Evening star., 1933-11-20

Continued From First Page)
hundred feet gave him a better wind
and a chance to drift more leisurely
over Eastern Ohio before starting the
rapid ascent into the third layer Of the
earths atmosphere.
The airport interpreted Settles mes
sages to mean that high winds might
rob him OF complete control Of the bal
loon.
Seeking to penetrate further the mys-
terry of the cosmic ray, Settle. Navy
officer, and Maj. Chester l.. Forney,
Marine Corps mathematician, sailed
away at 9:27 am, Eastern standard
SO 900 feet above the earth's surface.
The two men were in 7-foot
gondola, swung beneath huge hydro
gen-filled bag, expected to carry them
into the third layer Of atmosphere
above the earth.
They were expected to reach the
playground of the cosmic ray about
noon and test there the nature Of this
mysterious phase Of scientific phenome-
non.
Settle and his companion expect to
descend somewhere in the vicinity of
Pittsburgh before dusk If the flight is
not completed by then they. will not
have a full moon to guide them in a
night landing.
The balloon was sighted at Alliance,
Ohio at l0:l4 am. as it slowly climbed
upward Alliance is 80 miles east Of
Akron.
Settle was sighted next over Salem,
Ohio at IL am. Salem is 40 miles
southeast Of Akron. The craft was
very high.
The 500 ,ooo-c -cubic-foot gas bag was
filled with 120 900 cubic feet of hydro
gen. which swelled beneath the heat Of
the suns rays in three-hour wait after
night had lifted at the Akron air dock.
The naval aeronaut sat atop the gon
dola as the ground lines were cast away.
The ballast held the balloon close to the
ground for several minutes.
Then the commander cast off eight
35pound bags of sand and one 40
pound bag Of lead dust, whereupon the
huge craft shot upward 1000 feet.
Waving farewell to the three or four
hundred spectators on the field below
the commander slid feet first through
the portfolio into the light metal gon-
dola when the balloon was about $50
feet in the air
Balloon experts considered the take
off auspicious. because more than 2
tons of ballast were borne aloft giving
Settle much latitude in controlling the
craft.
The wives Of the two officers. after
kissing them good-by, entered the auto
mobile Of E. H Perkins, representative
of the firm which built the paper thin
magnesium alloy gondola.
Settle instructed Perkins to drive to
Pittsburgh to await the balloons
descent. He said If no further in
structions by wireless were received to
head east along the Lincoln Highway
out OF Pittsburgh, since he expects the
craft TO drift in that general direc-
ton.
For food the men are carrying choco-
late bars, coffee. hot chocolate, bananas
apples and grapes.
One scientific test which the officers
had hoped to make. however, will not
be carried out. due to the failure of
fresh supply of female fruit flies to
arrive by air mail from Chicago.
University of Chicago professors had
asked the balloonists to take the flies
into the stratosphere to determine
whether the coSmic rays would have
any influence on their sex. One batch
OF flies was on hand last Thursday. but
most of the insects died.
The gondola did carry some, one
celled organisms. however, for expert
mentS of similar nature.
Comdr. Settle and Mai. Fordney. dis
daining the cold which made spectators
shlver In the vast airdock. wore only
leather jackets and trousers, although
the major did have light topcoat
which he alternately wore and discarded
during the wait for the take-off.
The major, who was making his first
balloon trip and who may have to lump
out with parachute a mile from the
ground to tighten the load on the de-
scent, was smiling and jovial. Comdr
Settle was serious
Settle planned to handle the navigat-
ing during the trip. while Mai. Fordney
took care of the scientific end of the
Journey. A sealed barograph to record
the maximum altitude was mounted in
the rigging just above the gondola to
record the height reached
The officers had flying suits to put
on when they reach the upper strata
where the temperature drops to more
than SO below zero. They had no heat
ing apparatus. however. They planned
to communicate with associates below
through a short wave radio set.
LEAVE TO MEET SETTLE.