Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1906-11-16

Held. Mass In " htrh ~" Nf"f
Omesrs Participated. af Huch i"tcr-
-st-niy-rEent Views oR NLIur Of
balloons In nodsrR warfare - Ei=
MiIitar, Balloon Ordered Ia Fraacs
Tor lie Of signal Corps.
The recent endurance contest he-
tween balloons. starting from Pitts
held. Mass. when ore - tie ir.l.H'u.
rarrled two American army o.irc-S.
has proved OF mUch interest u tie
members Of tie signal corps aal % >.l-
eutiac men in the government depart
meutS. writes "a Washington GORE.
sp,udeut Of tie New York Post The
army has never heretofore devoted any
great amount Of time 10 special work
IN aprJuauticS. but a number uf tie Of
Gcrrs have studied the subject Sl.-Lt-
-. IL past years experiments lave
been carried ON mainly al Fort Riley.
Kan. but more recently. since Fort
Omaha. Ne1.. has become the fell
headquarters for the signal corps. such
experiments a. have been maIe have
been undertaken from the latter post.
In the "trip starting from rittsdeld
the other day the balloon lie Ceutaure
carried Major Samuel Reher ana Cap
tain Charles De Forest Chandler Of the
signal corps. L. ;. A.. ana Travelled thir-
" miles before making a landing in
Bennington. Vt The competing bal
loon L'Orient made a record OF nifty
seven miles before descending mt ia
maica. VI. The first named ear reach
ell a height OF 500 feet, while the pilot
Of the other one claimed 10 have as
cended 5000 feet. The passengers in
lie Ceutaure considered the object Of
their "trip accomplished and highly sue
cessful from a scientific standpoint and
will make full report 10 the chief
signal officer Of the army, Brigadier
General James Allen.
That army officials while holding dl-
vergent views as TO the practical value
Of balloons under actual service condi-
tons in warfare. are determined not to
permit the French army to hold all the
hOuors in military ueronautics was
shown by the success of Lieutenant
Francis L. f.ahm, l. :. A. in the re-
cent international balloon race from
Paris across the channel and cOuSid-
cradle distance into the interior of Eng
land. Army officers have been taking
M active interest in the possibilities OF
using balloons in warfare since 1888
when a captive balloon was Installed
us part of the war departments ex-
hbit at the Chicago worlds fair. In
the following year Major Reber under
took some Investigations along these
lines at Fort Riley, and other officers
of the signal corps undertook a limited
amount of similar work. In 1898 the
army had a military balloon III use at
Santiago in charge of Colonel Joseph
L. MaYfield, now retired.
This experiment IN Cuba gave the
army officers opportunity TO Judge of
the real possibilities of ballOoning I'M
der actual service conditions. In gen
eral their verdict was that the infOr-
nation thus obtained was very small
compared TO the Inconvenience, expense
and wOrriment Occasioned by Juggling
along all the baggage and materials
necessary to operate a balloon. The
greatest difficulty is found. of course,
in providing gas in just the quantity
needed at the place desired and at the
time required. TO meet this demand
the signal corps keep an ample supply
Of tubes for storing compressed gas,
and during the past year the equip
ment board of the signal corps has
been considering many methods of
generating hydrogen i'll large quantities
for use in military ascenSions
Details of this work have been laid
before Secretary Taft and will soon be
made public. In reviewing the work
the chief of the signal corps has report
ed to the secretary that experiments
have also been conducted in the meth
Cd of refrigerating Illuminating gas as
a means Of separating hydrogen from
other constituents. These experiments
have not yet been fully concluded but
are being carried on in conjunction
with civilians who have been making
q special study of such matters. Plans
and specifications have been received
from a commercial company for Il by,
dr0gen generating plant. using the re-
Eenerative steam and iron method. BY
this process it is claimed that hydrogen
can he produced at cost of less than
80 cents per thousand cubic feet. Hy-
drogen obtained by the electrOlysis of
water. or the sulphuric acid and iron
method. has also been used in balloon
experiments.
For emergency use in ballOOning and
Cor experimental purposes the signal
torps is now arranging for the pur-
thase of two chemical substances
which will produce hydrogen merely
by the addition of water. Samples
have been already submitted by chem
ical concerns and have occasioned
good deal of interest. One of these,
known as 'hydrone" produces three
feet of gas per pound. while the other,
"hydrolithe," produces as much as fif-
teen feet per pound. Until expert
ments have been completed under a
variety of conditions army officers are
unwilling TO express any definite opin-
lon as to the dependable value of these
new chemical substances when used
under actual service conditions.
Most important in the recent study
of aeronautics by American army oil
GERS is the fact that the signal corps
has ordered in France and expects to
have delivered at Washington in the
near future huge military balloon of
the most approved type. All advanced