The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-03-02

the promontory of the Spelughe. on which
Monte Carlo Is built; 10 the south by tbs
rock peninsula OF Monaco. on which ar,
perched the medieval Italian town and
fortified walls; while facing it 10 the
westward are the sheltered, low-lying
streets OF La Condamine. Here unpre-
tending and comfortable hotels abound
recommended by that mutual aid society
| Of travellers. the Touring Club OF france
and better suited to the journalists purse
than the cosmopolitan palaces on the hill
where fortunes ara won ard lost heed
lessly.
over the waters of the Port II. Santos
Dumont has free scope for his evolutions
without fear of the irregular housetopa
and trees which so impeded his move
ments in Paris. This is important in the
present purely experimental stage, as
each accident to the balloon or its appa-
ratus costs the inventor hundreds and
thousands Of francs. besides the loss Of
time during repairs. For this reason. also
he is not, as the newspapers have stated,
using his brand-new balIoon-"The Santos
DuInont No (which Lachambre long
since completed ard safely packed away,
ready for transportation TO England, or
America, or wherever the next series Of
experiments may becarried on. The hal
loon NO. g." which weathered the winds
round the Eiffel tower. proved itself still
airworthy in last weeks fights. At one
time IL passed beyond the point Of Mo
naco, over the open sea, at a speed Of
some thirty miles an hour, far distanc-
Ing the steam yachts that followed below.
A striking incident occurred shortly
after the balloon shed was opened. The
Empress Eugene came over from her VII
la at Cap Martin and was standing with
friends beside the machine, listening to
its inventors explanations, when the pho
tographer did his work. Not since the
days of her prosperity has she allowed
herself to be portrayed, and the illustrat-
ed papers have seized eagerly on the op-
portunity to reproduce her figure as II
appears now in her tragic age. But what
the papers have not said is that, just be-
fore the snapshot, Henry de Rochefort,
who was standing on the other side Of
the balloon. moved out of focus. The
white hair. which lends pathetic dignity
to the widowed and chiIdless ex- Empress
has transformed his bloodless Partisan
mask to the likeness Of some Gothic gar
goyle instinct with eighteenth century
cynicism. He was an ardent revolution
list as against the empire; he is hardly
yet an ex-reyolutionist. although he is
back in France after being twice pan
ished by the republic.
Rochefort is a valiant supporter Of IL
Santos-Dumont against detractors, recog-
nizing with his keen common sense, that
the courage TO spend q fortune ard risk
ones neck in experiments which after
all have a way Of succeeding. is by Itself
worthy of credit. The patriarch of French
ballooning, NJ Wnfred de Fonvielle has
also reaffirmed during the last week his
esteem Of the inventor and of his expert
ments. 1t was he who organized the bal
loon service in beseiged Paris in 1870. as
the only means Of communicating news
to the outside world Gambetta, with
Ranc, who IS still living, escaped in this
way from the city and organized the Gov
eminent and Army OF National Defence
at Tours. The apparatus of NJ. Santos
Dumont, however tentative, would GER
tainly be useful in like circumstances;
and this military use. perhaps. is the
chief immediate interest of his inventions
and improvements S. D.