Evening star., 1923-07-29

hardly dreamed of, and dirigfbles were
not within concep-
Trausatlantin ton. The only form
of aviation device
oalloonlns' was the floating gas
bag, known generically as the balloon.
During the siege of Paris in Franco
Prussian war these balloons were
employed for effecting escapes from
the beleaguered city and their use
suggested the possibilities of longer
aerial journeys. In The Star of July
%, 1873. Is an editorial touching upon
the possibility of transatlantic bal
looming" long in advance of the ac-
tual crossing of the ocean through
the air.
There is a singular fascination
about the idea of travelling through
the air with birdlike freedom, and de
spite the numerous frightful acct-
dents and general i'll success of ef-
forts at aerial navigation new
projects in this direction are contin-
ually being made.
THE latest is the undertaking of
Mr.. Wise, the veteran aeronaut, aided
by the publishers of the New York
Graphic. to build a balloon of the ca
pacity TO carry two or more persons
across the Atlantic. The theory of Mr..
Wise is that at certain height above
the earth there exists a constant air
current. or tide, moving from the
southwest to the northeast. Prof.
Henry. who has been appealed to for
an opinion, gives a certain amount of
weight to the theory of the air cur
rent from west to east, but doubts
the sustaining power of balloon TO
travel that distance and advises that
the experiment be first made over
lo M IN q fnt
difficulty will. no doubt, be In keep
ing the balloon up long enough to
make a trip Of 5000 or 1000 miles.
To keep in the asserted easterly cur
rent 1t will be requisite to elevate OF.
lower the balloon very often and no
means of doing this has been dis
covered other than by throwing out
ballast to rise, and permitting gas
to escape to fall, and there is. there
fore, constant waste of the sus-
tanning power. To be added to this
direct waste is the steady loss of gas
by percolation from the bag. AS this
easterly current is supposed to exist
only at a considerable height 1t will
readily be seen that any appreciable
loss of gas will soon put II out of
the power of the aeronaut to rise to
II, and then he must settle to the
| lower stratum of air. where he would
! meet all the vicissitudes of adverse
winds that sailing vessels encounter.
utilizing unfavorable winds by tack
ing. A balloon cannot tack. but must
drift hopelessly with the current.
Another discouraging consldera
| tion is the probability that hailstorms
or fiurries of snow will be encounter
| ed in the upper region here mention
| ed. serving to load the balloon down
with snow or hail and thus cause it's
speedy descent. If the air current
named travels in a northeasterly di-
| rection. as maintained, the balloon
must not only run these risks from
| snow and hail in the upper regions,
but also in the lower stratum of air.
and would also, as has been pointed
| out, be likely to land, IL 1t reached
land, in some inhospitable region
like Spitzbergen. The possibilities OF
danger from snow are illustrated by
| the perilous experience of Mr.. Frank
King, who made a balloon excursion
1 from Morristown, VT, on the Fourth
| of July. When about two and a half
/ miles up he encountered a snowstorm,
which covered the balloon nearly an
inch thick and sent 1t down rapidly
1t landed in a dense forest away
from human habitation,, and the aero
naut was finally rescued by q search
| ing party. after being forty eight
! hours without food.