Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1897-05-27

tor 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 immense advantage to flu
ture aeronauts in the way of enabling
them to direct their balloons. Those
who are interested in following up
such matter await with extreme hope
fulness the result Of the proposed VOy-
age to the polar regions by Swedish
scientists, which was postponed last
summer at the critical moment owing
to unfavorable winds and weather; but
that the subject Is receiving the closest
attention is shown by the remarkable
voyage recently made by balloon
named Touring Club, which accom-
plished the journey Of 60S kilometers
C375 miles) from Paris to Agen. This
record has never been surpassed In
length, except by two ascents during
the siege Of Paris by the balloon Vile
d'Orleans, which landed in Norway,
and the Gen. Chanzy, which landed at
Ausbach, In Bavaria. Both of these
distances exceed the record Of the
Touring Club by few kilometers only.
Only enc of the forty-four ascents made
under the auspices of the Society for
Aerial Navigation of Berlin, and only
two mentioned OF the siXty-four bal
looms sent UP during the siege Of Paris
have equaled the distance record of
the Touring Club. Incidently the rec
ord for length of sojourn above the
earth was also exceeded, and many
new instruments were tested and will
have wide bearing on the proposed
international study of atmospheric
conditions by means Of stationary bal
looms. The balloon itself was made Of
China silk and had cubic content of
1,7O0 metersa Five, hundred Kilograms
Of ballast were taken, making the total
weight, including instruments and bal
loonist, 735 Kilograms; altogether some
thing over ton. The. two aeronauts
were Messrs George Besacon and Maui
rice Farman. The anchor carried was
of an original design, grapnel with
two stocks.
The valve was studied with, particu-
lar care, permitting the gas to escape
rapidly when the balloon was to make
landing, without requiring a contin-
ued strain on the cord to bring into
play special mechanism. The latitude
reached was never very high, and 1t
required an hour to attain 1000 feet,
the theory Of Mr.. BesacOn being that
when one undertakes an extended voy-
age in point Of time it is necessary to
remain in low altitude, so as to hus-
band the supply of gas. The greEter
portion Of the voyage was made at "a
height of about 700 feet. The balloon
assembled at Paris early in the morning
and followed the direction Of the rail-
road line to Orleans. The descent was
made at 3:15 on 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 varied from fifteen to fifty
miles an hour. One Of the features Of
this voyage was the distribution Of
printed blanks, asking certain ques-
tions, which were to be filled up and re-
turned by whoever found them. Nine
thousand of these were sent out during
the voyage and about $50 Of them have
been returned, furnishing important
data.