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172
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
46
It
did
not
in
any
way
interfere
with
the
opening
at
the
neck
of
the
balloon,
under
which
was
suspended
a
grating
of
iron
wire
upon
which
the
occupants
of
the
gallery,
who
were
to
be
provided
with
dried
straw
and
wool,
could
in
a
few
minutes
kindle
a
fire
and
create
fresh
smoke,
when
that
in
the
balloon
began
to
be
exhausted.
The
machine
weighed,
in
all,
1,600
lbs.
The
public
had
previously
been
warned,
in
the
Journal
de
Paris
de
Paris,
that
the
approaching
experiments
were
to
be
of
a
strictly
scientific
character;
and
as
they
would
be
only
interesting
to
savants,
they
would
not
afford
amusement
for
the
merely
curious.
This
announcement
was
necessary,
to
abate
in
some
degree
the
excitement
of
the
people
until
some
satisfactory
results
should
be
obtained;
it
was
also
necessary
for
those
engaged
in
the
work,
whose
firmness
of
nerve
might
have
suffered
from
the
enthusiastic
cries
of
excited
spectators.
On
Wednesday,
the
15th
of
October,
Pilatre
des
Roziers,
who
had
on
other
occasions
given
proofs
of
his
intelligence
and
courage
in
performing
dangerous
feats,
and
who
had
already
signalised
himself
in
connection
with
balloons,
offered
to
go
up
in
the
new
machine.
His
offer
was
accepted;
the
balloon
was
inflated;
stout
ropes,
more
than
eighty
feet
long,
were
attached
to
it,
and
it
rose
from
the
ground
to
the
height
to
which
this
tackle
allowed
it.
At
this
elevation
it
remained
four
minutes
twenty-five
seconds;
and
it
is
not
surprising
to
hear
that
Roziers
suffered
no
inconvenience
from
the
ascent.
What
was
really
the
interesting
thing
in
this
experiment
was,
that
it
showed
how
a
balloon
would
fall
when
the
hot
air
became
exhausted,
this
being
the
point
which
caused
the
greatest
amount
of
disquietude
among
men
of
science.
In
this
instance
the
balloon
fell
gently;
its
form
distended
at
the
same
time,
and,
after
touching
the
ground,
it
rose
again
a
foot
or
two,
when
its
human
passenger
had
jumped
out.
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