Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 April 1875 — Balloon Arrangements for 1875. [ARTICLE]

Balloon Arrangements for 1875.

Although Mr. Donaldson, the aeronaut, did not succeed in reaching Europe last year by the aid of the easterly current his limited success has induced Mr. Barnum to make a farther engagement with him for the summer months of 1875. A few days ago an agreement was entered into by which Mr. Donaldson agrees to devote his entire service to the furtherance of aeronautic traveling during the next eight months, for which he is to receive the sum of $20,000, Mr. Barnum further agreeing to pay all expenses attending the experiment. During the last summer Donaldson made a large number of successful ascensions, during which hundreds of careful observations were made, none of the results of which have as yet been made public. It is considered proved: first, that it is possible to land a balloon successfully at any . point named and to reascend without material loss of ascending power; and, second, that a fixed law governs the air currents, a knowledge of which will enable the voyageur to leave any spot and return to the same at pleasure. During the past winter Mr. Donaldson has been engaged in arranging compactly the. results of his work during his many years’ experience, and posseses therein a more complete aerial chart than was ever before compiled. Extensive preparations have been made for carrying on a successful summer campaign during the coming months, to absolutely determine the existence of an easterly current. If these experiments continue to develop Mr. Donaldson’s theory, there is little doubt that by October of this year he and a selected company will have a try at the Atlantic. He is now at work upon six balloons of various sizes, capable of carrying from one to twelve people. These ascensions will constantly be made in all weather and at every available point. The largest balloon will hold 70,000 cubic feet of gas, being about the size of the “Graphic No. 2.” These balloons will be supplied with every convenience for comfort and safety, many of the appliances being the result of experiments made during the winter at the *Hippo drome. A number of perfected instruments are in process of manufacture, to be used during the summer voyages in obtaining data to corroborate and increase the information already obtained. Among these are the following: An improved aneroid barometer for measuring altitudes and height and thickness ot clouds; wet and dry bulbs and bydrodeik, for determining the amount of moisture in the atmosphere; an improved spectroscope, vessels for bottling atmosphere at various heights for analyzation, a delicately indexed electroscope, bags of an improved form for carrying oxygen and nitrogen gases for experiments, including inhaling, the list including a number of new patents. The first ascension will, take place as soon as the airships are completed.— N. T. World.