The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-03-20
BALLOON RECORD BROKEN
Two Men Make the Journey From
Berlin to Sweden.

Details of the Ascension of Lieu
tenant Ven HiIdebrandt and Dr.
Berson-Aeronauts Once in Danger
OF Being Blown Out 10 sea
The recent balloon voyage of First
/ Lieutenant Won Eildebrandt, of the Royal
| Prussian Balloon Section. and Dr. Der
son. as described by the former in the
German periodical. Die Rundchau, is
Of much interest to baIIoOnists.
DR. BersCn already holds the record
for attaining the greatest height, 2e $50
| feet. i'll his balloon ascension at Stass-
furt. The interest excited by this and
similar trips 70 the higher atmosphere
| led to the formation of an international
/ aeronautic commission. the purpose Of
which was to have a number Of stimuli
! taneous ascensions made 1T various geo
graphical points in Europe. thus the bet
ter to study the physical properties Of the
atmosphere. At the meeting in Septem-
Der last at Paris. it was agreed to make
balloon ascensions on the first Thursday
Of every month on January 10 last a
/ great number Of such ascensions took
place tie most interesting Of which was
that OF d. Berson and Lieutenant Won
! IiiIdebranGt-
The ascension was made at Berlin.
Originally it was intended TO make as
( high an ascension as possible, but q
cIoUdIess Slzy. indicating the possibility of
remaining a long time at q low level
without loss of ballast, tempted the two
! observers TO try TO cross the Baltic Sea.
There were several other favorable cir
cumstances- In the first place. the bal
loon reached the coast without any loss
Of ballast. in the next place the wind was
blowing straight toward the north, at low
| levels even northwest, the most favorable
| direction for making the shortest trip
| across the water. and finally the balloon
/ arrived at the coast so early that The OBJ
| servers could hope to cross the ffty-iVe-
| miles stretch to Denmark by daylight. The
| last condition did not quite hold. Since
the twilight was well advanced before
! their arrival at Frelleborg. Sweden: but
| then the observers were both tried and
experienced craftsmen.
/ The meteorological instruments carried
were an Assmann psychrometer wet
and-dry-bUlb hygrometer) composed Of
! two mercury thermometers. one dry. the
other moist. to determine the moisture in
the air. an alcohol thermometer for great
elevations CAST year 4 temperature Of 4
degrees CentiSrade, was found in the up
PER All on q similar occasion); two amer
old barometers, a Paragraph. and q black
bulb thermometer TO measure the intensi-
" Of the suns rays. a flask containing
so Itres Of oxygen Al atmospheric pres
sure for breathing al high attitudes COM
pleted the outfit
The voyage began at ST. a. m, with a
surface temperature Of y degrees Fahren-
heit- Berlin was crossed a an elevation of
about Go feet. and by varying the ele-
. vation 1t was discovered that up TO Z.49t
feet elevation the wind blew right in a
a westerly direction, between 2,450 and
400 feet IN . straight northerIy Gfrec-
! ton. ana at higher elevations TO the east
, ward
At $500 feet the temperature was Is de-
! grees c. higher than at the earths sur
Z face generally the temperature is lower
; about degree g for every 500 feet OF
ascent; no degrees c. go degrees F. was
reached at Z $50 feet. and the surface TEN,
| peratuTe (21 degrees FL at $500 feet The
! lowest temperature could nor be meas
: ureJ. as il was dark when the greatest
I ! elevation was reached, and the balloon
| was not furnished with electric lights
II was not till they reached the Vi.
Y ! cinity OF Neu StrelitZ, after tWO hours
e travel that the observers gave up tht
= idea Of a high ascension and decided C
' cross the water TO Denmark or Sweden
S They mad been going about twsnty-SeveT
20 miles an 1OuE, ana could therefore hope
T. 10 reach land in Denmark at any rate.
The coast was reached at 1.I5 p. m.
p near StralSund, and al p m the isl
= and OF Rugen was crossed. At 800 p. n
e the balloon stood over the middle poin
{ / or the SLreIcn OF water. and at / p N
- the sun set The cooling OF the air, witt
resulting cooling and contraction Of Ih'
/ balloon gases forced the Adventures I,
! throw ballast over board
The compass was used to determine di
/ rectlOI OF travel while passing over tn,
land, bat on the water this became i'm
e possible as the observers could not tel
q which way the balloon was moving b.
a. : pouring out sand they could tell approx
e iEaJely their direction Of notion an,
L they soon found the balloon was moving
e too much 10 the eastward.
- The balloon WAS lowered to the FegiOI
of winds moving more TO the westward
ana when land came IN sight the compass
n verified their course. The Swedish coaS
= was reached at p. n. and the balloon
o made straight for TrelicbOrg at an eIe
walton Of about 800 feet. Although darl
q by this time, the snow on the ground IA
l. cIIitated sight and OriCutaliOu-
v In crossing the water there was at frs
n great danger of going too FAR eastward
which would have uec@ssitated crcssiu;
the entire length Of the Baltic befor
z reaching land. Now the tendency Wa
J. westward, which would have taken IN
= ( observers into the North Sea
Consequently, ballast was thrown out L
- ! reach higher level and 4 wind blCWin
s. more to the nOrthward. and this wa
e soon accomplished. the balloon movin
II northward over MaImo- At this roin
darkness set in.
Is At first the observers supposed Their
was much snow on the ground heIoI
e them. bat they soon learned that il Va
Il the effect of a dense23aycr Of clouds
: consequently they decided 10 land =
r. soon as possible a study Of the ueaihe
J. map 1T that time also shows that ha
Il they continued their voyage they W0ul
n / have been carried 10 the Kattegat the
to the SkaSer-Fsak. and there taken D
tho then prevailing east wind and blow
4 / into the North Sea.
e ( As il was. the observers after grca
8 danger in crossing two lakes and lars
0 wood tthe tow line dragging and III
II I basket touching 10 tops Of the trees
z landed in the deep snow. about fourtee
IS I miles north of the railroad station a
e / Markaryd. in the Province Of Suaalanr
) The highest point reached Q0,240 feet
9 / was Just before the landing
II An Epidemic of Smallpox.
POINT PLEASANT, W. Va March .
/ DR.. 4. II. Barbe, Secretary Of the Stat
lie Board OF Health, has received an OF
y cial report Of fOrty-nIne cases Of small