The Holly chieftain., 1898-06-17
LAUGHS At spAnxH GUMS
serseaat nallosnist ~ naIAvvis
Says the Dens Qasnst
Hart Hin


loon all day and let thos guys fire at
me-" recarked Sergt. Ivy Baldwin the
other day, in speaking Y the proba-
bilities Of being hit by Ne spaniards
while taking obserya tions;at the front
in time Of war. The SpaiA rds have NO
guns capable Of strikinsla balloon at
height Of 1000 or s,ooofeet. Now, IL
We were engaged in wsfagainst the
Germans or the French d would be =
different matter. They have made .
special study Of ballooninffor war pur-
poses and have guns whic&might prove
very dangerous to an aeroiSut studying
their positions. An Ordinary cannon ID
. dangerous thing to use Sor the pur-
pose Of bringing down hplloon. The
chances are that the piecs would burst
II fred on the inclinationwhic would
be necessary. It require weapon
made especially for the purpose. I have
no fear of rife ball, aat the force Of
gravity acts directly upon ! ball when
it is fred
Sergt. Baldwin is in fins spirits over
the probability Of being otiered to re-
port at Fort Wadsworthin charge OF
the magnificent balloon Which he has
made for signaling purpSses. Fort
Wadswcrth is in the entnpce Of New
York harbor, and Baldwin estimates
that at an elevation of 1000 feet he
will be able with the naked eye to see
the feet of the enemy approaching ut
distance of "a miles. Srgt. Baldwin
has made hundreds of ascenAions on the
seashore near San Francisco, where he
learned not to fear dip ID the briny
ocean.
The balloon which is to be sent east
was made in this city by Baldwin. It
has capacity OF $4,000 cubic feet of
gas and is made of pongee silk.
Nine minutes is given Is the time
which is required in elev,ting to an
altitude Of 5000 feet. Thi, can safely
be operated to advantage. The balloon
will be held to the earth by cable con-
sisting of ten insulated riano wires
with cloth coating. The wires are un-
tempered and may be utilized for tel
ephone or telegraphic service. The
cable will be attached to I windlass.
and Baldwin estimates that four men
can furnish power necessaryin raising
and lowering.
"The balloon" said Baldwin, "will be
useful only when the sun is shining.
Even when the day appears perfectly
bright mist Is arising from the ocean
and vision is obscured Il 20 or 25 miles,
never tested telescope at the shore,
but will no doubt have the opportunity
of doing so II we have alvar with Spain.
have no fears whatevst of falling into
the water. What caufs balloon to
fall? The escape of De gas and the
weight Of the individ1l riding in the
balloon. All he has tollo is to remain
still, and when the balbon strikes the
water what is the resuI? The bag ex-
pands. The weight isfelieved by the
buoyant power OF the hter, and when
the balloon rises the mn in the basket
has chance to let go 4pd swim away.
II an aeronaut is drowSd 1t is his own
fault"
+ Baldwin entered the}rmy with the
hope that an opportunity would be
presented for him to inform some
practical service in the 6eld for his
country. No citizen Of tisfepublic will
be disappointed more thS Baldwin II
peace takes the place u the GRIM
visaged monster. BaldnS II the only
professional balloonist h3the United
States army, and he hs received the
constant support and enlargement Of
Capt. Glassford in the ,vtk he has un-
dertaken since enlisting. b addition to
being practical balloo Ihan Baldwin
has learned the art Of biography and
signaling with flags, an. B one Of the
liveliest men In the corp4 In building
telegraph or telephone LID One of the
diversions Of the corps 4 Fort Logan
has been to build tempcqry telegraph
line mile or mile ada half long,
send message in eacl erection and
take up the line. The nen have also
been instructed in the \ Of the bal
loon, SO that every memhf of the corps
may be capable of servic b various di-
rections in any part OF n country.
Baldwin's experiment With cellulor
kites have been sadly iterfered with
since the prospect for w} opened, but
he hopes to SO far perfec iis plans as TO
make use of kites il h&ilities break
out.-Denver Times.
soldiers' Traveiing Tih and now.
when soldiers in the 3ervice of the
United States are travel4g their COM
fort is pretty well look4 after" says
+. F. Horner, general passenger agent
OF the Nickel Plate. IN government
requires the railroad coapanies to pro-
vide sleeping cars for officers and
also for the priyates II 4 is possible to
procure the cars. The thirteenth regi-
ment, which left Bulfald few DAYS ago,
was carried In tourist &rs, three men
10 q section. two oicuning the lower
berth and one the ippa OF course, II
men are to be carried in very large
numbers on short Ibtid such arrange
ments would be inpo1 1ible. but even
then we would haze i provide them
with ordinary day coaches. The vol
6nteers who answT the present call
will be carried In purist cars IL their
journey lasts throwh a night. i don't
think that any oths country on earth
looks after Its soldies DO well. When
was soldering we cnsidered freight
car perfectly satisfactory. We general
ly had to walk. BeiG packed into a
freight car on a ho'sfmmer day was
rather uncomfortable and the men
usually secured venllAtion by knock
ing holes in the sids Sof the car with
the butts Of their riBal When the ofii-
GERS demonstrated u poys would say
4 = ~ - Il III.