The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-04-21
LONG TRIP IN THE AIR.
Remarkable Voyage Recently Made by a
French Balloon.

Remarkable voyage Recently MADE ny
French Balloon.
The amount of attention devoted to
navigation of the air is constantly on
the increase both in America and Eu-
rope, says the New York Herald.
The remarkable experiments in which
kites have been an important factor,
which were carried on in the vicinity
of this city during last summer and
fall are still fresh in the minds of
most persons. They demonstrated the
feasibility of lifting heavy weights by
the force of the wind exercised on
kites, and will, no doubt, prove of I'M
mense advantage 10 future aeronauts
in the way of enabling them to direct
their balloons.
Those who are interested in follow
ing up such matters await with extreme
hopefulness the result of the proposed
voyage to polar regions by Sweed:
ish scientists, which was postponed
last summer at the critical moment
owing to unfavorable winds and
weather; but that the subject is re-.
ceiving the closest attention is shown
by the remarkable voyage recently
made ty a balloon named Touring
Club, which accomplished the jour.
ney of 6O9 kilometers (375 miles, from
Paris to Agen.
This record hss never been surpass
ed in length except by two ascents
during the siege of Paris by the bal
loon Vile d'Orleans. which landed in
Norway, and the General Chanzy,
which landed at Ausbach, in Bavaria.
Both of these distances exceed the
record of the Touring Club by few
kilometers only.
Ouly one of the forty-four ascents
made under the auspices of the Socie.
ty for Aerial Navigation of Berlin,
and only the two mentioned OF the
sixty-four balloons sent up during the
seige of Paris have equaled the dis
tance record of the Touring Club.
Incidentally the record for length
of soiurn above the earth was also ex-
ceeded, and many new instruments
were tested and will have wide bear.
ing on the proposed international
study of atmospheric conditions by
| means of stationary balloons.
The balloon itself was made of China
silk and had cubic content of LOO
meters. Five hundred Kilograms OF
ballast were taken, making the total
| weight, including instruments and
baloonist, 735 Kilograms; altogether
something over a ton. The two aero
nauts were Messrs. George Beascon
and Maurice Farman. The anchor
carried was of an original design, a
graphnel with two stocks.
The valve was studied with particu-
lar care, permitting the gas to escape
rapidly when the ballon was to make
landing, without requiring con-
tinued strain on the cord to bring into
play special mechanism. The altitude
reached was never very high, and it
required an hour to attain 1000 feet,
the theory o. Mr.. Beascon being that
when one under takes an extended
voyage in point of time it is necessa-
ry to remain in low altitude, so as to
husband the supply of gas. The
greater portion of the voyage was
made at height of about 700 feet.
The balloon assembled at Paris early
in the morning and followed the d.
rection of the railroad line to Orleans.
The descent was made at 3:15 in the
afternoon of the next day, in the
neighborhood OF Agen, after having
been in the air more than thirty hours.
The rate of travel of the balloon vari-
ed from fifteen to fifty miles an hour.
One of the features of his voyage was
the distribution of printed blanks,
asking certain questions, which were to
be filled up and returned by whoever
found them. Nine thousand of these
were sent out during the voyage and
about $50 have been returned, furnish
ing important data.