The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-12-01

Last fail ] participated m N experience
that for les wonderful phases has never
been duplicated"
John Bennett reached for his pipe, alled
and lighted It, and then glanced toward me
as lf 10 ask II i wished to hear what be
had 10 divulge. lie Is a very remarkable
mani Of that rare type fast disappearing,
For moro than half century he has made
bis home In the heart OF California majes-
tic mouHtains. and like the Poet Of the
Sierras,H he wears a flowing patriarchal
beard, and hair to match, and is himself
4 student and d poet BY nature.
1 settled myself Ia my chair with an APP
preciatiee nod, and John Bennett began
what Is truly a most remarkable story.
II am the oldest graduate OF Yale IN
California he said; ''and tnink 1t was
this that brought to the ranch party
OF scientists from my old university. / am
not at liberty to name them, for they are
coming again to try another experiment,
and until that has been made, the whole
thing Is a secret Of theirs.It will not do any
harm to tell as much as | intend to, how
sThey brought with them diifeible bal
loon, and conhded that they were eeiae ~
make an ascent and study t4e topograpn ~,
accurate map OF the entire range. 1t didn't
turn ot,f that way however, as you will see.
u In 4 sort of superficial way have al.
fxvava feen interested In aerostaties and
s,n9rad sciences; and when they asked me
~ aepofnpany them as guide and compan-
a., accepted the invitation with alacrity.
We wet farther up into the range, and
mad camp. They took their machine out,
I'D begsn the work Of assembling the
parts; and want to say here that 1t was as
complete thing assever man made. There
was everything calculated to make the trip
. success and every appliance to prevent nc &C
range above timber line, and arrangements
had been made to prevent this condition
from retarding the experiments: The car
of the balloon was made Of isinglass over
frame Of aluminium. IL was entirely en-
closed, and was heated from an electric
motor, which also propelled the machine.
Hydrogen gas was used as the lifting
power, supplemented by another motor. and
oxygen was manufactured and supplied to
the occupants Of the car VIXEN the atmos-
phere became TOO rarined for comfortable
breathing. Provisions were stored for the
party-enongh to last six men a week.
and when the ascension was made 1t seemed
that not thing had been overlooked. All
sorts Of thermometers, barometers and ther-
m0meters were taken along, and everything
necessary for the proper study of the con-
ditions that might confront the party after
leaving the earth.
s'It was a sparkling morning when the
hynal was given, and we arose with a
bound and were soon soaring over the tops
OF the snowy peaks. Never shall | forget
that sight as / gazed through the sides and
bottom OF the transparent car. So bright
was the sunshine that we were forced to
draw the green silk curtains ut some of the
windows. Within Eve minutes we were
locking down on toy mountains that were
dropping away from us as n stone drops
from the top Of a tall building; and the
atmosphere had become so rafeled that the
oxygen tank was opened into the car, and
the heating motor was started. Ear Off
10 the west, we could see the tiny valleys,
and, still farther, an endless blue expaiise
that marked the Pacific Ocean. Many men
have exulted In the view from balloon.
but few have ever had the experience of