Evening star., 1932-04-03

rative flights and other activities mt
ting for the occasion.
It is. however not generally known
that the mail flights at Garden City EstateS'
L. L. while they were the first by afrplane,
were preceded, in this country more tnan a
half century by an experimental ar mail
service by balloon The balloon mail out from
Paris during the siege in 1901 was famous
enough and has been considered the nrst air
mail in the world But information recently
unearthed from cid records in the Library OF
Congress show that Uncle Sans mail mad peen
carried by balloons over 10 years before the
siege of Paris.
To begin with the beginning there was man
by the name of John Wise. He was profess
sional balloonist-in fact, he was the most
famous balloonist in America. To his fame we
may now add the distinction that he was the
first airmail pilot. This John Wise claimed
to have discovered that the wind at an altitude
of "a miles was blowing constantly from West
to East Consequently he said it Will be
possible by ascending with q balloon to this
air current, to be waited across the Atlantic
to Europe in a shorter time than any one went
to Europe before.
Wise first published his discovery in 1843
and he declared himself willing to dare the
experiment If he could get financial support to
build balloon sufficiently large and strong
to stay in the air long enough-that is, about
SO hours. Congress, it seemed to Wise, ought
to appropriate money for project OF sucn
general utility. Just think of getting the mall
across in so hours! So he applied for an
APPROXIMATION of $4,000, but without results
In 1851 he applied again and the matter was
discussed in the Senate; incidentally this seems
to be first the time any aeronautical subject
has been debated in Congress. The debate was
all there came out Of it, the plan was pigeon
holed, and Wise continued his avocation, To
make ascensions at country fairs and on the
4th of July.
But the theory OF the easterly current was
not forgotten, and the plans for crossing the
Atlantic IN balloon were still lingering In the
minds of the ball0onistS, until in 1858 and SO
the projects seemed to become epidemic, one
aeronaut after the other declaring his intention
to make the trip, and applying to the public
for support. Wise was there again, and one
John La Mountain, already building
balloon for the purpose, bigger and better than
any balloon the world had seen before, with
life boat slung below the car and with auxiliary
propelling machinery Wise and La Mountain
got together and one o. A. eager and few
others helped to finance the project, forming
the Transatlantic Balloon Co. The balloon
was given the name Atlantic.
The aeronauts, at least those with a more
scientific bent of mind, like Wise, had a good
friend and adviser in Prof Henry, secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution. Prof. Henry
believed in the theory Of the easterly current
and the possibility of crossing the ocean by
balloon, but he recommended that the current
be tested by some long inland voyages before
any ventured cut at sea- This was sensible
enough, and trip was projected from st. Louis
Mo, to somewhere in the neighborhood Of
New York
h low at last We can come back to our air
mail 1t is usually this way with balloons
that they set out with no destination at all,
only to be carried with the wind to some unde-
berry iiDO
not work very well with the mail, but in this
case the balloonists were bound for a predeter-
mined goal, and expected to travel at con-
siderable rate of speed The United States
Express Co. desired to try this mode of trans
portation and made arrangements with Wise
for carrying one of its overland mail bags.
filled with papers from the Pacific Coast and
complimentary letters from citizens of st.
Louis to their friends in the East. Wise did