Rock Island Argus., 1900-06-15
GREAT BERLIN BALLOON
Interesting Experiment to Be
Made by German Aeronauts.
PURPOSE OF THE ENTERPRISE
the Largest Airship Ever FlOated
to See How Long 1t May BE Main
taIned In Midair - Results From
kite6ying.

talned In Midafr - Results From
kiteHying.
II all goes we'll, the large balloon
now building in Berlin will carry five
aeronauts aIoft about the middle Of
July. The enterprise has only one
purpose. That Is 10 see how long a
balloon may be maintained i'll midair,
says the New York Sun. This airship
is to be twice the size of that in which
Andree went TO his fate in the arctic
regions. 1t will carry 100000 cubic
feet of gas and will be the largest bal
loon ever floated. The party hopes to
keep in the air ut least a week or ten
days. The intention is not to return to
terra firma until the loss of gas or bal
last finally brings the balloon to earth.
The leakage of gas from balloon
has perhaps been reduced to mini
mum as far as improvements in the
material of the gas reservoir are con-
cerned. But one important cause of
loss of gas and ballast, both of which,
of course, are essential to keep u bal
loon clear of the earth, are the changes
Of temperature by day and night, which
are large factors in the variation OF
barometric pressure, and consequently
have a controlling effect upon the
buoyancy of n balloon. The journey
must end when either gas or sand bal
last gives out. Some aeronautS have
long maintained that it is perfectly
feasible to keep a balloon in midair for
many days, but the feat has never yet
been accomplished unless Andree sue
ceeded, and the result of his attempt
will probably never be known. Pro-
fessor King of Philadelphia has al
ways asserted that he could safely
make a journey from America to Eu-
rope, but the expense of preparation
has prevented him from attempting it.
The longest time a balloon has been
kept in the air in this country is be-
lieved to be Il hours in a journey of
Mr.. Wise from Buffalo.
The experiment which the German
aeronauts are about to make is a very
interesting one, and, if they find 1T
practicable to keep balloon at Il COM
paratively high altitude for some days,
the result may be of considerable value
to science. 1t has never yet been pos
Sible to obtain continuous records at
very high attitudes of diurnal varia-
tions in temperature, pressure and
wind, and data relating TO these facts
are greatly desired by meteorOlogists.
No balloon or kite has ever kept at n
uniformly high altitude long enough
to obtain this information. The kite
has been maintained in the air for two
days, but at varying attitudes. Cap
tive balloons are serviceable only at
low attitudes, where they may be kept
for many hours if the wind is not too
strong.
If by the adjustment of gas and bal
last free balloons may be maintained
at Il very high and fairly uniform alti-
tude for at least two days, facts of
Importance in meteorological science
may be obtained. The best results
from kitehying 1T high altitude were
obtained in February last year at the
Blue Hill observatory, when Il string of
tandem kites was kept for some time
at an elevation of IL, 500 feet, consider
ably over two miles. 1t was found
that witl Il temperature at the surface
of 10 degrees F., and the wind blowing
at rate of IL miles an hour, the tenn
perature at the highest level was II de-
grees, and the wind velocity was 80
miles an hour. The balloon Vega,