Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1900-10-18
KEEPING HOUSE
il, IN 4 ARMY.
ell Important Service on the Battle
Field Upon Which Much Of the
Success of a War Depends.
hudson Lawrence, Balloonmaker.

Judson Lawrence, Ba1loonmaker.
Could anything appear easier at first
sight than to make a balloon, that Ia
vention that is playing such an lmpor-
ant part in modern warfare? AS
somebody ~fippantly remarked: Cali
you have to DO is just to take some
gas and then put some silk around it,,
But actually the process is a very
difficult and delicate one-necessarily
somewhat slow, too-and in this arti-
Gle I propose to take the reader for an
excursion through a modern balloon
factory, and to give him as clearly as
I can some idea OF the various stages
in the manufacture Of a complete ana
perfect aerial machine.
The first necessity in the work Of
balloon making is naturally to procure
the silk. It is a matter for serious con-
sideration what exact texture Of ma
terial you will employ to carry you into
the higher atmospheric regions. Vari-
GUS questions have to be taken into ac-
count, chief among them being b pro-
posed size of the balloon. According
to the size so the resisting power OF
the silk has to be gagged to a nicely.
OF course, silk is not always used, cot
ton and alpaca are cheaper materials,
but I am describing the K of the
very highest class of balloon-chiefy
used for scientific purposes-so I will
only deal with the one material-silk,
in this article.
The test is applied by means OF a
dynanometer, specially designed for
the which tells just what
strain the fabric will stand. For the
Hercules" the balloon whose con-
! structien we are about te watch from
first to last, the index OF the dynamo
| meter shows a breaking strain of over
$3.50 pounds. This figure appears to
satisfy the operator. So far, so good.
! The material ought to stand. Now, how
much will it take? Ten pieces IS yards
long and one yard wide will give a SUI
perfcial area of $50 square yards. This,
! then, has to be transformed into a per
feet balloon.
One OF the very first operations in to
prepare the diagrams Of the projected
| balloon and to cut the patterns some
! what in the same way that q tailor or
! dressraaker adopts. TO this end the
material is fixed on a long bench, and
. forty thicknesses are cut out al a time.
To cut through all this material 81
| multaneously a peculiarly shaped and
exceedingly sharp instrument mas TO &c
used. and the dexterity with W+[ech the
operation is performed is Imply amaz
ing. Having cut out Icnese forty thick
nesses, you ha-e forty strips. identica
in size anS shape, which presently nav
to be Joined together.
At this stage of the proceedings TIT
J helm Of the fair sex is enlisted. A smar
corps of willing hands ply the needle
and e stitch the strips-or cores
as they are technically terned-togeth
or From these needle women the worl
masses to the sewing machine hands
whose work is just as delicate as tn
first stitching operation is rough. BE
tween every two stitches by hand tn
sewing machine makes several hun
dred.
The strength of the thread used is
like the material itself, tested by mean
of a. dynanometer and where the strip
; are Joined. instead Of laying the edge
one on the other, they are double
over. or intercalated-to use once MOI
q. technical term-thus making tn
!, cover particularly secure and strong.
> The strips are finally put together
: sections, and in the balloon who's
! manufacture we are lmaglnarll
: watching there are altogether fit!
: four sections. A small portion of tt
upper end of each strip has to be cl
away so as to leave an aperture at IL
i. top of the balloon from one to thr'
feet in diameter. h space is occl
pied by the valve
= To complete the operation of makir
the cover or envelope, the collars +
: the valve and the neck have to be co.
: structed. Three strips of the silk a
sewn together and fastened firmly
2 make the collars. Then the cover
: practically finished, and although t
; description does not take long to req
It's manufacture has occupied abo
! twelve days altogether, six needleWog