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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.

VOL. XVI. --- NO. 194

11 O'CLOCK EDITION.

AERIAL PHENOMENA.

Wise and Wahl in the Clouds.

RESULTS OF THE BALLOON VOYAGE.

To the Editor of the EVENING HERALD.

Sir:-- I have not yet elaborated an account of our aerial explorations with the HERALD BALLOON on Thursday last. The part that received my personal attention will be prepared with proper care. It is nevertheless my desire that Doctor Wahl shall give the official report of the whole matter in that concise scientific manner for which he is so well qualified. I may be pardoned for giving a little report of the excursion in its general features. Our field of vision was abridged by the haze in the atmosphere, but what did fall within the circle of view was very distinctly defined. The city spread out in its latitudinal and longitudinal proportions made a bright, or rather, a white appearance. A rather blank place was shown between Richmond and the city proper. The Park, the Schuylkill, the Wissahickon, and the surroundings, made a picturesque appearance. Alladin's lamp never shone upon its equals. My well beloved friend and companion said ever and anon as he took a rest at his air pump, "Ain't this grand?" and then he would again ply the lever of his pump, and then another rest with the exclamation of "How profoundly still it is up here," and then pump, pump, pump, and then a rest with the exclamation "It is getting cool up here, I feel cramped up in this contracted basket."

I said "quite roomy, my dear friend, especially commodious for your comfort and experiments." "Ah," says the Doctor, "great improvements could be made in this affair in the way of arrangements for scientific purposes." "That is very true," was the reply, "but you must remember that science, in its positive form of research, is a beggarly occupation, and must get along as best as it can; in our case, if not in a substantial iron-clad ship, in a flimsy, clinker built air bubble, and this even, in its humbls [[humbled]] form, may develop something in meteorological knowledge that may be of use to man-kind." "That is so," said my companion, "but where are we now?" "I don't know," was the reply, "unless we are winding our way up the Perkiomen." "My dear sir," said the Doctor, "we are away over in Jersey." "So we are, and really, I do not know exactly where we are, as I have lost my dead reckoning in the watching of the instruments, and if you don't know, I don't.' "Do you know that nice looking town down there?" "I do not, was the reply. "Well, let us hurry down and see--we have gone through our experiments - had over an hour's heavenly experience, and no doubt your kind friends are praying for your safe deliverance so we may as well go down and send them a telegram."

"All right" was the response, and down we came at a dashing rate, in order to fall short of a Jersey quagmire not far ahead. We hitched up, not in the nice little velvety meadow that we aimed for, but withi n [[within]] the shelter of an umbrageous chesnnt [[chestnut]] tree, hitched fast to its old-fashioned swinging sign-board to await the arrival of the landlord, who soon made his appearance in the person of Joseph Taylor, and his trusty friend Amos Wilson, and they took hold of our trail rope and moved us down to there beautiful little meadow aforsaid, and when, in the course of 20 minutes, we had a goodly number of people in that neighborhood, and to the honors of New Jersey be it said, that a more generous and hospitable company never welcomed a balloon party to its land,

From this place we were escorted to the house of Mr. Allen Gerwood, of whom I can only say, he proved himself one of nature's noblemen.

My dear HERALD, this is all I can tell you at present about this affair. Let Dr. Wahl give you his experience, if he can be persuaded to do so, and you will find more youthful fire in the illumination of a subject that is as grand as it is useful and inspiring.
 
August 21st, 1874.
 
JOHN WISE.


EVENING BULLETIN

Friday, August 21, 1874.

THROUGH THE CLOUDS.

Prof. Wise's Last Balloon Voyage---A Landing Made Near Medford---Results of the Trip.

Prof. John Wise, accompanied by Prof. William H. Wahl, of the Franklin Institute, started yesterday afternoon, about half-past 5 o'clock, from Forty-first and Market streets, on a scientific voyage in the Evening Herald balloon. After a rapid journey of a few hours' duration the party landed at Medford, in Burlington county, seven miles south of Mount Holly. While passing over the city the balloon was purposely kept near the earth for the purpose of making atmospheric experiments, and, after going several miles in a north-easterly direction, the aeronaut arose rapidly, and reaching, at an altitude of 9,300 feet, the direct easterly current, continued her course in that way at the rate of a mile a minute.

Dr. Wahl obtained a supply of air at various altitudes, from which he will make experiments. The record which was kept of the thermometer and barometer shows a normal condition of atmosphere, with a regular decrease of temperature as we ascended from 97 deg. Fahrenheit down to 53.

Doctor Wahl is more than pleased with his trip while aloft, and expresses his high appreciation of scientific ballooning. The atmosphere was hazy and circumscribed the range of view of the voyagers within a small compass, giving the earth a flat and dead level appearance. They crossed the Delaware a little above Petty's Island. The bars and reefs were tolerably well outlined to their view, muddled as the water was. The results of the exploration are interesting in a meteorological point of view.


VOL. XVI.---NO. 195

11 O'CLOCK EDITION.

The Late Balloon Expedition.

REPORT OF PROFESSOR W.H.WAHL.

To the EVENING HERALD:

In obedience to your request to give publicity to the scientific results of our late aerial expedition, I beg leave to submit the following brief statement, which I may perhaps shortly supplement with something additional.

As stated in my communication of Thursday last, the specific purposes of our voyage were to determine the relation of temperature to altitude—and to estimate if possible, the quantity and quality of any mechanical or other impurities of the atmosphere.

Concerning the first question, the prevailing opinion amongst physicists is expressed by the statement that, temperature of the atmosphere varies inversly as the altitude—(i.e. the greater the highth [[height]] the lower the almost concurrent testimony of scientific aeronauts, and independently by what is known of the physical properties of gases. Some remarkable exceptions to this law, have, however, been noted by reliable observers—It is therefore of much moment to investigate the causes of this abnormal condition of the atmospheric temperature, and to determine whether they are of general or simply local nature.

Our experience of Thursday last, is in complete accordance with the accepted law of decrease, as a glance at the log of our voyage, herewith appended, will indicate. As will be seen on inspection, observations of temperature and barometer were taken at intervals of five minutes, from the time of starting until the decent. The hights [[heights]] are deduced from the barometeric observations, and are corrected for temperature. The figures represent the altitude above the sea level.

[[4 column table]]
|Time P.M.|Barometer in inches.|Height in feet.|Temperature (Fahr.)|
|---|---|---|---|
|5.35|30|start'g|97 deg|
|5.38|28.6|1293|97 deg|
|5.40|27 75|2093|96 deg|
|5.45|26|3800|85 deg|
|5.50|25.1|4862|82 deg|
|5.5|23.3|6875|79 deg|
|6|22|8443|69 deg|
|6.05|21.85|8650|69 deg|
|6.10|21.75|8743|68 deg|
|6.15|23.3|6875|74 deg|
|6.20|25.4|4568|77 deg|
|6.25|26.9|2958|80 deg|
|6.27|30.02|lan'd|90 deg|

The duration of the trip was exactly 52 minutes. The maximum temperature observed was 97 deg.; and the minimum, 68 deg., it will be observed, was indicated at the greatest altitude attained by the balloon, namely 8743 feet. As we ascendeded the log shows the temperature to have regularly decreased, and to have risen gradually as we descended. Represented graphically, these observed variations of temperature would afford a curve of almost regular descent and ascent.

The regularity of this curve will appear by comparing the temperatures at points of nearly equal height in the early and later periods of observation. The slight falling off of the figures of temperature on the descending part of the log, will be fully accounted for by the fact of approaching twilight and and the attendant lessening of the sun's heating power.

With regard to the second purpose of the expedition, namely, the estimation of the solid impurities of the atmosphere, I am, at present, unable to communicate any information, inasmuch as the proper conduct of this investigation calls for careful work and considerable time.

Whether positive or negative, I shall take the opportunity of informing the readers of the HERALD at an early date, of the results. I am apprehensive, however, the stay of our air ship over the city was not sufficiently prolonged to afford a solution of this question that will be satisfactory or conclusive.

Let me remark finally, that the foregoing observations were made under extremely unfavorable circumstances. I refer here not to the novelty of the situation, although in my case this doubtless enters as a disturbing element, but to the great personal inconvenience incident to the narrow and crowded condition of the car.

I look forward with much interest to the time, which I hope is not far distant, when the intelligent public spirit of our city will provide for the continuance of these and related physical investigations, by furnishing an air ship equipped with every convenience for making careful and accurate observations. Study of this nature, will, I am convinced, reduce to law and order, many phenomena, concerning which we now may do no more than speculate-and the knowledge thus obtained will as certainly be turned to profitable account in promoting the well being of mankind.

Yours truly,
WILLIAM H. WAHL.

P.S.-My fellow voyager has already given you the incidents of the excursion, there is however one fact of interest worthy of mention—in connection with the still debatable question of the easterly current at considerable altitudes, concerning the existence of which he is the earnest advocate.

[[right margin]]

Our balloon moved off very slowly in a north by east direction, until an altitude of between six and eight thousand feet had been attained, when it was driven almost due eastward at a rate, which could not have been less than fifty miles per hour.

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