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ter Mills. This, however, the Graphic would not buy, because Jaffray had refused to subscribe to the balloon enterprise, and the next day I went with Donaldson and Goodsell to Claflin's but made no selection. I then told the Goodsells that I would not look farther to find cheaper muslin, and on the following day Donaldson told them that they might select just what muslin they liked. Finally, the India Orchard muslin was selected by them. It was not the highest priced in the market, however, as they state. Reporter--You say that Jaffray would not subscribe. Did the Graphic Company, after pretending to make a private enterprise of it, undertake to secure outside subscriptions? Professor--They did, under cover of my name. They said that the subscriptions would be handed over to me, in virtue of my life-long devotion to aeronautics. They told me that about $1600 was collected, but of that amount I did not receive a penny, and, in fact, one check for a subscription having been filled out to my order, I was obliged to endorse it over to the Goodsells'. Reporter--Did you prefer the marline as netting, according to the Graphic statement? Professor--No. I had selected good thread twine for the netting, but the cost would have been $400, while the marline was preferred by them on account of its cheapness, costing only $100. Before we used their netting, the rats had gnawed it in several places, while on examination when it was brought to the ground, I found that a knife had been drawn across a portion of it. Reporter--The sewing was under the charge of your niece: Professor--Yes; some of the sewing which was done under the charge of the Graphic superintendent was so poorly executed that it had to be cut out entire. Reporter--The Graphic states that the boat, as constructed, met with your approval. Is this so? Professor--I fought that boat from the beginning to the end. I said that I wanted an open whale boat with an air-chamber, which would have weighed about 600 pounds, while the miniature ship built by Ingersoll weighs 1600 pounds. I went to Ingersoll's shop and when I saw the boat decked all over like a clam, I said at once that I would not go into it, but would take an open boat, if I was compelled to purchase on second-handed. They then agreed to cut away the deck but they merely constructed a cockpit, and reduced the weight of the boat somewhat, but it was still too weighty and intricate for our purpose. The only use wed intended the boat for was to float us until we could strike upon the course of some vessel, to pick us up. Reporter--They claim that you deserted your position, made frequent trips to Philadelphia, and were but seldom found where the work was progressing. Professor--I went to Philadelphia five times in ten weeks. On two of these occasions I attended to some business matters relating to the managers of the Graphic, while once I went over to say 'good-bye" to many friends. I was at the Domestic rooms every day, and worked myself until I grew stiff and sore. I did all in my power to have all the projected work constructed in the best possible manner. Reporter--They say that you found unnecessary fault with the varnishing of the balloon. Professor--I went with Charles Goodwill to the navy-yard and did find fault with the manner in which the work of varnishing was being carried on. The cloth was lying on the grass, ashes, dirt, etc., while the varnish put upon it could have ben taken up with a spoon. I wanted a light frame constructed for the purpose of the varnishing and drying, but they objected on account of the cost. After finding that I was disposed to complain forcibly, they did erect a small frame, but so roughly that the rough end of the nails projected through the word-work and tore the cloth. On remonstrating with Mr. Charles Goodwill, he stated passionately that they could do entirely without me. I thanked him and accepted the situation at once, when he plead with me, and offered to allow me to have complete control over all the arrangements, if I would only stay with them. I acceeded in perfect good faith, but was disappointed again, as I have been in my whole connection with the Goodsells. Charles Goodsell is fair and tolerably clever, but James Goodsell is overbearing and tyrannical. Reporter--The letters which the Graphic publishes are coming from you are, I presume, correct? Professor--Excepting in the letter of August 10. In this there is a notable omission. I wrote asking Charles Goodsell to go to the Capitoline Grounds and examine one section of the cloth, through which I could thrust my finger. This portion of the letter is not published. When I next saw Charles Goodsell he said that he had examined the section, and it was all right. I offered to have the section replaced in five days, but he said it was good enough. Although I doubted the strength fo the texture, I offered on the occasion of the first inflation to ascend, provided I was allowed to weigh thee balloon and it did not lose over twenty ounces in one minute. Reporter--It is said that you stated to the Graphic managers, that if there was any blame to be cast on any one you were the guilty man and should bear it? Professor--I said that I was guilty in allowing the Graphic managers to proceed in the manner they did--in having submitted so long and tamely to their impositions. In that particular I am guilty. Reporter--How about Haughton? Did you recommend him as a scientist? Professor--No. I did not. I sad that Mr. Haughton was a miner and a good practical man, and that, although he made no pretensions, there was a good deal in him, and that, with a little instruction, he could take charge of the instruments while I was sleeping. I said, too, that he was consumptive, and that he thought the trip would be beneficial to him. Reporter--They state in connection with Haughton, that you said he was an intimate friend for Mr. McCartney, of San Francisco, which Haughton denies. Professor--I never said that he was a friend of McCartney. I stated then that my acquaintance with Haughton was mainly through correspondence. He was to pay us $500 for the passage, which would have been pocket-money for us, as the Graphic had made no preparations in that direction, not even providing for a cable dispatch from the other side. Haughton paid $100 as an "earnest," for which I gave him a receipt promising its return in case the ascension did not take place. After the final collapse, I returned the $100, and he gave me back my conditional receipt. It was understood that Donaldson and I should each choose a companion, and accordingly I wrote to Haughton in the manner quoted by the Graphic. Reporter--Steiner was your choice as superintendent of the inflation? Professor-- Yes; after Donaldson had proved himself throughly incompetent, I wished Steiner to be employed in that capacity. Reporter-- Did Donaldson pull that ripcord, as stated? Professor--Charles Goodsell said to me, the following morning, "Good God, Professor, the balloon burst itself, after we thought it wouldn't do to admit that, so I told Donaldson to say he pulled the rip-cord." That is all I know of it. Reporter--You were not in New York on the day after the first attempt? Professor--No; I was in the city. I came over to say good-bye, for I had determined to go if the inflation proved successful, and I did not expect very confidently to see my friends again. Reporter--How about the statement of Otto Beister, which charges you with acting in such a manner as to show that you did not intend the balloon to be a success? Professor--The statement of Beister is utterly false, the italicised portion referring to my desiring the varnish spread so that the seams could not be successfully joined is out of the "whole cloth" and is entirely untrue. I never mad such statements and never thought of such a base betrayal of trust. Reporter-- The Graphic publishes several other letters from Messrs. Frohman and Steiner. What did you think of them? Professor--They are so cunningly construed as to palliate the fault of the Graphic managers, but the writers are men who would don't willingly injure me, or speak to my discredit. Mr. Steiner is mistaken in stating what I told him. I said to him the the Graphic managers were doing things as well as they knew how, but in their own, parsimonious style. Reporter--What do you think of Donaldson's statement? Professor--Donaldson knows nothing. He will sign any paper which the Goodsells draw up for him. I told him that no one else could be found in New York who would go to Long Branch in his paper canoe, and he took it as a compliment. He is a good acrobat and fears nothing. Reporter--Do you think the voyage could have been accomplished had the Goodsells kept good faith with you? Professor--Certainly I do. Had the proper care been taken of the balloon after the material had been prepared, I do not doubt but that we should to-day be exhibiting in Europe, but the material was exposed and allowed to rot. With a good balloon, the Atlantic can be crossed, and will be, before long. But the attempt cannot sucked unless the apparatus is perfect in all respects. I wish success to any legitimate effort to cross the ocean, and hope yet to take the advance in that direction myself, but I want, in my next attempt, dealing only with men of good faith and honest intentions. AERIAL NAVIVATION. - Mr. David Branson's Testimony to the Skill of Prof. Wise. - EDITOR EVENING STAR. "Old Wise is a humbug" is a remark now frequently heard on our streets. That this is unjust, I know, and having been for several years much interested in the subject of aerial navigation, and being intimately acquainted with the gentleman, allow me to say something in his defence. In accordance with previous understanding with him, I, last August, while in San Francisco, visited Mr. Frederick Marriott, the inventor of the famous "Avitor" and leading spirit in the AErial Steam Navigation Company of California, and ascertained much more than is publicly known in relation to that aerostat; learned that the first experiment with a model was a complete success; the second, with a larger vessel, a partial failure and discovered the causes of that failure and means of overcoming the same. Shortly after returning I visited Prof. Wise in New York to report the result of my investigations, and spent nearly all of Wednesday, September 3, in his company, visiting the Graphic office, the boat builders, the machine shop, the Capitoline grounds, and examined the boats, all which the paraphernalia, and the balloon itself, which was lying out in the weather spoiling rapidly and evidently had been for some time in the dirt. A number of men were engaged in repairing sundry rips and holes therein, apparently made by boot heels of men and boys tramping over it. The material was miserable, and a specimen now in my possession shows it to be utterly unfit to bear the strain required. Prof. Wise then and there told me that he had never been in such a scrape in his life; that he was completely disgusted and disheartened, having had nearly all his directions, advice and suggestions (which were based on the experience of over four hundred ascensions and years of study and experiment) overruled by men who scarcely ever saw a balloon, much less made one. Visionary ideas, he said, were resulting in useless material and heavy incumbrances on the whole affair; that the life boat was a splendid boat in which to carry a balloon across the Atlantic, and as such, a credit to her builder, but altogether unsuitable to be taken across by a balloon. Said Mr. Wise, "I have protested against this making a monkey show of me, have demanded that they stop smearing on fulsome laudation of my courage and all that sort of thing. "I have opposed the charging of an admission fee to the ascension grounds, as considerable money had been donated by my friends to the enterprise, and I have protested against the use of my name to induce subscriptions. I have also placed on record in the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia specifications of the violations our contract and blunders made by the Graphic people, so that if I should be killed or the experiment fail the blame my rest where it belongs." In conclusion, the Professor says that "he blamed no one so much as himself in allowing the managers to impose on him as they had," "but," said he, "if the rotten thing will hold the gas I will go, and if the weather remains favorable, it is barley possible we may yet get off." This being the state of the case a week or more before the proposed start, the public can really judge for themselves between the disputants. But the cannot fail to recognize the grand old disciple of science, who has devoted his life to a work which when it has attained complete success will make attainable al the unexplored regions of the earth, extend our knowledge of the laws of nature beyond anything yet conceived by man, cause the cessation of war among civilized races, and unite into one nation all the people of the earth. While we must admit that to obtain these and many other desirable results in a legitimate business enterprise, in which men my of right enrich themselves for labor done and risk incurred, yet nothing will justify the delaying of inevitable success by foolish parsimony, or making a subject of ridicule of the most important work ever attempted by man. DAVID BRANSON. - EVENING BULLETIN - The "Philadelphia Evening Bulletin" is published daily, Sundays excepted, at THE BULLETIN BUILDING, 607 Chestnut Street The "Evening Bulletin" Is served by carriers, at Eight Dollars per annum, payable at the Office, or Eighteen Cents per week, payable to the carriers; by mail, at Eight Dollars per annum, Four Dollars for six months, Two Dollars for three months, or Seventy-five Cents per month. PEACOCK, FETHERSTON & CO. - Friday, September 19, 1873. - AN EXPERIMENT WORTH TRYING An attempt has been made to get up a controversy upon the subject of the responsibility of Mr. John Wise for the failure of the recent balloon enterprise. In some quarters he is blamed for the disaster which betel the airship, and in others he is held to be wholly guiltless in the matter. We do not care to
Transcription Notes:
preserved original spelling, grammar, punctuation. Autocorrect may have fixed a couple of misspelled words.
