ballast fit, which were necessary for descend lg and landing The balloon stood bove the thin snow clouds in a clear KY. which stretched faintly blue bove. pr Berson felt so well that he ,uld certainly have risen another one metres. But he could not ave done so without risking the whole ? his successful journey. At this inn ense height, 9,150 metres, he felt much etter than a short time before. Dr. erson opened the gas valve now and len, and the Phoenix gradually de- .ended till at the height of seventy ye hundred metres it stopped, and gain began to rise. Another pull at Ie valve caused it to redescend. At e height of eighty-fve hundred me es it sailed over river with mighty lrves; it was the Elbe, at the part, as / n 6 o oftarUar6 fOI1nd near Dnpoit1t =