Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-03
NEW FAD IN PARIS
Great Interest is Taken in the Sub,
ject of EalIooning.
THE AERO CLUB And ITS OBJECTS
Outgrowth of the Craze for Auto
mobile Racing,
DANGEROUS AND EXPENSIVE
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

| Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
| PARIS, May 22, 1899.
| One of the hvelest features of the Auto
mobile Club de France is the weekly auto
| mobile betting luncheon, the more so as
gambling forbidden from the first in
| this most magnificent and modern of all
| Partisan club houses, where the cagnotte,
| or kitty of the baccarat table-that prec-
ious financial standby of all Partisan circles
plays no part. So the betting luncheons
were received with JOY by all who found it
| hard to do without the daily "1utter"
| while the more devoted automobilists were
| no less pleased to find a spur to worthy
| emulation. The fact that the new Partisan
balloon club, called the Aero, is the child of
| these sporting automobilists does not at all
| detract from the piquancy of the wagers.
| A sample bet of twenty covers Ounches)
was between NM. Noel and Hurry. NJ Hurry
pretending to be able to guess within ) per
cent the speed of NJ. Noels new petroleum
break, on condition that NJ. Hurry be allow
| ed to choose his own moments for such
| guessing. Another was concluded between
| NJ. krieger and the Count de Chasseloup-
| Loubat, twelve covers. The effort of each
| was to go as far as possible in four-seated
! electric automobile, each competitor to use
| the same type OF dcCumulatOr and the same
! batteries, the accumulators weighing equal
| ~ 4o3 kllos; the minimum average speed to
| be fifteen kiiometers hour.
NJ. Santos-Dumont bets NJ Kreiger that
| before july l, 1899, he will come to lunch
| on the roof garden of the Automobile Club
! IN his cigar-shaped navigating balloon A
| oct is recorded for ten lunches between
| NM. Santos-Dumont and Pierre Iafite the
| latter wagering that Santos-Dumont will
not win the above bet in the course of the
present year.
Man of Nerve.
| If Santos-Dumont succeeds In his attemnt
to steer his airship over the chimney pots
of Paris and land on the roof garden of the
| Automobile Club he will find himself the
celebrity of the hour. A gilded youth from
| Brazil, only now twenty-six years of age
| the brother Of bankers and the son of Du-
| mont, the great coffee planter lately de-
| scribed by your correspondent. Frank c.
| Carpenter, Santos-Dumont figures worthily
| IN modern Paris life. The Aero Club counts
| many courageous members. but Santos
| alone was willing to demonstrate that A
| three-horsepower petroleum automobile mo-
| tor could be operated under a closed balloon
| without danger Of a confederation The
point is now admitted. but it took more
| than ordinary nerve to make 1t.
| The roof garden of the Automobile Club
| is in itself a curiosity for Paris the first
| and only one existing at the moment rs
| tahfished, as it is. beside the Cercle de la
| Rue Royale in the old Hotel Crillon which
! contributes its architectural grandeur to
! The Place de IA Concorde. no club house in
the world has a more imposing situation.
From the roof garden. which is scarcely
| completed the members have view of the
whole southwestern panorama of Paris.
with the River Seine and its bridges curry
| ing through a mass of verdure, and the
| famed Champs Elysees. Below. in the place
| ihey may muse on the terrible executions
| of the French revolution. Along the ave
the ChamnS EllSeaS nd ba
| Arc de Triomphe they may ina CINE the
victorious armies of the great Napoleon
and far off. along the line of the horizon.
towers the fort Of Mont Nalcrien. untouch-
| ed by the Prussians. Through these prom
| enades the wealth and fashion of all Paris
| take their airing.
| Interest in BalIoOning.
The Aero Club an outgrowth of the Auto
mobile Club, and in reality part of it, is
no mere posing association of rich young
| men DESTROYS to achieve heroic regulations
| The present interest in balIooning conse-
| quence of the new danger-spiced zest for
| reckless automobile road racing is real and
unaffected. The Aero Club admits to its
membership balloon manufacturers and pro-
| fessional acronauts. and lis weekly meet
| ingS for debate ard lectures are always
! fully attended. The most practical step
| taken by the club far IS the erection of
the sheds in the PLANE de la Bagatelle
where there will be kept, always inflated
ana ready Tor an immediate start, three of
| the Aero Clubs own balloons. Here men,
Der has installed the finest gas generating
machine in Europe. Until the sheds are
completed the amateur balloonfsts of Paris
remain at the mercy of the disobiging di-
rectorate of the geological garden. willing
to take high prices for services grudgingly
rendered. The gas plant serves the zoos
own captive halloons-a catchpenny enter
| prise to which the public has not taken
enormously, and in its treatment of all out
| side clients the workings of a French mo-
| nopoly are beautifully illustrated.
The other day went out with a member
| of The Aero Club; nerved up to take a dash
| into the blue vault of heaven. They had
| promised to begin filing his balloon by .
am. When we arrived 10 am. of a
| bright. cloudless day the balloon lay
sprawling on its canvas, limp and lifeless.
why don't you fill it up?'
There is gas
But why is there no gas?"
There is no water"
And why is there no water
They are watering the flower beds
Come with me TO the director instantly"
The director has gone to Paris"
where is the man who turns on the
| water?"
He has gone to Paris, too
I'VE will get the key from his wife"
He took ii with him..
| rs there nothing to do. grand Dieu?'
I'VE can wait till they are through water
| ing the flowers"
An Expensive Sport.
BY the time they finished watering the
flowers 1t was time for lunch. The men
| must have an hour for lunch. By l pm.
| they got the water on, and it was then
! found that the sulphuric acid pump was
clogged With three French artisans fun
| bling about it, the Aero Club anna teur had
| to clean out that pump with his own hands
| By pm. the gas began to generate from
| the iron filings. 1t took four hours to fill
| up the balloon. My friend was desperate
| We've got the old thing started and might
| as well go on" he said. 'but now we WON'T