The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-14
Topeka STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
BURE AU
FREDERIC J. HASKIN, Director,
Washtngton. d. c.
THE RISE OF THE BALLOON.
H.-Adyenturcs on the Way Up.
Washington. d. C.

H.-Adventurcs on the Way Up.
Washington, d. c., Nov. 11.-Today
the balloon is one of the most reila-
BILE machines of modern warfare and
promises to have "a useful and inter-
esting peacetime career as well. But
no longer than two years ago II was q
curiosity, and an experiment whicn
often yielded results more surprising
than satisfactory.
There is quite a bit of romance in
this rise of the balloon from the con-
dition of a sort of bucking broneho OF
the air to that of staid and valuable
performer. They story was told for the
first time by Col. j. Prentiss OF the
balloon corps. who is the only officer
in that branch of the service who has
followed the fortunes OF the balloon
thruout the two years OF Its vital de-
yelopment, and Mr.. A. Leo Stevens.
who has been for many years a civil
ian balloonist. following the sport Tor
love of it, and is now chief instructor
for the army balloon corps.
Many years ago it occurred to army
men that the balloon might be made
a useful military machine, and field
for experimental work was established
at Fort Omaha. But after little ten
tative work, the balloon was official
" abandoned by the army In 1910, and
the field deserted.
Nothing more was done or thought
ABOUT In6 DdilOOn uAt1i nv
event that initiated it's present devel-
opment was the arrival at Nor
folk of the German super-U-boat
Deutschland. That amazing craft ap-
peared in American waters suddenly
and Unexpectedly. 1t came on peace
full errand. But it brought TO Amer
lea military and naval minds the re-
Election that IL a dozen Deutschlands
instead of one had thus appeared, and
If they had been bent upon destruc-
ton instead of commerce, the United
States of America would have been in
a bad way. A fleet of such giant
U-boats could have wrecked our ship
ping and tied up our ports before any
one knew they were here. 1t may be
| that the Germans wished to suggest
Just this possibility to thoughtful
Americans, and that the conveying OF
such a suggestion, intended to weigh
strongly against a declaration of war
| of the Deutschland's visit than the ex-
| change of nickel for rubber. which it
actually effected.
At any rate, the Deutschland, made
the military thinkers realize that they
needed some means Of guarding
against the unexpected and unwel-
come arrival of such craft. Plainly.
| the necessary thing was some means
| of pAtrolling the coastal waters from
| a high elevation, SO that even so in
| conspicuous a thing as a U-boat could
| not hope to enter them unobserved.
The airplane did not answer the need
| fully because 1t can remain in the
air only at high speed and high ex-
pense. Plainly. the balloon was the
! thing.
| At the same time that the American
military and naval experts were re-
| alizing the need for balloons in coast
1 patrol work. the Frenchmen were
working out its possibilities as an aid
| to artillery and infantry work on the
| western 'front.' These two lines of de-
! velopment have brought the gas bag
to its present state of usefulness. both
as a dirigible, and as a captive OPP
| Grated and controlled from the ground
The first thing which our war de-
partment did was to send five officers
one of whom was Col. Prentiss, to the
deserted field at Fort Omaha These
men had only forty thousand dollars
| with, which to work, and their in.
structions were of the vaguest char.
acter. They anticipated the machine
gun corps by naming themselves tht
Suicide Club.
They began by having several ga.
bags built with air sacks at one end
and a tail, like that of kite at the
other. These bags were similar II
principle to the ones now in use on thu
western front. The trouble with then
| was lIldl lIlc dlI SdChS, uGSlSuGu u
catch the wind, filled and eThptiet
too easily, with the result that thes'
first captive balloons behaved in
most unreliable manner. One woult
plunge up and down on the end of it
tether like a hooked and fightin,
trout on a long line To ride in on,
was a sickening and terrifying ex
perience. 1t had all the qualities of al
ocean voyage in a storm. except tina
the rise and fall was multiplied abou
high wind a balloon would drop clea
to earth and rebound again to al
elevation of a thousand feet or more
That the balloonists survived this pc
Rod was due entirely to luck. On
balloon which began to perform in thi
way fortunately got hung on the eros
bar of a telegraph pole. enabling tn
J occupant of the basket to escape. An
other, when it struck the ground, wa
overpowered by accompany of men
who pounced on the monster an,
, wrestled with it, finally getting on to-
, and holding it down by their COMBINE,
weights. OF the first three balloon
used by these men, two dashed them
selves to pieces against the earth, an
/ yet in each case the occupant escape
, uninjured.
The balloonists might almost be jus
titled in believing that they are unde
the protection of some deity of tn
air, so often have their lives bee
L spared when death seemed certain
2 One balloon, for example, was struc
Z by lightning at an elevation of 900
, feet, and fell to earth burning wrecl
/ The basket struck barbed-wire fenct
4 Zone of the posts passing clean thr
e it. but not touching the occupant TIL
wires of the fence acted as spring
so that the basket and the ma
bounced off. and the man actual
( landed without scratch. He is prot
: ably the only individual who ever fe
that far and lived to tell about it.
One of the most spectacular fea,
K was performed by a balloon all by il
8 self. 1t broke loose with no one i
the basket and flew around for a nun
Der of days, dragging its heavy ste,
S cable across four states. It killed
e horse. picking him up bodily by
k sudden jerk which wrapped the cab
about him, and dashing him dow
iagain-> 1t also picked up a specime
NJ hot ,1I - -