The Dominion of the Air | Page 9

the construction of a
suitable balloon and its inflation by the proposed new method.
The task was one of considerable difficulty, owing partly to the
necessity of procuring some material which would prevent the escape
of the lightest and most subtle gas known, and no less by reason of the
difficulty of preparing under pressure a sufficient quantity of gas itself.
The experiment, sound enough in theory, was eventually carried
through after several instructive failures. A suitable material was found
in "lustring," a glossy silk cloth varnished with a solution of
caoutchouc, and this being formed into a balloon only thirteen feet in
diameter and fitted without other aperture than a stopcock, was after
several attempts filled with hydrogen gas prepared in the usual way by
the action of dilute sulphuric acid on scrap iron.
The preparations completed, one last and all-important mistake was
made by closing the stop-cock before the balloon was dismissed, the
disastrous and unavoidable result of this being at the time overlooked.
On August 25, 1783, the balloon was liberated on the Champ de Mars
before an enormous concourse, and in less than two minutes had
reached an elevation of half a mile, when it was temporarily lost in
cloud, through which, however, it penetrated, climbing into yet higher
cloud, when, disappearing from sight, it presently burst and descended

to earth after remaining in the air some three-quarters of an hour.
The bursting of this little craft taught the future balloonist his first great
lesson, namely, that on leaving earth he must open the neck of his
balloon; and the reason of this is obvious. While yet on earth the
imprisoned gas of a properly filled balloon distends the silk by virtue of
its expansive force, and in spite of the enormous outside pressure which
the weight of air exerts upon it. Then, as the balloon rises high in the
air and the outside pressure grows less, the struggling gas within, if
allowed no vent, stretches the balloon more and more until the slender
fabric bursts under the strain.
At the risk of being tedious, we have dwelt at some length on the initial
experiments which in less than a single year had led to the discovery
and development of two distinct methods--still employed and in
competition with each other--of dismissing balloons into the heavens.
We are now prepared to enter fully into the romantic history of our
subject which from this point rapidly unfolds itself.
Some eleven months only after the two Montgolfiers were discovered
toying with their inflated paper bag, the younger of the two brothers
was engaged to make an exhibition of his new art before the King at
Versailles, and this was destined to be the first occasion when a balloon
was to carry a living freight into the sky. The stately structure, which
was gorgeously decorated, towered some seventy feet into the air, and
was furnished with a wicker car in which the passengers were duly
installed. These were three in number, a sheep, a cock, and a duck, and
amid the acclamations of the multitude, rose a few hundred feet and
descended half a mile away. The cock was found to have sustained an
unexplained mishap: its leg was broken; but the sheep was feeding
complacently, and the duck was quacking with much apparent
satisfaction.
Now, who among mortals will come forward and win the honour of
being the first to sail the skies? M. Pilitre de Rozier at once volunteered,
and by the month of November a new air ship was built, 74 feet high,
48 feet in largest diameter, and 15 feet across the neck, outside which a
wicker gallery was constructed, while an iron brazier was slung below

all. But to trim the boat properly two passengers were needed, and de
Rozier found a ready colleague in the Marquis d'Arlandes. By way of
precaution, de Rozier made a few preliminary ascents with the balloon
held captive, and then the two intrepid Frenchmen took their stand on
opposite sides of the gallery, each furnished with bundles of fuel to
feed the furnace, each also carrying a large wet sponge with which to
extinguish the flames whenever the machine might catch fire. On
casting off the balloon rose readily, and reaching 3,000 feet, drifted
away on an upper current.
The rest of the narrative, much condensed from a letter of the Marquis,
written a week later, runs somewhat thus: "Our departure was at
fifty-four minutes past one, and occasioned little stir among the
spectators. Thinking they might be frightened and stand in need of
encouragement, I waved my arm. M. de Rozier cried, 'You are doing
nothing, and we are not rising!' I stirred the fire, and then began to scan
the river, but Pilitre cried again, 'See the river; we