The Washington times., 1908-04-19
LIEUT.. THOMAS SELFRIDGE,
On the Left, and Prof. Alexander Graham Bell.

and read OF the coIdness of the air in
high attitudes. I asked Lieutenant Lahm
II it would be best 10 take a coat. He
replied. yes. you may need it tonight"
| That confirmed my previous impression.
/ did not realize the import Of his reply
I until stepped on the train in the Union
Station in Washington. and for the first
time felt the need of a coat. II was not
until then that I put II on.
Nearly Mile and Half High.
There was no feeling of discomfort. 7
can not state too strongly that every
sense conveys only pleasant Impressions
There was absolutely no disconlfort
when we reached our highest altitude
/ Of 1000 feet above the earth. nearly a
: mile and a half The air was peculiarly
keen-not cOld-clear and bracing. Ny
! breath frosted. but still felt no cold.
/ This anomalous condition is accounted
/ for in a measure by the fact that the
sky was clear and the sun beat upon
us with undiminished warmth. There
was no difficulty in breathing. Instead.
a man in the last stages Of consumption
would have taken long deep drafts IN
keen enjoyment
Several times we shot rapidly upward
motion. and only knew Of IL through
the instruments. the increase in noise,
and the distinctiveness Of objects on the
earth. These sudden and rapid move
ments were not accompanied by any
sensation. At one time when we were
just crossing the Patapsco river at an
said:
L.
was the first we three nOvices knew OF
it,
As an illustration of how fast we
were descending. Lieutenant Lahm
threw ont several pounds of sand.
We were going down faster than the
sand fell, and getting under it, it
fell on us.
When we remarked on this fact.
astonished. the lieutenant told US to
hold our hands out in a horizontal po-
sition and we would be able to feel the
air rushing by.
Feel Air Rush By.
We did as directed and could distinctly
feel it, The same was true in a sudden
ascent. The lieutenant explained 70 US
that this was the only means by which
we could discover the upward or down
ward motion Of the balloon, other than
by watching the ground. when we would
realize all too suddenly how fast we
were falling. or by watching a sen
sitive tube OF French design and manu-
facture. that showed Immediately
whether we were ascending or descend
/ ing and how fast. A child could operate
4 this instrument. We found a great in
terest in, and took turns operating it.
reporting to the lieutenant He smiled
at our eagerness.
I could feel no effect on my heart,
/ or other physical organ except the ears.
| and Captain Van Horn and Lieutenant
| SeIfridge said the same was true with
| them When we first went up I felt
| a heavy pressure IN the ears as though
| they were closed
| It did not, however. impair the hear
/ ing, and all sounds were Just as dis
/ tinct as before and had no peculiar
| quality.
Lieutenant Lahu said that this SEN
| sation was caused only by the change
in altitude and we would find that il
| became accustomed to this they would
/ feel natural. This proved true. end the
| sense Of pressure or closing only came
/ when we changed attitudes.
This was the only feature Of the trip
that could in the slightest degree be
| termed uncomfortable.
Clouds Seemed to Fly Past.
Friday was an ideal day from the
balloonist's standpoint. There were but
! few clouds IN the sky and these were