Year: 1875

Work has been commenced on the ship,
and Is confidently expecting that she will
be ready Tor her trial trip in about two
weeks. The skeleton Of the ship is made
Of double Q wire, braced lengthwise by
single wire. The ship itself is elghty five
feet long, nine feet high. and eight feet
wide, and III shape resembles a long steam
ship hull, with the exception that the fore
and aft projections extend about seven feet
from the body Of the ship. The iron shaft
runs lengthwlse, the pushing propeller be-
ny attached to one end, and the pulling
propeller to the other, in order that they
can be worked to the best advantage, and
to allow the ship to turn around on its own
pivot in the air. Underneath are two
rudders, one fore and one aft, for steering
purposes. On making the ascent. the pull
ing propeller will be put H. notion, assisted
by the pushing propeller and the rudders,
and thus thennventor confidently expects 10
be able to 60 whlthersocver he Will


The ship is attached to the balloon by
|, 496 ropes, situated at equal distance
apart, IN order to preserve as exact a bal
ance as possible. The capacity of the bal
Icon is 30, 9l9 cubic feet. Hydrogen gas
viii be used, and this substance is SO light
that 1t is calculated that one cubic foot will
have lifting power of one and three
quarter ounces, thus making the lifting
power Of the balloon ahou. 29. 900 pounds,
or nearly fifteen tons. 1t is not probable
that the balloon viii he inflated t. its full
capacity. Inssmuch as the extreme rarefac-
ton Of the air at great attitudes tends 70
Withdraw the outside pressure from the
balloon, and the hydrogen inside, thus re-
lleved of outward pressure, Will expand
the more readily, and perhaps burst the
b loon. But estimating the capacity AT an
amount less than that given, the balloon
will easily have a lifting power OF ten tons,
while the weight OF the appantus, the gas,
balloon, netting, snip and machinery Is but
A. 800 pounds, or two and two-iltths tons


The balloon Is fastened to the ship IN such
a manner that II cannot sway 10 and fro,
SO that it is impossible for the balloon to get
out Of perpendicular position. The ship
has two masts, fore and ait, which reach
up to the equator of the balloon. On the
top of each mast a large wire cap is fastened
to the netting perpendicularly, and the
balloon itself Is fastened To the netting all
around its equator. In case Of an eAplo-
sion the lower part Of the balloon ascends,
falls into the netting, and half Of the bal
loon form large parachute. The balloon
decends for short distance with great
rapidity, wbeu the air presses up under
meath, the parachute spreads out, and the
lecent is made more gradually. The
iteering apparatus and propeller are set IN
motion, the rotary movement commences,
and the balloon goes down IN circle like
an eagle spreading its wings. The balloon
is made Of cambria muslin, uf which 500
yards have been used in It's manufacture,
and the length Of the rpe used IS nearly
twenty one miles


The pulling and pushing propellers are
worked by cranks, four men AT each crank,
and work in the lower currents about three
hundren and fifty revolutions minute,
increasing the number Of revolutions With
the increase III height. Aided 10y the pull
ing and pushing power, the inventor claims
that h. well be capable Of making the ship
stand still IN the air over any gwen point
Practical use will be made of this advan-
tage by taking a photographer along, for
the purpose Of securing Photographic views
Of certain sections Of the country. From
A certain height III the air he says he can
see the bottom Of any body of water, no
matter how deep. The Photographic views
which he pre- poses to have taken will be
chiefly useful to the Typographical Crops


Mr. Schroeder says that his experience
has proven t. hIm that N the higher at
mopherse approaching the North Pole,
where the lover currents increase IN cold
the upper currents increase III warmth, and
he is therefore confident that he is capable
of sailing ov r this region, and gndi that
for which millions have been spent, and
many valuable lives iost-a passage to the
open Polar Sea.


The first ascent will be made In about
two weeks. Cincinnati Commercial