The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-04-16

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would not have to 60 to Wash;.
to make.an ascent by any means ,Oa
may make the trip at any place -, he
the guidance of an accredited pilot 'oer
Ballooning is becoming mon
more popular. It is now moro !. and
a craze. It's possibilities are attr.o s1;aa
a great many reckless people to ~
the experience of seeing the earth s,.
out from under them. Here is W.. sup
the trouble comes. I will not saw a
it is not right for a man to 90 m i; wat
balloon by himself. I think i !;
more a matter of ethics. A no.,.
may walk on railroad where tho.
is a third rail. He does it know; ale'
that he is taking his life in his hands
but when he persuades other peonlo -
go along with him, he risks their l;ro'
without enough experience to get tboas
out of danger should anything hamen
When five people 60 up in balloon
in addition to the pilot, the unskilloa
pilot is risking five lives in addit;oa
to his own.
Throwing overheard ballast is So;
ence. Ballast is to a balloon who,
steam is to an engine. And lust as
steam once gone can never be recover.
ed, just so ballast thrown overheard !,
lost. One man can get along, make :.
whole trip without losing more than
five bags of ballast while another
spends twenty. The latter spends all
his time in travelling up and down
making saw teeth, while the other sails
along in comparatively straight line
The pilot who is out with the begin.
ner makes careful notes, and gives
full report to the members of the Aero
club. He takes into consideration inst
how much f1uctuating the learner does
He assists the new ma |, but he watch.
es him carefully to find out how much
grip he has on the science.
The dilettante in search of new sen.
sations is as dangerous as an automo.
bilist with the speed mania. hest.
tate to make trip with a beginner
who says the danger is nothing, with
the man who says, "Oh, I'm not afraid
I've got the nerve.'' As matter of
fact when good sense is used, there is
no more danger than there is in an
automobile trip. But there is much
potential danger. am willing to make
the trip with a beginner who says,
"No, I'm new at this, I want you to
IKE the rudder. 1 don't know it all"
Another thing, balloons and all air
craft will soon be equipped with wire.
less telephone.
An air craft in distress can send c.
@. D. messge to earth just like YES.
sci at sea. It should be compulsory that
equipment for communicating with the
earth or airships be installed. A bal.
loon in trouble would simply telephone
it's location or general direction and
rescue balloons or automobiles could
be sent to the resceu.
The U. S. Army Corps with which l
have been connected has successfully
experimental with DeForest instru.
ment, weighing less than 100 pounds.
However, there is new sparkless
and wireless telephone of the radio va.
riety which weighs only ten pounds
and which any balloonist can safely
carry. The radio sparkless attachment
does away with the danger of setting
the gas bag on fire. The weight of the
<o1orbono 80 co c,,oon @bo% x1,boy, rho
balloon lands out in the country the
operator can put it under his arm and
take it with him. An old fashioned
wireless telegraph is Impractical for
the reason that it makes a spark that
may ignite the gas bag.
Ballooning has advanced so far now
that it is no longer experimental but is
a science. The throwing out Of ballast
is science. It takes a long time to
learn to handle a balloon properly.
Why, in the fitness Of things should a
beginner, one who has nothing to urge
him on except curiosity and daredevil
try, be allowed to risk other human
lives?
think license to beginners snoulu
be made reasonably hard to obtain
And further, the laws regulating bal
looming should be severe. Balloonlng
is a matter of public concern, and when
licenses are first issued hope that they
will not be given so promiscuously as
licenses were given at first to auto
drivers.
Letting an outsider take up balloon
is exactly like running railroad en-
CINE. A railroad train is half way be-
tween stations when it's engineer dies
The train is stopped. Somebody ASKS IS,
Can anybody here run an engine
A young man steps up and says, Yes
l cam" He takes the engine and may
draw the train ten miles without al
accident, and he may get it safely W
the next station. But is he worthy
engineer? No. On the following Gay
this same young man might wreck tho
train before he got out of the swl'cn
yards.