Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1917-08-17
BALLOON SCHOOL
TO BEGIN MONDAY
N. H. Arnold Of BrattIeboro to Be
Chief Instructor
Will be Located in Rockville. Conn
Leaves Sunday to Teach Army Of
ficers,

HCerS.
"A balloon school for the instruction
vi united states army officers in the
theory and practice of operating free
and captive kite balloons will be opened
at Rockville, Conn.,, next Monday. n. II.
Arnold, a former balloon pilot and one
OF the carly ones to receive a pilot s
license in this country, has been engaged
as chief Instructor. He will end his
connection with The Phoenix Satur.
day and leave Sunday for his new du.
ties. His family will remain in Brattlo.
boro
The school is known as the Collepiate
balloon School, Inc, and is patterned
after the army balloon school at Fort
Omaha, Neb., where Leo Stevens. most
famous of American professional aero.
nauts, is the chief instructor. Mr.. Ar
mold learned what he knows of balloon.
ing from Mr.. Stevens, and it was
through the recommendations of Mr..
Stevens and Alan r. Hawlcv. president
OF the Aero Club of America. that Mr..
Arnold was asked by the management
OF the school to take charge.
Everard Thompson, who built the Yale
bowl and the Sheepshcad Bay racctrack,
is the president and general manager
of the school, and big financial inter.
ests of Rockville are heavily interested.
The school has nine balloons for use
as free balloons, a new kite balloon for
captive work, a small dirigible balloon
and carload of other equipment. The
most of this was obtained in New York
OF Mr.. Stevens, who obtained leave of
absence from Omaha to come east and
aid the officers of the school in getting
together their equipment. Two of the
free balloons are among those Mr. Ar
mold has piloted in years past.
Mr.. Arnold was in New York several
days last week experimenting the in
spection and shipping of the equipment
TO Rockville and was in Rockville Sat
urday to superintend the unloading.
The school has secured an entire fac
tory building located n mile from the
center of Rockville with nearly 80 acres
of land which is ideal for the purposes
of balloon or aeroplane work. A large
amount of money has been spent, not
only i'll outfitting the school with the
balloons, which are far more expensive
now than they were a few years ago,
but IN doing some extensive work to
the grounds Immediately about the fac
tory building to make them unquestion-
ably superior to any other grounds now
in use in this country for such pur-
poses. At the request of Mr.. Arnold,
Mr.. Stevens went to Rockville, and
classed them as the best he had ever
seen.
The school has a contract with the
government by which the government
is to furnish young men, seeking com
missions in the balloon service, as rapid
ly as the school is able to accommodate
them. 1t is expected that it will be
possible to begin making flights by Sep
tcmber |, for the signal corps depart
ment of the army has been urging the
officers of the school to begin opera
tions at the earliest possible date.
Mr.. Arnold became interested in bal
looming when flights were first made
from North Adams, and made a trip
for the sake of story. Later he was
instrumental in organizing the North
Adams Aero club, which bought a bal
loon and maintained a balloon livery in
1908, 1909 and 1910, Mr.. Arnold being
the pilot of the club, by arrangement
with the paper which employed him.
In those years he made several landings
near Brattleboro. He participated as
representative of the United States in
the International balloon race from Ber-
lin, Germany, in 1908, and the following
year won third prize in the National
race from st. Louis. Since 1910 he has
not been actively engaged in ballooning
although called upon at times to rig
balloons for others. He was the 18th
man to receive a license in this country
but his license is numbered "14' be-
cause the Aero club did not believe that
any air pilot would accept number
"13.' The license he holds now is
marked "duplicate' as he lost the orig
inal in the North sea, from which he was
rescued with his companion, Harry J.
Hewat of North Adams, at midnight,
at the conclusion of their part in the
international race from Berlin.
The feature of his participation in
ballooning that he is proudcst of is the
fact that it was his privilege to intro,
duce the late Norman Prince, one of
the earliest American aviators to give
his life in this war, to the air game, Mr..
Prince making a flight with Mr.. and
Mrs. Arnold in 1909
Mr.. Arnold has been in the reportori-
al and editorial end of newspaper work
for the last IS consecutive years and be
fore that had nearly two wears expert
ence. He was the first reporter on the
North Adams Herald, established over
20 years ago. After disastrous expert
ence in mercantile business he re-entcred
the newspaper business as a reporter on
the Springfield Union He was subur-
ban editor there for several months and
went to Fitchburg, Mass, as correspond
emf for the Worcester Telegram, remain
ing there II months and returning to
North Adams to take the position of
city editor of the Transcript where he
six years. After five years
more on the Herald, he came to Brattle-
bOrO in November 1912