Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-07
SIX COUNTRIES INTERESTED
Defense Of Bennett Cup by Citizens
of the United States.
GOVERNMENT WILL NOT ENTER
Lieut.. Lahm, Previous Winner, Ill in
Paris-Signal Corps Help
ers to Aid.

sending up balloons almost every day
4 from the Washington gas works. are to
| be sent to ST. Louis this week to help
with the big international balloon race
| that will be run there. BalloOning In
| this country is a new sport, and newer
| still Is it for the government to partci-
| pate In 1t. There are few professional
| aeronauts, and still fewer laborers and
| helpers. who know how a balloon should
| be inflated and sent off. At the big race
! from St Louis October 81 there will be
| entries from six different countries. All
| of the aeronauts who are coming have
| brought their balloons with them, but
! few OF them have gone to the expense of
| bringing helpers. For this reason the
ten men of the Signal Corps who have
| been initiated into the work Will be of
| g"eat assistance. The War Department
has arranged to distribute them among
| the different contestants, so that there
will be at least one experienced man
| among the he pers for each squad.
The signal Corps will not enter any OF
the government ba looms in the race.
There is a possibility that one of them
| might win if it were entered. and there
m ght be some complaint about the gov
eminent having taken undue advantage
of its better equipment to keep the In
ternational cup here. AS matter of
fact, It is stated there would rot be
the slightest ground for such a charge.
but the Signal Corps wants to avoid even
the appearance of such thing.
Lieut. Lahm's Illness.
If Lieut.. Lahm. who originally won the
Gordon Bennett trophy for this country,
were available, he would undoubtedly en-
ter in his private capacity and help to
defend the cup. but it happens that he Is
Ill in Paris now with typhoid fever and
will not be available. He has balloon
of his own and Is an enthusiast aero
naut. as was his father before him. Fail
Ing him. IL Is possible that Maj Hershey,
who has just returned to this country.
may enter at St. Louis, not as repre-
sentative of the War Department, but as
a private sportsman. He was detailed for
special observation with Walter Wellman
during the latters preparations for the
trip toward the north pole last summer.
He Is an expert in aeronautfcs and Is
anxious to enter the race. 1t Is not known
at the War Department whether or not
he has brought back Lieut.. Lahm's bal
loon from Paris with him. but II he has
not it will easily be possible for him to
get hold of one when he reaches st. Louis.
The War Department. privately, is anx
ious for him to start in the race, for the
more American entries there are the more
likelihood there will be of keeping the cup
in this country.
in charge of the balloon work in Wash
ington during the past week. has been
qualifying as an aeronaut, which Is neces-
sary under the cup race rules. He has
now made his ten ascents, one alone.
and is eligible for full sky pilots license
j. c. Mccoy. who has been in Washington
during the recent experiments, is going to
start in the race IN a balloon of his own.
It is one of the largest in this country
and. theoretically, ought to stand a good
there Is a good deal in the skill of the
aeroDaut in picking wind currents and the
like, and the race may not be to the big
gest balloon. Lieut.. Lahm won the race
last year in a small. old-fashioned bal
loon simply through skill and daring. and
the same qualities may help the winner
this year.
Denial Of a Rumor.
1t is denied at the War Department
that there is anything in the story Of
dirigible balloon being built for this
government. The Signal Corps has
charge of such matters, and II was
stated there today that the balloon
corps will have enough to do for the
present in training men for spherical
ballooning. The dirtgibles type may
come later.
Mai Hershey is very much in favor of
regular fleet of war balloons for the
government. He said in an interview
just before leaving New York that this
government had no need to be behind in
the aerial contests of the world when
very little money and trouble would
put 1t well to the front. In discussing
the matter he said:
"All the European powers either have
strong fleets of war balloons or are pre-
pairing to build them, and we certainly
can't afford to neglect the matter much
longer.
France and Germany are both putting
into service strong fleets of balloons
and now / notice that England comes to
the front with one of the best-equipped
dirigibies yet built. When it is demon
strated that this balloon can circle about
over London and frighten the people as
II did last Saturday. there ought not to
be much doubt about what 1t could do
swinging around over a feet or a fort
Economical Point Of View.
From an economical point Of view,
every government should have its equip
ment of war balloons. just as much as 1t
should have a navy. These balloons
would cost about $4,000 each, while a
battleship costs 100000 or $4,000, 0OO
In case of war a fleet or five or six
good balloons would be able to save one
battleship-maybe half a dozen-and 1t
is easy to see what that would mean
d
looms were lost in the action or after
| they had done their work, IL would be a
much smaller sacrifice than losing half
a dozen big ships. and rs for the prac-
ticability of these air fighters there is no
longer any question about it.
Other nations are making surprising
progress and are watching aeronautic de-
veiopment very closely. For instance all
the time we have been at work in Spitz-
bergen, Germany has had two officers
there from the general stan of the army.
keeping close tabs on all we did 1t was
interesting and important to them because
we were butdilg an airship larger than
anything before Undertaken, and they
were eager to know how 1t would per-
| form. Our balloon was constructed to
carry nearly ten tons of dead weight. and
| that meant great deal to any govern
ment interested in building war balloons.
| AT the international races here the
| German government will be represented
! by Capt. Hilderbrandt who Is already on
| the ground to see what Is done. Aero
nautic equipment has become as neces-
| sary part of our military system as the
| topedo boat or cavalry, and l believe that
| this fact is soon to be recognized"
Direct Prom Spitzbergen.
| Mai. Hersey came directly from Spitz-
bergen. leaving there September 2 and
| brings to this country the first authentic
| account of what the Welman airship did
and failed to do. While firm in the faith
that the pole will soon be reached by