New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-03

feel It. True. in rising and descending the
spherical balloonist feels the friction OF the
mOsphere. and vertical osciI often makes the
flag futter but in all its horizontal movements the
ordinary balloon seems TO stand STILL while the
earth flies past under II.
Before going on my first trip. had wondered
If | should be seasck. l foresaw that the sensa
ton OF mounting and descending obliquely with my
shifting weights might be unpleasant; and looked
forward to a good deal Of pitching as they say on
board ship.
II know that what feels most dstressingy
at sea is not so much the movement as that mo-
mentary hesitation just before the boat pitches.
followed by the malicious dipping or mounting.
which never comes quite the same. and the shock
at top and bottom All this is powerfully aided
by the smells OF the paint. varnish and tar. min
gled with the odors OF the kitchen. the heat OF
the boilers and the stencil OF the smoke and the
hold
I'm the airsIip there is smell-all is pure and
clean-and the pitching itself has mono OF the
shocks and hestations OF the boat at sea. The
| movement is suave and flowing which is doubtless
owing 10 the lesser resistance OF the air waves The
pitches are less frequent and rapid than those at
sea: the dip is not brusquely arrested so the mind
can anticipate the to its end. and there Is
no shock give that queer empty sensation to the
solar plexus Furthermore. the shocks of a trans
atlantic liner are due to first the fore and then
the after part the giant construction rising out
of the water to plunge into it again. The airship
never leaves it's medium-the air-in which It only
| swings
This consideration brings me to the most re-
markable of all the sensations OF aerial navigation.
On nv first trip 1t actually shocked This is the
utterly new sensation Of movement in an extra d.
mension
Man has never known anything like free verti-
cal existence. Held to the plane of the earth. his
! movement down has scarcely been more
| than to return II after a short excursion up
| our minds remaining always on the plane surface
even while our bodies may be mounting and this
Is SO much the case that the spherical balloonist
as he rises has no sense OF movement, but gains
the impression that the earth Is descending below
| him.
with respect to combinations Of vertical and
! horizontal movements, man Is absolutely WITHOUT
! experience OF them Therefore as all our sensa-
| lions of movement practically IN two dimen-
sions this is the extraordinary novelty OF aerial
| navigation that II affords experiences-not IN
/ the fourth dimension it is true. but In what Is
/ practically an extra dimenson-the third; so that
the miracle is similar Indeed. 1 cannot describe
| the delight the wonder and intoxication or this
/ free diagonal movement onward and upward or
| onward and downward combined at will with
sharp changes of direction horizontally when the
airsbin answers 10 a touch OF the rudder. The
! birds have this sensation when they spread their
! great wings and go tobogganng in curves and
/ spirals through the sky.
..What IL | should fall? the thought came.
rba bousetops looked so dangerous. with their
| chimney pots for spikes 1t while over the
| Jongchamps racecourse that my balloon. having
lost n great deal of It's gas, began TO double on
| itself Previously had heard noise. Looking up
7 cav that the long cylinder of the balloon was
| beginning to break Then astonished and
| troubled: wondered what could do
81 could not think OF anything. might thro"