Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1908-02-06
CONQUEST Of THE AIR.
Flying Machines We're In Use
Long Before the Gas Bag.
HISTORY Of THE BALLOON.


HISTORY OF THE BALLOON.
lie Invention Followed the Discovery Of
hydrogen by cavsndish In 1761-1hs
First Ascension and the First Victim
% the Science.
In view of the recent experiments
with the dirigible balloon and the con-
sequent interest taken at the present
time in the progress of aeronautics.
it is surprising to find how completely
the early history of this science has
been allowed to drift into obscurity.
There appears even to be widely
spread belief that balloons are the
primitive means OF aerial navigation.
while flying machines Of various types
are later development. But, whereas
the earliest use of balloons, at all
events in Europe, can be fixed with
tolerable certainty, the origin of me-
chanical devices for achieving the con-
quest Of the air Is lost in the mists of
antiquity.
That the legend of Daedalus and his
i'll fated son had some foundation in
fact seems to be shown by the stores
Of Archytas Of Tarentum and his kites
four centuries before our era; Of Ar
chimedes, the defender OF Syracuse; of
Simon the Magician, who broke his
neck in the Forum, and the Saracen
at Constantinople. So we come down
to Dante, the mathematician Of Pc
rouse, who rose on wings above Lake
Trasimene; to Oliver Of Malmesbury,
the monk; to Bernouin, Besnier and
Lana, and finally to the Marquis de
Bacqueville, in the middle Of the eight
zenith century.
About this time events occurred
which practically turned the attention
Of inventors for hundred years from
flying machines. In 1867, following
Immediately on the discovery Of by.
drogen by Cayendish, DIR. Black OF
Edinburgh, pointed out that a vessel
filed with this gas would rise in the
air, and on June 20, 1852. Professor
Tiberius Cavallo read before the Brit
ish Royal society paper which pro-
posed the use Of hydrogen for aero
stats.
Almost simultaneously the brothers
Etienne and Joseph Montgolfier, who
were paper manufacturers, as result
Of reading Priestly's Experiments Re-
lating to Different Kinds Of Air." In
vented the hot air or fire balloon, and
ON June 5, 1888. the first Montgolaer
assembled at Annonay, Auvergne,
France. To commemorate their inyen-
ton yearly festival was established,
of which the chief feature Is the dis
patch Of a huge Montgolfier.
On Aug. q of the same year Profess
or Charles Of Paris seems to have sent
up the first balloon filed with hydro
gen or "infiammable air." which after
travelling fifteen miles was torn to
pieces by the superstitious peasantry.
In September at Versailles. in the pres
ence Of Louis XVI, Joseph Montgol-
fer sent up fire balloon carrying a
sheep, cock and duck, but the first
human being to ascend appears to have
been the famous Pilatre de Roller,
who on Oct. Is went up from garden
In the Eaubourg st. Antoine. Louis
had decided to make the first expert
ments with criminals, but De Rozier
petidoned the king that he. might 60,
asking why SO great an honor should
DO deputed to criminal.
On Nov. p the first voyage was
made in fire balloon by De Rozier
and the Marquis d'Ariandes and last
ed twenty minutes. In the same month
quite independently James Wilcox, a
carpenter, went up over the Schuylkill
river, his balloon being made by the
scientists Rittenhouse and Hopkins Of
Philadelphia. In December the broth
ers Robert Travelled from Paris to
Nesle, distance of twenty.seven
miles, and an ascent was also made in
Q hydrogen balloon by Robert and DIR.
Charles, who suggested the valve and
sand ballast.
In the next year. 1854, ballooning
had become more popular, and more
than nifty voyages were made.
Ball0oning now began to excite much
attention and soon became fashion.
able craze. The first ascent in Great
Britain was made by James Tyler
from Comely gardens, Edinburgh, his
fire balloon descending about half a
mile from the start. On Sept. Is the
first ascent in England was made by a
Venetian. Vincenzo Lunardi. secreta-
r to the Neapolitan embassy in Lon
don. He started In the presence of
the Prince Of Wales from the royal
artillery grounds, Afoorfields, and de-
scended in the parish of Standon, near
Ware.
De Moret, to whose venture DIR.
johnson subscribed, had tried to antie-
lpate Lunardi, but his balloon fell on
the fire and was destroyed by the mob.
On Oct. II James sadler accomplished
successful voyage from Oxford to
Hartwell. near Aylesbury. In later
years his son crossed from Dublin to
Holyhead. In the same month-Oct. 10,
l7S4-Professors Sheldon and Blanch-
ard made an ascent from Chelsea,
the latter having had as early as 1882
flying boat" in which he had re-
NAMED some minutes suspended in the
mir eighty feet above the ground.
On Jan. Z. 1855. the English channel
was first crossed by occupants Of a
balloon, when Blanchard and DIR. JEFF
fries, an American, Travelled from Do
YER castle cliffs to the forest of Guincs.
near Calais. Blanchard received a
| pension Of 1000 liyreS pcr annum mud