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66 HOLT'S MAGAZINE [[start left-hand column]] This beautiful and stupendous balloon, which may, in truth, be styled the eighth wonder of the world, was constructed under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Green, to whom, on account of his great experience and success in aerostation (he having made 220 ascents), the proprietors, with the utmost confidence, intrusted the sole direction. The balloon is 157 feet in circumference, and the extreme height of the whole, when inflated, and with the car attached, eighty feet. It is formed of 2,000 yards of crimson and white silk, imported in the raw state from Italy, expressly for the purpose; and was dyed by Messrs. Jaques, and manufactured by Messrs. Soper, of Spitalfields. The method of uniting the gores (the invention of Mr. Green) is by a cement of such a tenacious nature, that when once dry, the joint becomes the strongest part. It contains 70,000 cubic feet of gas. The weight of atmospheric air, sufficient to inflate it, is about 5,346lbs.; and that of the same quantity of pure hydrogen gas, about 364lbs.; the machine would, consequently, if inflated with that gas, have an ascending power of 4,982lbs; and allowing 700lbs. for the weight of silk and apparatus, and 362lbs. for ballast, would be capable of ascending with twenty-eight persons of the average weight of 140lbs. each. But Mr. Green, in his first experiments in aerostation, seeing the great expense, difficulty, and inconvenience of using pure hydrogen gas conceived the possibility of substituting carburetted hydrogen, or coal-gas, such as is used for illumination; and proved the truth of his assertion by ascending with his balloon, inflated with it, from the Park, on the day of the coronation of his late Majesty, George IV. From that time the use of pure hydrogen has been almost, if not entirely, discontinued, the expense of generating it being six times greater than that of coal gas. The specific gravity of coal gas being considerably greater than that of hydrogen, it gives a balloon a much smaller ascending power; and the quality of coal used, and the methods employed by different gas companies in its manufacture are so various (the specific gravity having been found to vary from 340 to 790), that it is impossible to ascertain exactly what would be the power of a balloon inflated with it. It was, however, calculated that the new balloon will ascend with from eight to ten persons, besides ballast and apparatus; the power varying according to the quality of the gas, the state of the atmosphere, and a variety of causes. As a matter of curiosity, it may be stated, that the inflated silk will sustain an atmospheric pressure of 20,433,600lbs., or 9,122 tons. The net, which entirely envelopes the silk, is of hemp, and the car of basket-work; the grapple, or anchor, is of wrought iron, and will be attached to an elastic Indian rubber cord, from the factory of Mr. Sievier. This will prevent, in a very great measure, any sudden jerk in stopping the balloon in rough weather, whereby so many accidents have occurred. When the necessary preparations for the ascent had been completed, and the passengers had taken their seats in the car, the balloon, under Mr. Green's direction, was allowed to rise some small distance, in order to try its buoyancy, when it was deemed prudent by that gentleman to discharge upwards of one-fifth of the inflating power, or about 15,000 cubic feet of gas, retaining an elevative power of 47,000 cubic feet. To this circumstance is to be ascribed the apparent smallness of the balloon to the distant spectators, and the absence of that regularity of form which is at all times to be remarked in an inflated body. A calculation, made by several scientific gentlemen, after the ascent, has shown this result, that if the balloon be fully inflated with pure hydrogen gas, and not be carburetted or coal gas, as in ordinary cases, it will enable an elevation of fifteen miles in altitude. The expense attendant upon an inflation with pure hydrogen would be at least 250l., whilst that with coal gas is not more than between [[end column]] [[continued centre column]] 70l. and 80l. We are, by the bye, at a loss to know why the company should charge so much more for the gas when supplied for the purposes of aerostation, than when furnished for the customary uses of lighting streets or shops. In the latter case the price, we believe, is 9s. per 1,000 feet, whilst in the former the demand is 20s. From the result of the experiment on Friday week, no doubt can exist but that if the balloon were to be inflated with pure hydrogen, with a sufficiently commodious car attached to it, it would possess such an elevating power, as would carry into the regions above fifty persons. It is intended by several of the leading scientific men, to enter into a subscription for the purpose of having the "Royal Vauxhall Balloon" inflated with pure hydrogen gas, in order that a number of them may go up, with a view of making some experiments. The aeronauts, through Mr. Edwin Gye, give the following account of the trip:- The balloon, every thing being ready, at a quarter past six o'clock, left the earth at rather a rapid rate, at first taking a south-west direction; but almost immediately, meeting with another current of air, we were driven over Greenwich in a few minutes. At this time we had obtained an altitude of about a mile and three-quarters. We here crossed the Thames, and expected that we should again reach the land in the county of Essex, but we suddenly and almost instantaneously re-crossed the river, about a mile from Woolwich. By this time we had attained our greatest height; viz., two miles and a half. Here we soon entered another and a stronger current of air, and in a short time were opposite Gravesend, which, although it was dark, we recognised by means of the lights on the two piers. We now thought of making our descent, which we accordingly commenced; but in consequence of our position, so nearly approaching to the river, it was not effected until we had almost reached the village of Cliffe, which is situated about nine miles from Gravesend, and five from Rochester. The landing took place in a grass field, two miles from this village, at twenty-five minutes before eight o'clock, after a passage of one hour and twenty minutes. We did not receive much assistance in our landing, on account of the darkness of the night (nor, indeed, was much required), as there were only three persons who observed us coming down. The balloon answered admirably; and, had it been required, would have taken up sixteen persons without the slightest difficulty. All those who did go up were much delighted, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, with the voyage, and expressed an anxious desire to repeat their aerial trip. The following account is from the pen of one of the travellers:--We rose at six o'clock. The ascent did not appear to me to be more rapid than on the two former occasions on which I have previously ascended. We took at first a south-easterly direction, but on rising higher we entered a current which carried us directly eastward, and remained on the Surrey side of the river until we found ourselves beyond Woolwich, when we crossed the river. We now crossed it five or six times successively, expecting all the time that we should ultimately descend in Essex. Having been up nearly an hour and a half, and the darkness increasing, we prepared for our descent, which took place gradually till we approached the earth as a common on the Kent side of the river, several miles below Gravesend. The grapnel, after catching once or twice ineffectually, at last took firm hold of some object, which the darkness prevented us from discovering. An accident now took place, which, had it not been perfectly calm, might have been productive of the most fatal consequences. The hoop to which the grapnel rope was attached snapped in two, which immediately disengaged the balloon from its fastening, and allowed it to drift along the common, leaving the grapnel [[end column]] [[continue right-hand column]] behind. Mr. Green instantly opened the valve, and the balloon, after drifting about a mile, was sufficiently emptied to render it stationary. A few minutes then elapsed before enough of the gas had escaped to allow the silk to rest upon the ground. We then, after rolling over one another, in a highly ludicrous manner, were enabled to leave the car in safety. We found we had landed on a furze common in the neighbourhood of Cliffe, about nine miles from Gravesend and five from Rochester. one of the party and myself immediately proceeded to Cliffe, whence, after sending assistance to our companions, we procured a cart to Gravesend, and thence posted to London, where we arrived at half-past twelve o'clock, highly pleased with our aeronautic excursion. The ascending power was immense, and had not a large portion of the gas been allowed to escape before the ascent, I am of opinion that this balloon would have been capable of carrying twenty persons with ease to a considerable altitude. The magnificent scenery of the clouds, and of the metropolis (obscured at intervals) presented an appearance of more than usual grandeur. Our greatest altitude was about two miles and a quarter; the barometer, which was at thirty inches on leaving the earth, fell below twenty-one inches. The cold was occasionally rather severe. In concluding this hurried narrative, I cannot but observe that, although the weakness of the hoop might have occasioned a fatal accident, I feel it due to Mr. Green to state that nothing could exceed his scientific and admirable management of this immense machine. Our party consisted of nine persons, including two ladies. AN ACCOUNT OF THE ASCENT. (BY THE REPORTER OF THE WEEKLY CHRONICLE.) It was exactly like going to heaven in a washing-tub or an omnibus; if you ever go up in a balloon, never go in so large a company, it more than doubles the great danger there is of accident, and destroys all the sentiment of the voyage. The pink spencer and green parasol of the pyramids of Egypt were not more misplaced than the frivolous and tea-table gossip I heard at an altitude of 3000 feet from the surface of the earth, high soaring in the cloudless vault of heaven. The common-place particulars of the ascent you will of course see in all the newspapers; we mounted the car a little before six, and out of the centre of a motley multitude ascended majestically towards the heavens. I felt a catching of the breath as we rose up - up - up - with a gentle jerking motion at first - to the upper regions. The gardens and the groups below appeared like the many objects on a small camera obscura, each individual object was at first clear and perceptible, but faded fleetly, yet with a perceptible gradation, from the sight. Half the population of London appeared to be assembled in the streets, squares, parks, and the roofs of the houses. Our frail bark seemed rather crowded and oppressed with its weight, and a shadow of a thought crossed my mind at one moment whether the bottom of the willow basket, for such it is, was likely to fall out! All considerations of this kind were soon, however, dissipated by the splendid coup d'oeil which the glories of the firmament held out to our view. As we gently and slowly ascended, I had sufficient time to salute, and receive in return, the farewell salutations of my friends below. What a splendid scene it was! The multitudes of human beings, the houses, the squares, and streets, the high towers and spires of the churches gradually diminishing, while the deafening tumult became a gentle murmur, and finally settled into a death-like silence - a solemn and serene stillness not to be imagined by a man who has never visited the vast regions of the clouds - the earth which he had recently left lay in miniature relief beneath us; the trees looked like green furrows, and the river like a silver ribbon. As we ascended we rushed through the mighty [[end column]] [[end page]]
