The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-08

i had remained above 1900 feet for
hours at a time.
The trip of the Vega over the Alps
was the 503rd successful ascension con
Quoted by Captain- Spelterlmi without
accident.
I'VE did not even feel dizzy" says
Professor Helm, and our trip proved
that dizziness is not one Of the accom-
paniments Of travelling by balloon. a
long-mooted question. The Em0st won
derfui thing of all to us was the per-
feet quiet and sacred silence of the
heights. Whether the balloon went up
or down, or rushed through the air with
railway speed, we felt none of it. We
were in absolute quiet. Then we knew
what quiet is. About $4,000 feet you
hear the blood rushing through your
ears: at $4,000 feet the noise of the cir
cuIation of your blood is umbeaFable
1T is altogether different from the still
ness of a mountain top. There Us still
the noise coming from below, even
though brOkenly. But with us the ST
lence was ahsoIute-oppresstv
Sensations of the Voyagers.
Until we had assembled to L, 600 feet
all felt we'll. At 14,O00 feet DR.. Bieder-
mann complained of palpitatiGn of the
heart. Al $4,000 feet DR. Maurer COM
planned of severe sticking pains in the
back of his head and of nausea.
'At $4,000 feet and 10000 feet / felt
wonderfully well. sitting in one corner
of the car ON a sack of ballast. Half
dreaming / looked out over the shin
ing clouds. or at the yebt0wish horizon.
or upwards at the black sky / did not
want any oxygen, I felt no difficulty in
breathing, no uneasiness whatever, no
'air-hunger.' But the ability to work
was gone, my energy was lost. 1t
required a great effort for the to take
my note book up and write in it. My
pulse was very weak, / could hardly
find it, but it was, quietly beating sixty
to sixty three times a second. All at
once felt freezing cold. But it was so
delightful to sit there quietly. Better
to freeze than take the trouble to put
on the cloak that lay at my side. But
my conscience spoke. saying, You
ought to observe. look around note
what you see!' and looked out, but
noticed nothing and wrote not a word
Only to sit quietly and let the balloon
ascend to heavenly heights, that must
be a beautiful end
But when we had descended ], 500 or
1900 feet we were as new born. The
effects of the rarified air we're felt only
while we were in it.
Strange to say during all our trip
none of us felt the least desire for.
food.
The View From the Balloon.
"To describe the view from the ball
loon is like trying to describe a SYM
phony to a deaf man. The woods
looked like the softest moss. The vary
ing eolors of the foliage were clearer
than ever, melting into wGndFous har-
mony. The lace work of field and
meadow, of fruit trees and forests wove
a. W0Of of heauteCus color All of the
coIors seemed far brighter from the
balloon, for fresher;; and as we rose
higher and higher all took on a beauti-
full violet tint. The cities looked like
master paintings the streets like
white threads holding all together. If
1 could tell all that 1 saw it would
be my greatest earthly pleasure, but
language is all too feeble. The color
ing of the clouds, the shadows on the
mountains, what words can tell their
beauty~
What the Voyage Proved.
The results of this unparalleled flight
over the Alps and Jura are of more
than passing interest. 1t has shown
that, healthy men may ascend to about
four miles above sea level and remain
at this tremendous. height without any
serious inconvenience. 1t has shown
also that dizziness is not an accOmpani-
ment of balloon-voyaging most i'm
portant point for future aerial naviga-
ton.
The phenomena observed were new
and interesting. The fact that the
earth appears to be bathed in an at
mosphere of violet color when seen
from the balloon is accounted for by
Professor Helm in this way. When we
look at a mountain as we stand on the