The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-25

Usually when one makes an ascent the
view is obscured by clouds but on this oc-
casion so clear Yves the atmosphere that
We could see as far as the eye couid
reach The North sea was visible and
We could trace the coast zine along TO the
Wash. We could observe the dots upon
the ocean which denoted the position of
the steamers. TO the sou1h the English
channel could be seen with the coast linz
OF France beyond. At 2i,0U) feet the bas-
loon had been discharging it's gas for some
time, thus causing it TO lose lis lifting
power. and I noticed that the teltale VIC
let line of the seif-registering aneroid be
gan a downward course We thereupon
began discharging ballast In order TO
facilitate this each bag 1--WE had eight was
tied by line at top and bottom and hung
outside the car; all we had to DO was to
unite or cut the top liue when an the
ballast was precipitated, leaving the
empty bag hanging TO the ear by the
lower line. Between 2:30 and 3 o'clock We
discharged four bags jof sand, each
Weighing fifty pounds, and thereby caused
the balloon to reach its maximum alti-
tude Of 27,297 feet, as shown in DR.. Ber-
sons carefully worked out chart.
Cold weather sets IN.
The cold had become Very severe at this
hight and though thickiy clothed l was
shivering. / noticed that Dr. Berson APP
peared color.ess in the face ana he re
marked the same of me.
The oxygen inhalation seemed most adj
vantageous, for with it one felt comfort
able, but when as an experiment l re-
moved The tube I found a drowsiness. com
ing on. DR., Berson suffered no ill-effect
and continued taking his readings We
both studied carefully when at the maxi
Ill.
indicated by the course we were floating
and found that we were making almost
directly for the sea. This indicated that
our course was more westerly than ever
and at 323 ii was decided to open the
valve and thus hasten the descent. Whist
floating at these great nights the sound
of cannon being discharged below reached
US with perfect distinctness, but of other
sound there was absolutely none. II VIII
be observed from the barometrical chart
that after reaching the maximum hignt
the balloon begins TO descend without in
terventlon on our part, and it is necessary
20 discharge sand TO obtain again a life
The balloon would therefore naturally de-
scend to the earth without attention on
our part, but the seward direction rem
dered II desirable to hasten the down
ward course, il we wished to avoid de-
scent into the German ocean.
Falling Through the Air.
When the valve had been opened there
was a rush OF gas which created a whist
ling noise as It escaped throush the open
orifice at the top of the balloon, and our
descent began in real earnest II will be
observed that at 3;15 We We're at 272OO feet
and at 1855 we were on the ground at
Grammar rectory near Upminster. Thus
we had dropped eco feet minute for. forty
minutes as the average, which meant that
at some points we were dropping al nearly
thousand feet a minute. Ballast was
discharged from time to time, but had
little effect, at first disappearing upwards
in clouds and afterwards repasslng us as
the downward drop of the balloon moder-
ated. All the ballast was thrown and
now it remained for the folds of the bal
loon to form parachute and thus slack
the speed Of the fall. This it did more
and more as we entered the denser atmos-
phere below. The descent was a re-
versal of the ascent and warmth in In
creasiug power became noticeable as we
of trail rope hung from the balloon. This
touched the ground and lay across fields
and hedges and trees and we reached the
earth with a smart bump. The balloon
Immediately fell over on its side on the
ground It's work was done; il had no
further power to lift US.
The usual crowd Of assistants arrived
on the scene, and The balloon was packed
up and placed on a cart to be driven to
the nearest railway station.
Lessons of the voyage.
The result of this trip shows certain
principles which we must bear in mind
when continuing these high ascent expert
ments. 1t will be noticed that the bal