The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1896-10-03
- DELICATE TASK REQUIRING
SKILLED WORKERS.
All of the Sewing lis Done by Hand
to Guard Against Breaks In
the Seams.


been done from Chanute to LillienthAl
has been very thoroughly exploited. Suf-
fee il TO say that we are still perhaps
century behind the perfect hying Ippa
ratus
But in the field of ballooning the last
decade of the century can claim the dis
tinction of being the epOch-makins
period. While the eyes Of the lay OBJ
servers have been fixed upon flying ma
chimes the acronaut has quietly devoted
himself to his task and what was but
experimental work during the Franco
Prussian war has changed suddenly into
an exact science. Europe has made aero
states a supplement to the study of war
and the Russian. French. German and
English armies are today fitted out com
pletely with perfectly adjusted balloon
machinery
II was my good fortune to visit the
camp just outside Berlin a few weeks
sso and to observe not alone the testing
OF balloons. but the actual making of
them.
Germany's most notable experiments
were with the humboldt. a balloon to
the making of which the present en-
perOr gave the sum of $4,000 marks. The
explosion and complete destruction Of
this air-hyer taught aeronauts OF al
countries a valuable lesson. and they
have changed not alone the material out
Of which balloons are made but even
the method of making them
4 Difficult Problem.
The first problem that confronts the
military aeronaut in the making of his
balloon is to estimate to a fraction its
area, conforming this to the height in
tended to be reached.
This fixed the problem Of weight is
next solved. BY this the aeronaut means
~not alone the carrying capacity as far
IS meteorological instruments. anchors
etc. are concerned, but the possibility
Of bearing aloft at least one light gun
and n bomb or two. The gun fore
shadows a midar battle. such as has
thus far figured only in the imaginations
OF writers Of lurid fiction. Today, should
war be declared by one European ma
ton against another, it would prove a
fact, and we might possibly have a
thrilling story Of the two-minute battle
between the Kaiser Wilhelm II. and the
President Faure over Metz and Stras-
burg.
Military aeronauts. as "A matter of fact,
believe that a battle OF this nature might
last an hour. Only recently a peculiar
experiment was tried by the French
army, which tends to strengthen the
aeronauts in the above view. A balloon
was sent up a mile and a half distant
from an imaginary army and rapld-hring
guns were aimed at it the moment it
hove in sight. Two of the shots pierced
the outer covering, but did not impair
the inner coat in the least. and the
balloon reached "A height of something
over 1000 feet.
The Materials Used.
The materials used in the Germany
army for the making of balloons is the
costliest pongee silk obtainabe. For
cheaper balloons percale is used. but this
is undesirable where great distances are
to be reached and where the observa-
tIOns will consume considerable time
Germans still have on exhibition, how
ever, parts of the famous Delcourt
balloon, made in 1899. of something like
1000 pieces of thin kid, all fastened to-
gether. Another material used in the
experiments two years ago was a thin
plate made of alloy of tin and copper
But this proved as unsatisfactory as die
an aluminium balloon test.
The pongee silk having been selected
every inch of it's surface is tested, ano
this proving successful the sections are
cut out and turned over to about 30l
girls, who sew it together by hand. nc
machines being used
The finest of silk thread IS given the
workers. and every portion of their work
undergoes the most careful scrutiny
Sewing machines are not used for Tho
reason that it is almost impossible tC
Work them on the seams near the Gnu
Some Of the French aeronauts insist OF
having the balloon cloth seNed in wha
are called zones" from side to side
Germans prefer sewing longitudinally
claiming that it strengthens the balloon
greatly and adds to the power of eN
pansiOn.
After the sewing is completed varnshe
are applied along the seams and tn
work of adjusting the net and the baske
begins The ventilating apparatus Is ap
piled to the bottom of the balloon ant
this takes up fully two weeks Of tn
practical aeronauts time. The dea'
weight carried by the famous Humboldt
balloon, not including ballast, was IFS
pounds. Those now being made carr
dead weight of over a ton, and includ
ing ballast, aerOnauts. etc, over doubl
this
The fitting out Of a balloon basket
a task requiring great ingenuity. In ad
dition to meteorological instruments cher
is a complete supply of instruments 10
the inhalation of oxygen. This is, how
ever only necessary where balloons ar
intended to be carried into an atmos
pheric zone Of very rarefied air. tn
military aeronaut watches and CAREFUL
supervises every phase of balloon max
ing. Even while the monster is bein
filled he will take his place inside i
and by the deft touch of the hands max
tests of the strength of the inner SUI
face.
Germany Has Four Balloons.
At present there are four of these ba
looms in use in the Germany army. A
of them are made on the general plan
the Humboldt, except in the materii
used, which is, as stated above, the be-
pongee silk obtainable. The apparat'
: FOR emitting gas is altogether much in