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ry- rt of ched was 15 minutes on wa only with the drag he trees. I land- erica," in which Mc- beat Lahm's distance alt by Leo Stevens, the aeronaut of the New York who accompanied the party York balloon experts to St. The "America" has a capacity 000 cubic feet of gas. When in- ed it is a globe 53 feet in diameter. The basket, or car, of the America," swinging in midair, will be the home McCoy and Capt. Chandler for 36 hours, unless weather conditions compel an earlier descent. The car is built of stout willow and rattan interwoven. It is 6 feet 6 inches long, 5 feet wide and 4 feet 6 inches deep. Nothing could be more shipshape than the interior of this car. Not an inch of space is wasted. Besides the two men the car must carry ballast, provisions and all the equipment necessary to a long flight. Two feet from the floor of the car is a bed, running the full length of the basket and wide enough for one man to sleep in comfortably. The bed is swung on ropes attached to the top of the car. In the daytime it serves as a chair, or it can be folded back against the wall of the car. There is no need of two beds on the car of the "America." One of the men must be always on the watch. Will Take Clean Shirts. Around the sides of the car runs a cloth lining, containing four big pockets for the storing of odds and ends. These pockets will be bulging full when the "America" starts on her journey. In them will be placed maps and charts, instruments of various sorts, collars and shirts and a part of the provisions. A good part of the available space will be taken up by the ballast. The "America" will carry 40 sacks, each holding 40 pounds of dried sand. The sacks will be laid under the bed and around the sides of the baskets, in rows two deep. In a bid wicker hamper, two feet long, a foot wide and weight inches deep, will be carried most o the provisions. Separate compartments are provided for the bottles of water, milk, tea and coffee. If the hamper proves to be too small some of the canned goods will be stacked on top of the ballast or put in the lining pockets. Two life preservers, to be used if the balloon descends over a body of water, are carried in the bottom of the car. Here also is the "drag" rope, which may be thrown over the side of the car to persons on the ground in making a descent. The "America" will be equipped with a complete set of instruments used in taking and recording observations. These, together with a leather case, weigh 25 pounds. The most essential is the statoscope, the needle of which gives instant notice of the rise of fall of the balloon. The barograph fulfills the same purpose with greater accuracy but works more slowly. It keeps a complete record of the various altitudes at which the balloon sails. The barograph and the statoscope are hung from the cords extending up from the sides of the car. The car will be equipped also with a thermometer, an aneroid barometer, a compass and a hydrometer to record moisture changes. Matches will be carried by the occupants of the car, but they will not be lighted during the voyage. The only light at night will be furnished by the moon and pocket electric light bulbs. The matches are carried in air-tight boxes. They are kept for emergency use in the event that the balloon lands in darkness. Hot Soup on Tap. "We expect to live as well in the air as we would in a first-class hotel," Mr. Mr. McCoy said to a Post-Dispatch reporter yesterday. "We can have hot soup whenever we want it. The cans are really two-in-one. Between the outer and the inner can there is a space filled with lime. Water poured in this space quickens the lime and heats up the soup. "There is no time to loaf while up in a balloon. We don't intend to read books and play cards on the trip. If we did we should probably never get back. All of our time will be occupied with taking observations and managing the balloon. One man must be always awake. One hand is always on the ballast, ready to throw enough overboard at any time to keep the balloon from sinking. That is one of the nice problems of ballooning. There are no rules by which the amount of the ballast to be thrown out is regulated. The aeronaut uses his own judgment about that." Mr. McCoy was asked why he had planned to begin his trip at night "The atmospheric conditions are more stable at night than during the day," he said, "and we can maintain the balloon at an equilibrium at less expense of ballast. That is the reason that I want to complete as much of the journey by moonlight as possible. During the day the heat of the sun makes the atmosphere unsettled, and the balloon is constantly rising and falling. A cold air current condenses the air and causes the balloon to fall. Ballast must be thrown overboard. Then perhaps the balloon encounters a warm current and shoots up again. If the atmospheric conditions were stable the ballast could be saved" "How do you tell the speed at which you are going?" the aeronaut was asked. "That is largely a matter of judgment," he said. "We cannot tell accurately. Usually, we can estimate the speed by noting the length of time that it takes to pass recognized objects on the earth." "What would you do if you saw that you were being driven toward the ocean?" "Come down as soon as possible," Mr. McCoy answered. "There is [?] way by which the wind can be [?] feated. It takes the balloon wh[?] will."
