Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-09-18
SENSATIONS IN A BALLOON
Very Much Like High Speed
Elevator at First.
Soon after That, However, All Sense OF
Motion is Lost, Even Though One
May Be Moving at Railway
Speed.

tuSSlO1 OIL Ine recent retreat OIL santos
I)umont," was relating "ballooning expe-
riences" to a number of friends in an up
town engineers club. says the New York
Commercial Advertiser.
The FIRST thing suggested to u layman
at mention of the subject of ballooning
H. the element of danger" the expert be-
gan. "Thc consequences, should the big
gas bag go wrong, seem so overbearing to
the average imagination that men lose
sight of the fact that the catastrophe of
being hurled out of the sky from miles on
high 10 practically almost an impossible
ity. But some day, when the balooning,
along with the automobiling, has been
added to the list of American outdoor
sports you will realize all this. In time
when New York aero club has equaled
the record of the one In Paris, with 500
balloon ascensions without a single acct
cent the balloon will be added to the
legitimate pleasure vehicles designed for
men who sock new sensations.
Perhaps there is nothing that strikes
beginner at the sport more strangely
;han the influence which n varying height
has on his imagination. Take your first
ride in balloon, and as the sand bags
are removed and the final rope releasing
your airship is cut the feeling is one much
the same being whircd to the top of a
Sl<yscrap per in a fast eleVdtor-only a hun
dredfold more intense. A balloon charged
properly rises with incredible speed and
lbI Tue ilHlt an SttlS u StUSitlOHS DcSl1
to whirl in the brain of man in the
basket, and his impulse is to cut the big
gas bag and TO hold on to the car until
he can return to earth and put into prac-
tce the good resolutions he has made.
Before long the balloon ceases its mad
flight upward and it's rise becomes stead
icr A sensation of giddiness oVercomcS
one at the thought that between ones
self and pcrdticn there is nothing but the
frail wicker floor of the basket and Il
look over the side Of the car would mean
eeasickness and, in many cases. a tempta-
tion to Jump overheard
but up and up goes the balloon, and by
the time that height is reached from
where objects below look like toy repro
ductons of the real things, the novice
has regained his nerve and may contem-
plate with equanimitY the tiny speck of
houses gridroned into blocks and sections
by black lines of streets and avenues
where live descendants of his forefathers
and their neighbors.
NO MOTION DISCERNIBLE
"If eyes were closed it would he impos-
sible to discern any motion. Not breath
Of air seems to stir. The balloon may be
tearing along at railroad speed within the
grip of a gale but not watt Of wind
can be felt, for the reason that the journey
is on the very wing of the storm it
self, and that the balloon is travelling at
the same rate as the air no faster. no
slower. 1t is a sensation similar to that
of sailing in a yacht scudding before the
wind; the only difference Is that all is
peace and quiet. and that there is an alb
senoe of all motion so far as the sense of
feeling can discern.
Looking upward or looking about, the
same sensation that of seeming to stand
still in one spot. takes hold of one Even
the cloud Immediately overhead or along
side at some distance seems tn stand sill,
the reason being that both it and the
balloon are moving at the same rate Of
speed though that may be faster than the
express train running in a parallel line
directly underneath.
1T is only by locking down at the fast
appearing and disappearing panorama OF
towns and meadows and woods and rivers
that the acr0naut can judge the rate at
which he is travelling If the journey IS
young he has little difficulty in locating
where he is. y map and a compass and
strict look out enable him to check off
the cities as they appear and disappear
But i'm a voyage through fog or over
night II becomes ncXt to impossible to
| identify the ground below
Among the interesting things about
haloonins are the technicalities. the lift
| ing power Of the airshp its equipment and
| that of the crew of the craft. For eXam-
. pie, take the Centaure,' the winner Of the
/ famous Paris Exposition races when, for
the first time, balloon travelled from Par
! Is irto RUSSIA distance of llHG miles COW
cred in 81 hours, the average speed being
n trife moro than 81 miles ar hour The
actual weight lifted by the Centaure at
the beginning of the voyage, whcl sand
bags were In place, was more than 3,3il
pounds, or this weight tho balloon itself
and its car and appurteranCes weighed
25 pounds the passengers 227 pounds,
and provisions. overcoats, blankets, sand
| ballast and the oxygen respiration appara-
tus 1870 pounds-and these are figures
which perhaps give a proper idea of the
power Of balloon. Imagine $3.50 pounds
shot skyward to a height of four miles
Of the eagle himself, and kept there, not
for an hour nor for 10 hours, but for n
day, or, perhaps, two days.
COLD IN THE UPPER STRATA
at height of three or three and half
miles there is a temperature which is
arctic Leaving the earth behind as the
balloon ascends higher and higher the tenn
porature becomes steadily colder ana cold
~. Ovcrcoats gloves and blankets are
provided as a matter of course and the
balloonist wearing these and driving at a
furious rate high above a sweltering city
has all the delight Of an explorer Ventur-
ing for the first time into an untouched
field of research and adventure.
AS a balloon ascends into the rarer
strata of air it is necessary for the GU
pants of the car to make use of the Oxygen
apparatus in order to make living COM
Portable. The gas in the balloon is chilled
and contracted by the cold Its lifting
power has become impaired, one scoCpful
of sand after another you have had to slit
overheard to keep the craft at its proper
height. Then comes daylight and-the
sun. Gradually the warm rays exert their
influence on the bag. 1t warns the pom
dcrous thing until it bulges like bed Quilt
between the network of ropes and the var
nish glistens and threatens to crack
Steadily then the gas begins to warm and
no expand and to exert a stronger lifting
force and your balloon ascends. Clear ia
ne limit Of breathing convenience you let
81 rise, then it becomes necessary to stor
and praying for the sand you reluctantly
hove overheard you are forced as the only
llternatiVe to open the valve and to allow
he escape Of gas, Steadily then the bal
uon sinks to the level desired, where IT re-
(nains--pending conditions
Perhaps within an hour tho sun agar
disappears Again the gas cools and yor
begin to sink, this time for want of the
gas you left out. Lower and lower you
FALL until 1t Is necessary to scoop out more
ballast. which perhaps, in another houi
'ou will need as badly as before. Thus the
Hight continues--a judicious outstanding o1
gas and ballast being the keynote of sue
,ess.
JOCKEYING FOR WIND.
.~xG.-.