The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1920-05-14
RoAI1

lS7 feet several months ago the average Of fall
Of one degree in temperature to every 800 feet Of
altitude was fairly well maintained.
Moreover, in all these flights. when the men
had passed above the fourmile level and had risen
beyond the screen Of atmospheric particles which
make our SKY" they entered the stratum in which
absolute silence reigned and In which vision was
remarkably clarified.
The armament above became almost black. due
to the absence Of light refracton the stars were
easily Visible, even in brightest day. and the cold
was terrble and Intense.
But iA each instance certain phenomena were
observed which brings up the next question Of I'M
portancd to the inquirer to conditions ''up
there" and this is the subject Of Inversion Of
temperature"
For great many years man believed that tenn
perature invariably changed with altitude and
that as height increased there was always a cor.
responding drop in the mercury.
M. de Bort proved that not only does the prln-
cipe of increasing cold cease to function at an
altitude Of from six to eight miles above the earth.
but that exactly the opposite occurs, and from
there up it constantly grows warmer.
Sounding balloons with self-recording instru-
ments have been sent up to distance of seven
teen miles and have invariably confirmed this
discovery.
&c. then the situation presented to those who
are planning the Super Terrestrial and arranging
to launch man his greatest adventure in the air
is this:
Inoy knOW-aS, OF course, DO we VINO are fairly
consistent readers of newspapers-the conditions
as they exist up to six miles. 1t is there
that nature plays the parts with which we are
most familiar. There thunders roll. lightning
flashes clouds gather and elements clash in never
ending strife. 1t is from there that get such
wntry storms recently experienced, and where
the humble drama of rain, snow, sleet and weather
unfolds itself.
They know, too, that atmosphere" as we know
it, although in constantly thinning quality, ex-
tends above the weather strip" to height Of
about twenty to thirty miles. but beyond that.
what?
1t is here that real difficulties will begin. and
the Super Terrestrial will encounter Its greatest
obstacles-provided, of course, that long before
that bourn Is reached the presumptuous craft has
not been destroyed.
Here new dangers will appear in the shape Of
drifting "ice Clouds" which for imaginative pur-
poses may be likened icebergs; the void will
sumo totally allen aspect; meteors and shooting
stars will occasionally fash across the path, and
. the traveller will enter the boundary OF 1nfiam-
mable air." pure hydrogen.
Passing through this-aways supposing, Of
course that it is not snufed out long before like
a peanut shell under the foot of an elephant
the Super Terrestrial will emerge into the stratum
of helium which on earth is created from radum
and encountered in practical quantities only in
Thef-but perhaps this is enough for the mo-
ment. Even the most voracious seeker of knowl-
edge as to what things are IKE up tnere Will
have been satisfied long this, and the first voy
are of the Super Terrestrial need not be charted
further
"Provision would, of course, have to be made
for changed conditions Mr.. Post concluded, In
touching on the mechanical necessities Of the un-
dertakng. "Of course, with the thinning Of the
atmosphere the Super Terrestrial would encounter
less air resistance, and provided the propellers
were adjusted to increase purchase, tremendous
speed would be attained
''The propellers would revolve much faster and
the craft would shoot ahead like meteor.
And it-that is, the Super Terrestrial, If you
desire to call 1t that's the next thing the
cards.n