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THE PRESS.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20,1874.
Balloon Ascension. 

PROF. WISE AND DR. WM. H. WAHL WILL TO-DAY LEAVE THE EARTH FOR THE BENEFIT OF SCIENCE. 

Should the weather prove favorable, Professor Wise will this afternoon make another ascension in the Evening Herald balloon from the grounds at Forty-first street, above Market.

The expedition is under the auspices of the Franklin Institute, and Professor Wise will be accompanied by Dr. Wm. H. Wahl, the secretary. The expedition is entirely devoted to scientific purposes, and is made with a special view of ascertaining the existence of certain suspected conditions of the air at high altitudes.
 
It will be remembered that one of the objects of the first ascension was to determine the quantity of ozone in the atmosphere at different heights. On the account of the excessive heat to which the aerial voyagers were subjected, no satisfactory experiments were made. This will be again attempted, and, as the causes which conspired to hinder the work before will not be apt to occur soon again, more definite results may be expected.

For many years balloons have been regarded as of little interest, except as playthings with which grown-up children could find a fleeting pleasure at the risk of their lives, if they preferred that kind of recreation. They have thus far never been employed for the benefit of science, and now that the first step in the right direction has been taken the enterprise should be heartily encouraged.

THE PRESS.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1874. 
Science Ballooning. 

PROF. WISE AND WILLIAM H. WAHL, SECRETARY OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, MAKE A SCIENTIFIC EXAMINATION OF THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE. 

Yesterday afternoon Professor Wise made another ascension, from the grounds at Forty-first and Market streets, in the Evening Herald balloon. He was accompanied by Wm. H. Wahl, secretary of the Franklin Institute. The voyage was of peculiar interest, as it was intended by Mr. Wahl to make a number of new experiments on the relation of temperature to altitude, and also to estimate the quantity of solid matter in the atmosphere at different points from the earth's surface.

For this purpose Mr. Wahl took with him several fine thermometers, two delicate aneroid barometers, a measuring and recording air-pump, and also a preparation to determine the quantity of ozone in the upper air. The air-pump was made especially for the purpose for which it was yesterday used, and weighed less than ten pounds. The remaining apparatus weighed but five pounds. 

The hour fixed for the departure of the air-ship was five o'clock, but, as the process of inflation proceeded more slowly than was expected, it was six o'clock before it was in readiness. A large crowd, comprising the usual promiscuous collection of old men, old women, middle-aged adults of both sexes, boys, girls, babies, and dogs, gathered at the grounds at an early hour, and kept pouring in until the balloon started. A number of policemen were in attendance, but finding that the appearance of the baton made but a slight impression on the hard-pressing throng which threatened at times to prematurely squeeze the balloon into the air, they were obliged to procure a bundle of stinging switches with which to persuade the inner ring to resist all outside pressure. This experiment did not quite have the desired effect, and as a last resort one of the bluecoats concluded to try moral suasion. He made an irresistibly-piteous appeal to the crowd, begging them not to behave so like a "pack of fools." He might as well have talked to the stones. They could not have been less immovable. Again he tried moral suasion, and succeeded. Going to the side on which the crowd pressed closest, he critically scanned the anxious ones on the inside, and then said quietly: "That's right, gentlemen, let the country greenhorns stand inside, where they can see." For the next ten minutes no one wanted to stand inside, and so the crowd fell back. 

At six o'clock several carrier pigeons were placed in the basket; Prof. Wise and Mr. Wahl followed, the balloon was drawn to the open space in the rear, the order was given to "let go," and the air-ship slowly arose from the ground (escaping a house by about ten feet), and sailed for a few moments, quite low, in a northeasterly direction. Then some ballast was thrown out, the balloon shot directly upwards, and ten minutes after was heading for North Jersey. 

As this was one of the first ascensions made especially for the benefit of science the result of Mr. Wahl's experiments will be anxiously looked for. 


EVENING HERALD.

HERALD PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS. 

OFFICE NO. 27 SOUTH SEVENTH ST. 

TERMS:
By carriers in the city, 6 cents per week. Mail subscription, one year, $3; Four months, $1. Newsdealers supplied at 50 Cents per hundred.

S. S. WENZELL,
ADVERTISING MANAGER.

THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 20, 1874

THE SCIENTISTS IN MID-AIR.

This afternoon at five o'clock, the Balloon Evening Herald is expected to convey from the grounds, Forty-first street above Market, to the unexplored regions of the upper air, those two famous scientists of the Franklin Institute, Prof. John Wise and Wm. H. Wahl. The former gentleman has made something like 450 ascension but in his long experience has never had the company of so learned an experimenter as Dr. Wahl nor have the atmospheric tests which they propose to apply been made hitherto, either in this country or Europe. The coming voyage will therefore have a peculiar interest for those engaged in scientific pursuits, as being calculated to result in some practical benefits wholly unconnected with ballooning itself. 

It seems to be quite settled that aerial navigation can never be of use as a method of traveling from point to point with the clumsy floats now in use, but it is equally certain that they will serve well all the used of the explorer, who desires simply to experiment in the air. We are confident that the ascension of Prof. Wise and Dr. Wahl this afternoon will abundantly demonstrate the truth of this statement and that it will be the privilege of the EVENING HERALD to record in its columns the substantial proofs of its new enterprise. To make a long voyage or traverse a definite route is no part of our aeronauts' plan and we presume their aerial movements will be simply such as seem best fitted to advance the scientific purposes of the expedition.  

They do not consider it the heighth of glory to ascend on a trapeze bar, gracefully hanging their heads from a hand ring before the astonished multitude, nor to give expression to their hearty contentment by popping a bottle of ginger ale at an altitude of a hundred feet. These diversions doubtless amuse the public but they do not by any means serve to increase the general respect for the art. We promise for them that the ascension will be made as becomes its objects and that the spectacle will be one calculated to awake the admiration of all who witness it. And we trust that the attending audience will not only be large——that it is sure to be——but composed in most part of those who are more than sight seers though not scientists. There will be no charge for admission to the grounds, and the free-born American citizen is hereby cordially invited to take advantage of this circumstance.