The daily tribune., 1905-12-08

K
ard. Secured fron1 and px6iish<d ao'H
s s2lxsfrations made Of the frtb, by ron>-
fesy of The Technical Worla, Chicago.
Last fall / participated in an experience
that for its WONDERFUL phases has never
been duplicated -
John Bennett reached for his pipe. Allied
a. D il fo'es to ak /, ~ wished to hear what he
had to dlvulge. He Is a very remarkable
man. of that rare type fast disappearing.
For more than half century ne mas mace
his home In the heart of Californla's males
tic mountains. and like the Poet OF the
sieftas," he wears flowing Iatriarchnii
beard, and hair to match, md is himseif
q student and q poet by nntufe:
settled myself in my chair with an ap-
precistlye nod, and John Bennett begun
what is truly most remarkable story;
am the he sssSs ssd E!and'e think Hh f' e was
this that brought to the ranch party
.pf scientists from my old university: 4 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 secret of theirs. 1t will not do any
harm to tell as much as intend to, how
"They brought with them dirigible bal
loon. and confded that they were going to
make an ascent and study the topography
of the Sferras SO as TO be able to make mn
accurate map of the entire range. 1t didn't
turn out that way however, as you will see.
'' In a sort OF superficial way have al,
ways been interested in aerostatics and
kindred sciences; and when they asked me
to accompany them ms guide ana compan-
ION accepted the Invitation with alacrity.
We went farther up into the range, and
made camp. They took their machine out,
and began the work of assembling the
parts; and want to shy here that it was as
complete thing as ever man made. There
was everything calculated to make the trip
q success and every appliance to prevent &C.
cident. It's pretty cold up on top of tho
n1Ar tt,,al. 1inA ot.d
had been made to prevent this condition
from rctardihg the experiments. The car
. Of the balloon wns made of isinglnss over
eosed q ana was heated rom ant esce
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 when the ntmos.
phere became too rarihed for comfortable
breathing. Provisions were stored for the
party-enough to last six men a week
and when the ASCENSION was made 1t seemed
that not thing had been overlooked. All
mometers were taken along, ana everything
necessary for the proper study of tine con-
ditions that might confront the party after
at, was a sparkling. morning when the
signal was given, snd we arose with 4
bound and were soon soaring over the tops
that sight as 1 sssed through the sides and
bottom Of the transparent car. So bright
wns the sunshine that we were forced to
draw the green silk curtains ut some Of the
. windows. Within I'VE minutes we were
looking down on toy mountains that were
dropping away from us as a stone drops
from the top Of tall building; and the
Atmosphere had become SO rarefled that the
oxygen tank was opened into the car, and
the heating motor wns started. Far on
= 10 the west, we could see the tiny valleys,
md. still farther. an endless blue expanse
that marked the Pacihc Ocean. Many men
have exulted in the view from n balloon.
but few have ever had the experience of
making an ascension to height above