Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/166

 146 AERONAUTICS merits, knew nothing of hydrogen gas, and em- ployed heated air to inflate their machine, without apparently being aware of its superior buoyancy to the atmosphere. Their balloon was constructed of linen cloth lined with paper, under which a fire was kindled, fed with bundles of chopped straw. By this means dense volumes of smoke were produced, which filled the balloon ; and it would seem that they actually expected the latter to be raised by the ascending power of the smoke, instead of its true cause, the rarefaction of the heated air. First Balloons made by Montgolfiir.

On June 5, 1783, their balloon, weighing 500 pounds, first rose into the atmosphere. It reached an altitude of nearly a mile, remained suspended a few minutes, and, as the air es- caped, gradually returned to the earth. The event singularly impressed all classes of society, and the most extravagant notions were enter- tained of the uses to which balloons might be applied. Several successful ascents were made within the next few months from Paris, and on Nov. 21, 1783, Pilutre de Rozier and the marquis d'Arlandes, the first adventurers who durst ascend in an unconfined balloon, as- tonished the world by rising to the height of 3,000 feet, descending in safety not far from Paris. These experiments were mostly made with the Montgolfier balloon, or mont- ffolfidre, which was inflated with heated air, and the early aeronauts were obliged to carry with them a supply of fuel to renew the rarefied air as fast as it escaped. This clumsy and dangerous expedient subsequently led to disastrous results. On Dec. 1 of the same year Messrs. Charles and Robert left Paris in a hydrogen balloon, in the presence of 600,000 spectators, and after a trip of two hours de- scended in safety near Nesle, 25 m. distant. M. Charles immediately reascended alone, and had the satisfaction of seeing the sun, which had set when he left the earth, rise and set again. He descended in safety in 35 minutes, 9 m. from his starting point. In this expedition the fall of the barometer and thermometer was first noticed. The first, sinking to 20-05 inches, indicated an ascent of about 9,700 feet. The thermometer sank to 21 F. In 1784 upward of 52 balloon ascents are recorded, the most remarkable being those of Messrs. Charles and Robert, who reached an altitude of 13,000 feet ; of Blanchard, the first aerial voyager by profession; and of Prince Charles de Lignes. In January, 1785, Blanchard and Dr. John Jeffries, of Boston, accomplished the daring feat of crossing the channel from Dover to France, narrowly escaping being wrecked in the sea. In the same year occurred the first fatal acci- dent connected with ballooning. Pilatre de Ro- zier attempted, with a young man named Ro- maine Lain6, to cross from France to England in a hydrogen balloon, under which was suspended a small montgolfi&re for the purpose of increasing or diminishing the ascensional power at pleas- ure. The hydrogen, by its expansion in the rarer upper strata of the atmosphere, pressed down through the tubular neck of the balloon, and reaching the fire of the montgolfi&re was at once ignited. Both balloons were quickly consumed, and the voyagers were precipitated from a height of 3,000 feet upon the rocks near the French coast. As this calamitous occur- rence was occasioned by the neglect of proper precautions, aeronauts were not deterred by it. Ascents to the number of many thousands have since been made in Europe and America, both in montgolfilres and gas balloons, and it is be- lieved that not more than 25 persons have lost their lives in consequence. Of this number of ascents, however, few only have been under- taken for scientific purposes, most having been made merely as a popular spectacle or for the sake of amusement. In this regard both hemispheres have furnished skilful and daring aeronauts. Among the earlier French voyagers was Blanchard, who died in 1809, having made more than 66 ascents, one of which took place in New York in 1796. Mme. Blanchard some- times accompanied him, and after his death she occasionally ascended alone. In 1819, hav- ing ascended from Tivoli garden in Paris with some fireworks, her balloon became accident- ally ignited and she was precipitated to the earth and dashed to pieces in the rue de Pro- vence. In later times Eugene and Louis Godard have been the most famous of the French pro- fessional aeronauts. Green, the English aero- naut, had probably more experience in the management of balloons than any person who has given attention to the subject. During his professional career of 36 years, ending in 1857, he made nearly 1,400 ascents, crossing the sea three times and falling into it twice. His most interesting voyage was undertaken in 1836, when in company with Messrs. Holland and Mason he journeyed, in a balloon of great dimensions and provisioned for a fortnight, from London to Weilburg, in the duchy of Nassau, a distance of 500 m., in 18 hours. This feat of aerial travelling was however surpassed by Mr. John. Wise, the American aeronaut, who with Mr. John La Mountain and two others passed in July, 1859, from St. Louis, Mo., to Henderson in Jefferson co., N. Y., a distance of 1,150 m., in 19 h'. 50 m., or at an average speed of nearly a mile per minute. In Septem- ber of the same year Messrs. La Mountain and Lowe made a voyage of 300 m. in about 4