Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1908-01-29
CONQUEST OF THE AIR
Flying Machines Were In Use
Long Before the Gas Baq.
HISTORY OF THE BALLOON.

to the Science.
In view of the recent experiments
with the dirigible balloon aud the con
Sequent interest taken at the present
time in the progress Of aeronautics
1t Is surprising to find how completely
the early history OF this science has
been allowed TO drift into obscurity.
There appears even 10 be n 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 20 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 TO-um. and the Saracen
ut ConstantinOple. SO we come down
20 Dante, the mathematician OF Pc
rouse. who rose on wings above Lake
Trasimene; 70 Oliver Of Malmesburv.
the monk; 10 Bernouin. Besnier and
Lana. and finally TO the MARQUIS de
/ Bacqueville, in the middle OF the eight
eenth century.
About this time events occurred
which practically turned the attention
Of Inventors FOR 4 hundred years from
/ flying machines In 1867. following
/ Immediately on the discovery OF hy-
/ drogen 10y Caveudish. DR. Black OF
/ Edinburgh. pointed out that n vessel
/ dlled with this gas would rise in the
/ air. and on June %. 1TS2. 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 Montpelier. who
were paper manufacturers. as n result
Of reading Priestly's Experiments Re
lating TO Different Kinds OF Air" IN
vented the hot air or fire balloon. and
on June -. 17S3. the first Montgolfier
ascended at Annonay. Auvergne.
France. To commemorate their lnven-
ton yearly festival was established.
Of which the chief feature IS the dis
patch Of huge Montpelier.
On Aug. - OF the same year Profess
or Charles OF Paris seems TO have sent
up the first balloon filed with hydro
, gen or "inhammable air" which after
. travelling fifteen miles was torn C
. pieces by the Superstitous peasantry
) In September At Versailles. in the pres
. ence Of Louis NNI.. Joseph Montgol
: fer sent Up Ere balloon carrying q
sheep. cock and duck. but the frs
: human being 20 ascend appears 70 hav,
been the famous Puatre lie ROzier
: who on oct. - went up from 4 garder
= In the Faubourg 81. Antoine Louis
I had decided 20 make the first expert
: ments with criminals. but De Rozie
s peuuoned the king that he might 20
5 asking why SO great an honor shoul,
Z be deputed 20 criminal
On Nov. 81 the first voyage wa
= made in a fire balloon 10y De Rozie
!. and the Marquis d'Ariandes and last
d Ell twenty minutes IN the same mont
D quite independently James Wilcox.
j carpenter. went up over the Schuylku
river his balloon being made by Ii
o scientists RIttenhouse and Hopkins O
! Philadelphia. In December the broth
ers Robert Travelled from Paris 9
Nesle, a distance OF twenty-seve
, miles. and an ascent was also made 4
: & hydrogen balloon by Robert and Di
Charles, who suggested the valve an
sand ballast.
. In the next year. 17S4. bal,ooDiu
had become more popular. and NOR
than nifty voyages We're made
BallooninG now began 10 excite muc
attention and soon became fashion
able craze. The first ascent ID Grea
Britain was made by James Tytle
from Comely gardens. Edinburgh. hl
5 fire balloon descending about half
mile from the start. On Sept. - N
S first ascent in England was made 10y
j | Venetian, Nincenzo Lunardi. secreta
" 10 the NeapoItan embassy in Lor
5 don. He started In the presence @
:. the Prince Of Wales from the roya
artillery grounds. Moorhelds. and dt
d scended IN the parish Of Standon. nea
= Ware.
De Moret. 10 whose venture Dl
= Johnson subscribed. had tried u antiC
ipate Lunardi. but his balloon fell OF
, the fire and was destroyed by the mot
!, | On Oct. - James SQdler acCompliShe
, = successful voyage from Oxford {
Hartwell. near AyleSbury. In late
years his son crossed from Dublin {
Holyhead. In the same month-Ocr. 1t
11S4-PrOfeSSorS sheldon and Blanct
ard made an ascent from Chelse.
the latter having had as early rs lis
flying boat" in which he had re
NAMED some minutes suspended in N
air eighty feet above the ground
d On Jan. :. l1S5. the English chanut
was first crossed by occupants Of
balloon. when Blanchard and Or. Jet
fries, an American. Travelled from Dc
? yer castle cliffs To the forest Of Guines
near Calais Blanchard received
r pension Of 1920 livreS per anuum. an,
< is said that Marie Antoiuette pre-
5 scented him with her card winnings O,
the night he was introduced In III
= same month CroSble assembled I'm Ire
land. He atterward tried to cross 81
t ~Ge'S channel. hut fell in the sea
from which ne was rescued. On Marc
I Is. l1So, Count ZambeCcari. an italian
. who was killed IN 1912. made his frs
. ascent IL England. accompanied b
Admiral Sir Edward Vernon. whe
! they travelled from London 10 Hor
sham, about thirty-tive miles. He Ia,