Part 6 (2/2)

After this the aeronauts succeeded in clearing the trees in Kensington Gardens, and in descending fairly in the Park, but, still at the mercy of the winds, they were carried on to the roof of a house in Arlington Street, and thence on to another in Park Place, where, becoainst a stack of chimneys, they were eventually rescued by the police without anybeen done

But this saland of Henry coxwell, and for some years the story of the conquest of the air is best told by following his stirring career, and his own comments on aeronautical events of this date We find hi and signalling experined to be of use in time of war This was an old idea of his, and one which had, of course, been long entertained by others, having, indeed, been put to some practical test in time of warfare It will be well to make note of what attention the ress had been made both in theory and practice

We have already made some mention in Chapter IV of the use which the French had made of balloons in theirof nineteenth the century It was, indeed, within the first ten years after the first invention of the balloon that, under the superintendence of the savants of the French Academy, a practical school of aeronautics was established at Meudon The nauished French chemist), and Colonel Coutelle are chiefly associated with the movement, and under the The practising balloon had a capacity of 17,000 cubic feet, and was inflated with pure hydrogen, , and which will be described in a future chapter It appears that the balloon was kept always full, so that any opportunity of cale of for practice And it is further stated that a balloon was constructed so sound and impervious that after the lapse of tworeplenished, of raising into the air two men, with necessary ballast and equipment The practical trial for the balloon in real service came off in June, 1794, when Coutelle in person, accompanied by two staff officers, in one of the four balloons which the French Army had provided, made an ascent to reconnoitre the Austrian forces at Fleurus They ascended twice in one day, re aloft for sohted, drew a brisk fire from the enemy They were unharmed, however, and the successful termination of the battle of Fleurus has been claie measure to the service rendered by that balloon

The extraordinary fact that the use of the balloon was for many years discontinued in the French Arely superstitious prejudice entertained by Napoleon Las Cases (in his ”Private Life of Napoleon at St Helena ”) relates an almost miraculous story of Napoleon's coronation It appears that a suiven to M Garnerin to provide a balloon ascent to aid in the celebrations, and, in consequence, a colossal machine was made to ascend at 11 p 3,000 lights This balloon was unmanned, and at its departure apparently behaved extre the hours of darkness, however, it seeh preternatural hted on the horizon by the inhabitants of Ro towards their city So true was its course that, as though with predetermined purpose, it sails on till it is positively over St Peter's and the Vatican, when, itsapparently fulfilled, it settles to earth, and finally ends its career in the Lake Bracciano Regarded froht was certainly extraordinary, and it is not surprising that in that age it was regarded as nothing less than a portent Moreover, little details of the wonderful story were quickly endoith grave significance The balloon on reaching the ground rent itself Next, ere it plunged into the water, it carefully deposited a portion of its crown on the to the facts, forbade that they should ever be referred to Further, he thenceforward discountenanced the balloon in his army, and the establishment at Meudon was abandoned

There is record of an attempt of so school in the African caain, it has been stated that the Austrians used balloons for reconnaissance, before Venice in 1849, and yet again the sae of Sebastopol, though Kinglake does not mention the circumstance In 1846 Wise drew up and laid before the American War Office an elaborate scheme for the reduction of Vera Cruz This will be discussed in its due place, though it will be doubtless considered as chimerical

On the other hand, eun to be put to an actual test by Mr coxwell, who, before he could duly impress his project upon the military authorities, had to make preliminary trials in private ventures The earliest of these was at the Surrey Zoological Gardens in the autuenuity and originality were displayed when it is considered that at that date neither wireless telegraphy, electric flashlight, nor even Morse Code signalling was in vogue According to his announceard his balloon, captive or free, as floating at a certain altitude over a beleaguered fortress, the authorities in co to obtain through these means information as to the approach of an enelasses, a vast distance around could be subjected to careful scrutiny, and a constant communication kept up with the authorities in the fortress Further, the flags or other signals were supposed preconcerted and unknown to the eneeons were also despatched froht to test their efficiency under novel conditions The public press commented favourably on the performance and result of this initial experiment

Mr coxwell's account of an occasion when he had to try conclusions with a very boisterous wind, and of the way in which he negotiated a very trying and dangerous landing, will be found alike interesting and instructive It was an ascent froht proarded a falling glass The inflation having been progressing satisfactorily, he retired to partake of luncheon, entirely free from apprehensions; but while thus occupied, he was presently sought out and suardener, who told him that his balloon had torn away, and was now co his reat strength, were about to atteainst the wind, which coxwell pro them that so they would tear all to pieces He then co in the slack of the silk, which chiefly was catching the wind, and by drawing in the net, mesh by mesh, until theand offering but little resistance to the gale, when he got her dragged in a direction slanting to the wind and under the lee of trees

Eventually a hazardous and difficult departure was effected, Mr

Chandler, a passenger already booked, insisting on accoest protestations And their first peril ca the balcony of the North Tohich they avoided only by a pro loudly as they sa the crisis was avoided The car, adds Mr coxwell in hisbehind the balloon with a pendulous swing, which is not often the case In less than two h the that their tops, which are usually of white, rounded conformation, were torn into shreds and crests of vapour Above, there was a second wild-looking stratum of another order We could hear, as we hastened on, the hu little tis were turned to good account bya bed of them at the bottom ends of the car, which we occupied in anticipation of a rough landing”

As it careed to descend, and coxwell, choosing open ground, succeeded in the oft-attee-row The balloon pulled up with such a shock as inevitably follohen flying at sixty miles an hour, and Mr coxwell continues:--”We were at this time suspended like a kite, and it was not so as which kept us up as the hollow surface of loose silk, which acted like a falling kite, and the obvious gaas to make the balloon pitch heavily with a thud that would have been awfully unpleasant; but to jockey our final touch in a gradual manner, and yet to do it as quickly as possible for fear of theadrift, since, under the peculiar circumstances in which ere placed, it would have inevitably fallen with a crushi+ng blohich ht have proved fatal I never remember to have been in a situation when more coolness and nicety were required to overco as, strange as itas the grapnel held fast and the balloon did not turn over like an unsteady kite” Such peril as there was soon terer

The saht in a thunderstorm, which he thus describes in brief:--”On a second ascent fro clouds, which began to flash vividly, and in the end culminated in a storm

There were indications, before we left the earth, as to what ht be expected The lower breeze took us in another direction as we rose, but a gentle, whirling current higher up got us into the vortex of a highly charged cloud We had to prove by absolute experience whether the balloon was insulated and a non-conductor Beyond a drenching, no untoward incident occurred during a voyage lasting in all three-quarters of an hour”

A voyage which coxwell (referring, doubtless, to aerial travel over English soil only) describes as ”being so very much in excess of accustomary trips in balloons” will be seen to fall short of one ive his own experiences Some account, however, of what the fa place here

It was an ascent on a suht from North Woolwich, and on this occasion coxas acco Henry Youens, who subsequently became a professional balloonist of considerable repute, and who at this tiht when the party took their places, and, getting srounds, shot over the river, and shortly were over the town of Greenith the lights of London well ahead Then their course took thee, and Battersea, when they presently heard the strains of a Scotch polka This came up from the then fa, it was but a few ston, by which ti now clear of London, they should descend or else live out the night and take what thus ht come their way This course, as the , was that which coht was heard striking, showing that a fairly long distance had been covered in a short interval of time

From this period they would seehted ahead, they were soon in doubt as to whether they thened by their hearing the cry of sea-fowl After a pause, lights were seen loo under the haze to sea-ward, which at times resembled water; and a tail like that of a comet was discerned, beyond which was a black patch of considerable size

The patch was the Isle of Wight, and the tail the Water fro er They had no Davy lamp hich to read their aneroid, and could only tell fro

Another deficiency in their equipment was the lack of a trail rope to break their fall, and for some time they were under unpleasant apprehension of an unexpected and rude iround, or collision with soe sand and to risk the consequences of another rise into space, and as theyto the south a ridge of lighter colour, which strongly suggested the coast line

But it waswas heard below, and then a streak of dawn revealed their locality, which was over the Exe, with Sidmouth and Tor Bay hard by on their left

Then fro seawards, they confidently traversed Dartmoor, and effected a safe, if somewhat unseasonable, descent near Tavistock The distance travelled was considerable, but the duration, on the aeronaut's own showing, was less than five hours

In the year 1859 the Tiuage that fully justified all that coxwell had previously claimed for them A war correspondent, who had acco that year, asks pertinently how it had happened that the French had been ready at six o'clock to ainst the Austrians, who, on their part, had but just taken up positions on the previous evening The correspondent goes on to supply the answer thus:--”No sooner was the first Austrian battalion out of Vallegio than a balloon was observed to rise in the air fronal, no doubt, for the French in Castiglione I have a full conviction that the Eht the exact position of every Austrian corps, while the Emperor of Austria was unable to ascertain the number or distribution of the forces of the allies”

It appears that M Godard was the aeronaut employed to observe the enemy, and that fresh balloons for the French Army were proceeded with

The date was now near at hand when coxwell, in partnershi+p with Mr

Glaisher, was to take part in the classical hich has rendered their na to tell of that period, however, Mr coxwell has done well to record one aerial adventure, which, while but narrowly ives a very practical illustration of the chances in favour of the aeronaut under extreale of wind, a and the coers--Messrs Pearson, of Lawton Hall--was pressed upon hi, and some time after the start was made the outlook was not improved by the fact that the dreaded county of Derbyshi+re was seen approaching; and it was presently apparent that the spot on which they had decided to descend was faced by rocks and a forrapnel in front of a stone wall, and so far with success; but the ent down, as also another and another, the wicker car passing, with its great ih the solid obstacles, till at last the balloon slit from top to bottom Very serious injuries to heads and limbs were sustained, but no lives were lost, and coxwell hiot home on crutches

CHAPTER XIII SOME NOTEWORTHY ASCENTS