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FANTASTIC OF PROF ROBERTSON 
[?]
THE PERSION KING
Erie, above
rning of Sa
ly but silent
essels in their
when they were
st one hundred mi
nt of air in which 
y bore them to
eral occasions th
ed three hundred
the falls the strength of this
idly increased until they
ett's Harbor. When over lake
about thirty miles from
came a violent gale of win
ost directly downward.
for was made to keep 
by throwing out the ballas
nstruments, but in spite of a
ons she made a tremendou
g the water, staving the
bringing about a fatal
the voyage to Mr. La Moun
balloon then rushed head
shore, which was reached 
utes, whence it plunged 
est at a speed which Mr.H
at about two miles a minute
els were cast loose, but the
hooks were wrenched off 
s.
t, which was still below then,
ing through the trees, leaving
if the locality had been visit
do. Mr. Hyde says that
or more in diameter
sunder as if made of clay, 
hes were flying in every [?]
er proceeding about a mile
in momentary expectation
n, the balloon was [?]
huge tree, by which it [?]

M DE LA LANDELLES IDEA
collapsed, and scarcely anythign left of
it but countless ribbons.
"It seems marvelous that no lives were
lost, but this was doubtless owing to the
boat, which sustained the shock of the
forest, leaving the daring adventures to descend to the earth from their perch 
entirely unharmed, with the exception of a slight bruise which Mr. La Mountain
received on one of his hips"

rifting to Sea in a Balloon
illing and Impression Experiences of a Pioneer American Aeronaut
HANCE more than fifty 
years ago threw some balloon
literature in my way
which captivated my 
fancy and ser me to longing
for a balloon of my
own, just as so many are
ow. One story in particular, by
Mason, of a voyage from
burg, in Germany, with Green,
ous English aeronaut, more that
er gave the clue to my opera-
many flights from Boston. Two
were to ascend on one occasion
piloted by Seth Simmons of
ce and the second by myself
was in training, but limited in
e, and I wanted him to go
articularly as the wind was
seaward, but E. B. Haskell of
ton Herald. who had been up
the year before, and thought h
hing or two, kept teasing me for
nt seat in Seth's car.
g somewhat against my bette
. I consented at last when Sim
omised to follow without fail m
on to drop into the land locke
thus make sure of drifting int
the islands.
y to my expectation, when the
wat the balloon kept rising 
appeared in the east. I followed
jour later with my large balloon
by the islands, we were making
p or sandy beach connecting
on our left with Point Shi
sailed by Winthrop Head so
ed us and startles us with the
on that the other balloon had
sea. A few moments later
ed on the beach, quickly empt
on by means of the collapsing
hurriedly made our way to
otel, at the Point, three-[?]
mile away.
we learned that the lost balloon
watched from the hotel by
s until it was seen to alighton
r and finally drift against the
vessel, where it hung for a
then sailed away out of sig
was coming on and nothing
done but hasten back to the
it developments. A convey
ained and heavy heartedly we
way back, driving directly to
. There we were met at the
by two of the most lively ghosts
rode through space or walked
he moon. There were Sim
ell! I don't know how I a
I guess-for I never was
se myself.
But I must tell their story. Haskell
sd it was all his fault, that Simmons 
nted to follow my instructions, but
t he had persuaded him to ride higher
search of a contrary current, such as
had found the year before; but the
her they rose the further they went
last, as they watched the
[?] fading shore line, in sheet des
[?] they descended to the lonely 
[?] of water. No sign of sail or help
any kind seemed to be near, and as
they dragged over and through the
waves the end seemed drawing near.
skell, to avoid becoming involved in
any entanglement within the frequently
submerged car, got on the outside and
clung to it by his hands.
This they were trailing and swinging
from wave to wave. when they suddenly
heard voices, and a small schooner 
appeared broadside before them. Somebody
cried out, "Look out, there!" and Haskell
struck with the idea of a terrible collision,
let go his hold and floated away, while
Simmons was dragged up the vessel's side
to the deck. The balloon, freed of its
load, flew away and was not seen again.
Simmons was frantic over the disappearance
of Haskell, and got the crew so
excited that when they tried to lower a 
boat it was swamped and one of their
own men went overboard. Think of this
delay and Haskell utterly lost! The 
search which followed proved fruitless,
but fortunately Haskell was a champion swimmer and did not abandon hope.
Miles away a yacht load of Fourth of 
July pleasure seekers from Saleni sailing
for home saw the balloon over the water
and watched it collide with and escape
from the schooner. Making all sail, they 
drove straight toward the vessel, and in
doing so, without realizing it they took
a direct line to where Haskell was swimming.
They gathered him in and continued
on to the schooner where they
picked Simmons up and continued on
their way home. They arrived in Salem
just in time for the Boston train and
were at our hotel twenty minutes ahead
of us. I may add that they never cared
to join any aero club again
Hundreds of persons have shared my
aerial pourneys, and one, Luther L. Holden,
formerly of the Boston Journal,
accompanied me no less than twenty-five
times. Sometimes we sailed in parties of 
six or eight and at other times he and I
went up alone from all parts of the country.
The experiences we shared always
seemed to whet his appetite for more. 
He never consciously falsified a single
item of the record, for he thought a 
newspaper man was a fool to pit his 
invention against reality. His truthfulness
captivated me and obtained for him
these many opportunities to gratify his
love for ballooning.
We sailed together on several occasions
from Plymouth, N.H., with various
results, but one voyage was remarkable 
enough to occupy a place in the history
of balloon adventures. It was a cloudy
September afternoon, and in a fine drizzling
rain we rose and soon were lost in
the clouds. The situation within a dense
cloud becomes very depressing. The dark
gray mist enclosed the car like a wall.
The lower portion of the balloon over our
heads was visible, but that was all.
Clouds in their many phases are nevertheless most interesting, and this finally
proved to be no exception, for at a height
of something more than a mile the dark
gray vanished into a crimson glow so
fiery in its aspect that it made us think
of the inflammable nature of the gas in
our balloon. This vivid brightness 
dispelled all our feelings of gloom.
We had been drifting with the clouds
for about an hour when we determined
to descend beneath them to take an 
observation. I opened the valve and started
down just in time to meet an obstacle in
our path-a mountain peak projecting into
the clouds. Fortunately the drag rope
was hanging out ready for any emergency,
so that by its aid and the judicious
discharge of ballast the mountain
was cleared. The barometer indicated an
elevation of a mile as we rose above the
peak, which made us more than ever
curious as to what course we were taking.
A second attempt to ascend threw
us in like manner against the peak of
another mountain, and again ballast had
to be thrown out to surmount it. 
But a third attempt to sight the earth
below the clouds was successful. We saw
a valley with habitations drifting from
beneath us, and deluding us with the idea
that we had not passed beyond the 
inhabited part of the country. We soon
found, however, that our course was
northeast instead of east, as we had believed, and that we had passed Mount
Jefferson and Mount Adams and were
now penetrating the heart of the great
wilderness. Lake Umbagog, which I 
recognized from a former experience, lay
over toward the horizon directly in our
path, but all else was sombre forest.
Like Micawber, we were waiting for 
something to turn up. It came as night
crept over the earth and found is crossing
the lake, upon one of the islands of
which blazen a cheerful camp fore. It
was within hearing distance, but otherwise
out of reach. Our hallooing was
evidently heard, for what seemed from its
action to be a canoe put out from the

AN EARLY HEATED AIR BALLOON.
shore, with a lighted brand taken from
the fire, and dodge about on the water 
as if searching for some one.
 The lake was soon behind us, but the
balloon has been brought down to about
trailing the rope glided over the treetops, until, reaching a small mountain, it lifted us over the top and drew the balloon down on the opposite side, in which sheltered position it lay becalmed. Here was an opportunity for deliberation, and as we lay among the treetops we discussed every phase of the situation, concluding at last that we could not be worse off by going further, with the possibility of improvement We had a bag and a half of sand left out of three at the start, which we purposed economizing to the utmost.
 Barely lifting the rope from the trees, we rose slowly to the clouds again, and to our great surprise became poised near their lowest level. There was no perceptible change in the altitude during the next six hours and no further expansion or loss of gas or any expenditure of ballast during all that time. So remarkable did this seem that my companion could not help saying that he believed  some super-natural power was exerting itself in our behalf. Faith is a good thing to have, no matter how it manifests itself, and the novelty of the situation furnished us with a constant theme for conversation. The [[cut off]] ... 

 We were not always [[cut off]] clouds. We had frequent opportunities of peering into the inky blackness of the wilderness, and once the clouds above us separated sufficiently to give us a glimpse of the moon. At last there came a change in the sound of the waters. The pouring ceased and was replaced by the booming swish and swash of breakers. There is no mistaking the indications. We were both familiar with them and the descent was imperative. 
 Carefully I opened the valve and allowed some gas to escape, but the balloon seemed slow to heed it. The breakers were already beneath us. Again and again I pulled the valve cord, and at last the descent began. By this time the sound of the breakers was dying away in the distance and a hasty drop was as much to be avoided as before, but at last the drag rope touched the water. A fog which lay beneath us, upon which we seemed to float, shut out the possibility of seeing the water. Yet we knew from the checked descent, the slight tremble communicated through the rope and its faint swish over the water, as well as from the otherwise absolute silence, that we had left the county behind us and were far out upon a wild waste of water, presumably upon the Atlantic ocean. 

[[cutoff]] and wait. This we tried to do [[cutoff]] leaned over the side of the car opposite to the drag rope and -- went to sleep. But it was not for a long time, though it happened more than once, each startled with the idea of being so careless. 
 Then came a great surprise. A black line no thicker than a wire made its appearance directly in front of us, and each cried "Look out! Look out!" But we did not strike anything. The line grew wider and wider, until suddenly the fog slipped a way from beath us and revealed a mass of black, which in the moment, as the drag rope took to the trees, told us we had either run onto an island or had drifted back to the mainland. The rope did us the same service as it has the night before, running up the side of a small mountain and over to a sheltered position on the other side, where we lay until daylight. 
 When we ascended again the next morning we found ourselves on the mainland and near the only road within three hundred miles -- the Mattapedia, following the southern shore of the St. Lawrence river.  

...

Possibilities of an Amphibious Airship
First the Successful "Water Skimmer," Then the Flying Machine, Says Professor Todd. 
PROF. DAVID TODD, director of the Amherst college observatory, has designed an amphibious airship, which he calls a hydrodrome, or water skimmer.  He is confident that he has almost reached success in his investigations, and predicts that his invention will prove to have at least twice the speed of the fastest motor boat, with tall the added excitement for the operator.

Prof Todd's interest in aeronautics was aroused by a visit to the lat Prof. Langley fifteen years ago, and since then he has devoted considerable time to attempts to solve the problem of navigating the air.  A room in the top of the old college tower at Amherst was fitted up as a launching observatory, and aeroplanes of many shapes and material were tired.

This is the first public statement of the results of Prof Todd's experiments made in a report to the Aero Club of America:

"From the first my faith was anchored to the ultimate success of some type or other of aviator machine," says Prof Todd.  "Balloons and dirigible cars seemed to me useful merely as passing stages on the way to the perfected type of aerial engines.  Subsequent events have only served to confirm this opinion.

"What shall be the design of that machine is not yet fully settled, and it never will be settled by theorizing.  Only experiment in the laboratory and in the open air can ever determine it.  The question now, as I understand it, is largely one of machine design, embodying sound physical principles already ascertained and not exceedingly difficult to apply."

"But before we solve the problem of the flying machine we should, in logical order, attempt the simpler one of skimming the surface of still water.  Simpler and easier this problem is, because for buoyancy the heavier and more massive water acts instead of the lighter and facile moving air.  Trial speeds for water skimming, therefore, need not be anything like so great as are necessary for aeroplane support of a moving body in free air alone.  I began experimenting on these lines in 1901.

"First, the physics of the hydroplane must be investigated experimentally much as Langley did for the aeroplane.

"Second, the efficiency of different forms of screw must be ascertained, including the best number of blades, their individual shape and relative arrangement about the propeller shaft.  This investigation is well advanced.  Only the most rigid experimentation can ever determine these points.  Mere theory is practically useless.  Then, too, the number of propellers is most important-the number of parts, rather, as they should be disposed symmetrically about the median line of the machine and revolve in opposite directions.

"Third, it is necessary to investigate also the many means of diminishing skin friction of hydroplanes.  This, too is a purely experimental research, only in part complete.  

"Working with such models as I could get together, I have satisfied myself that no form of water skimmer or hydrodome, if we may so call it, will ever succeed if we depend upon the water alone for our reaction.  At least not until the viscosity of water is in some way reduced or neutralized, or until we have discovered some. happy way of dipping a surface into water without getting it wet.  Of all the water reaction devices I have tried none have succeeded satisfactorily because of setting up wave motion, which in itself was a great obstacle.

"So I came to the conclusion that in order to disturb the surface the least possible the water must be used for gliding support only, and the shape, numbers, and distribution of the hydroplanes must be adjusted experimentally to meet the essential conditions of a minimum disturbance of surface water.  

"For driving the propeller shafts, nothing is better than a four cylinder gasolene engine, and, in my opinion, the velocities within reach of the hydrodome may easily double that of any water craft yet constructed, and with much less power than is now expended in driving the swiftest motor boats.  It is not easy to overestimate the significance of such as result in navigating shallow rivers and the glassy tropical oceans.

"If, however, for any unanticipated reason this question of water skimming should prove to be incapable of trying out to ultimate and gratifying success, a fortiori it will be quite futile to push experiment along the more difficult line of a practical aeroplane machine, which must derive its buoyancy solely form the vastly more mobile air while gliding swiftly through it.  If we cannot do the one it is useless to expect the other.

"Among the more serious problems of the hydrodome, there is a tendency to ricochet.  The capers of a model are not especially disturbing, but were the full size high speed machine of some tons weights to go frisking about in this fashion its passengers might wish they had shown some other form of conveyance.  I do not, however, regard this tendency to ricochet as beyond the reach of experiment to subjugate, only it has presented the possibility of more trouble than other elements of the design so far elaborated.  

Transcription Notes:
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