BALLOON POSSIBILITIES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 15, 17 January 1880, Page 5

BALLOON POSSIBILITIES.

Professor King has been interviewed by -« reporter, on the Now York Express, and «ha following ia his view of the possibilities of the balloon ? — " The bailoon is condemned by uaaoy, and justly so, because there are those who claim for. it impossibilities. It can only be used and valued for what it is worth to soieocs. It veil! never be used as a carrier ia ths striat sense, because that is icnpr oticable \ but for scientific research it ia the only means we havo for stu lying the higher regions anj 1 arning about, the upper cur-rents — ibout the fonnsiiou of rain and snow and the action of storraa. In ia the only thing by which we can reaoh a point in theheaveus clear of thy earth; and for these purposes it is invaluable. The day . will never come when balloons will be muuitj to navigate the air against the currents. Tfoat ci n, only ba don 9by flying machines hav.n^ inomantutn, which a balloon is wi hout. You canuol; throw a tu.'s o> cotioa ng.inst, the wiod, for rhe re.isoa that it h-ss no. resistance. The balloon* mission 'is scientific in several ways. You know, in c»se of war, it tins been very useful in escaping from bisieg9d ciiioe, lika P^ria, ier instance, and for military operations i> th.6 only way you hava of looking iuto the enemies', fortifications wiih impunity, It is also valuable for looking down into deep water. I had an clfer made to me once to float over Lake Erie and search for a steamer that had sunk in a storm. From a balloon you can look ■Jown to tha bottom of very deep water, osctuae you are aw>y far enough to overcome tha redaction of the eky. From my balloon here I oan see the channels tha boats take to Rock a way very «le«r!y. I hove nos $he least doubt th.it the m\\ he navigated by a flying machine, but it will have to fly outer tbau a bird flies, the same as

a ship ewims better than a fish; that is, the ship , will carry a thousand passengers And a heavy cargo and go through the water very swiftly, while a fish has all it can do to tike care of itself. The flying machine will have wide, strong winga, anl will be propelled by some great force— -it may be nitro glycerina, it may be gunpowder, and it m*y be hydrogen aad oxygen gas, or it may be something else that will give it momentum ; but, whatever it is, it will be light ani compact, so that a handful of it, so to speak, will last a whole day. A base-ball travels when hit with a bat, and, if there should be a fly on its surface, it would carry Us passenger. You know how nicely a pieco of card -board can be sbijd through the air. The flying machina will operate on sooisthiag like the same principle, but balloons will never be used for the purpose, being, as I said before, without momentum."