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Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
93
Montgolfier.
The
object
in
view
when
this
formidable
monster
was
designed
and
constructed
was
to
create
the
means
to
collect
sufficient
funds
to
form
a
“Free
Association
for
Aerial
Navigation
by
means
of
MACHINES
HEAVIER
THAN
AIR,”
and
for
the
construction
of
machines
on
this
principle.
The
receipts
from
the
exhibition
of
the
“Geant”
were
intended
to
form
the
first
capital
of
the
association.
The
hopes,
however,
of
the
promoters
have
not
been
realised
in
this
respect;
for
while
the
expenses
of
the
construction
of
the
balloon
have
amounted,
directly
and
indirectly,
to
the
sum
of
L8,300,
its
two
ascents
in
Paris
and
its
exhibition
in
London
produced
only
L3,300.
Space
forbids
us
to
enter
at
length
on
the
various
stages
of
the
idea
of
aerial
navigation
by
means
of
an
apparatus
heavier
than
the
atmosphere.
The
idea
is
not,
however,
by
any
means
so
absurd
as
it
appears
at
first
sight.
Those
who,
like
Arago,
declare
that
the
word
“impossible”
does
not
exist,
except
in
the
higher
mathematics,
and
those
who
look
hopefully
to
the
future
instead
of
resting
content
with
the
past,
will
join
in
applauding
the
spirit
which
dictated
the
manifesto
of
aerial
locomotion
to
the
founder
of
the
association
which
we
are
about
to
describe.
M.
Babinet,
speaking
on
this
subject
before
the
French
Polytechnic
Association,
said:
“It
is
absurd
to
talk
of
guiding
balloons.
How
will
you
set
about
it?
How
is
it
possible
that
a
balloon--say,
for
instance,
like
the
Flesselles,
whose
diameter
measures
120
feet--can
resist
and
manoeuvre
against
opposing
winds
or
currents
of
air?
It
would
require
a
power
equal
to
400
horses
for
the
sails
of
a
ship
to
struggle
on
equal
terms
with
the
wind.
Suppose
an
impossibility,
namely,
that
a
balloon
could
carry
with
it
a
force
equal
to
400
horse-power;
this
result
would
be
of
little
use,
for
under
the
immense
weight
the
fragile
covering
of
the
balloon
would
instantly
collapse.
If
all
the
horses
of
a
regiment
were
harnessed
to
the
car
of
a
balloon
by
means
of
a
long
rope,
the
result
would
be
that
the
balloon
would
fly
into
shivers,
being
too
fragile
to
withstand
these
two
opposing
forces.
Man
must
seek
to
raise
himself
in
the
air
by
another
mode
of
operation
altogether,
if
he
wish
to
guide
himself
at
the
same
time.
Some
time
ago
I
bought
a
play
thing,
very
much
in
vogue
at
that
time,
called
a
Stropheor.
This
toy
was
composed
of
a
small
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
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