PERILOUS WORK

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 114, 6 January 1932, Page 7

PERILOUS WORK

ADVENTURES OF EARLY ALTITUDE BALLOON ASCENTS MANY LIYES LOST The projeet to explore the stratosphere by the two brothers Short recalls other similar aseents. In 1862 Glaisher and Coxwell undertook the first obgervations at a high altitude. From Wolverhampton their balloon ascended quickly to a height of 28,000 feet. At that elevation Glaisher was able to reeord meteorological data in his journal. Then he fainted. Coxwell, the pilot, noticed his plight, and he tried to pull the valve that would release gas from the baloon, but both his hands were frozen. Eventually he pulled the cord with his teeth, and foreed: the balloon down. Glaisher soon regained conseiousness.4 By the speed of the descent and by the registration of his instruments he caleulated that they had reached a maximum height of 37,000 feet. It is doubtf ul whether his . calculations were quite accurate. Second Ascent The second important ascent* was made from Paris in 1875 by Tissandier, Sivel, and Croce-Spinelli. Despite the precautions taken, including an ample supply of oxygen for artificial respiration, and although ! the instruments recorded a maximnm ! altitude of only 26,750 feet, two of j the scientists — Groce-Spinelli and j Sivel — lost their lives through suffoj cation. The three men fell into a 1 coma at 23,500 feet. Now and again : one of them would awalce from his lethargy. The balloon was descending when Croce-Spinelli regained eontrol of his senses. He became alarmed at the rapidity of the fall, and threw overboard everything '"within reach — sandbags, furs, and some of the instruments. The balloon rose rapidly. The occupants lost conseiousness again. When the balloon touched ground only Tissandi was

alive. His two eompamons lay in the gondola asphyxiated and blue-black in the face. A fault in the supply of oxygen had cansed their deaths. Discouraged For a long time this tragedy discouraged any desire for aseents to high altitudes. In 1894 Professor Berson, a Galician, resumed systematic.aeronautic research. From then to the end of 1901 he made several aseents, and he discovered very important meteorological facts. Upon several occasions he was aceompan- , ied by German or British scientists. On December 4, 1894, when ascending alone from Strasbourg, he reached a height of 31,500 feet, and recorded a temperature of 54deg. Untill the remarkable achievement of Picard and Piper, who ascended ten miles, a German scientist, Professor ' Suering, director of the meteorologit cal observatory at Potsdam, held the I elevation reeord. In 1899 he made a } solo observation ascent in a balloon filled to two-thirds of its volume with hydrogen. He reached 26,700 feet, without experiencing any ill-effects, except a slight lassitude. It was very *' cold. The thermometer registered for two an a half hours a cold of more than minus 39 deg., with a maximum of minus 54deg. But the sun shpne pleasantly, and the professor felt well, and recorded his observations in comparative comfort. Suddenly, when he had just determined to descend, he saw that the gas valve was frozen. He pulled and pulled in vain,* the valve did not budge. He exercised all his strength, inhaling from the oxygen bottle while pulling. Desperate Struggle Every few minutes he had to pause in order to avoid suffocation. It was a desperate struggle. The aeronaut had started from Berlin, and now he was dr-ifting over Eastern Prussia, and was rapidly approaching the sea. At last, after having been pulled for three-quarters of an hour, the valve gave way. The balloon fell at an alarming speed. With his stiff, frozen hands Suering threw out sand ballast, but he threw out too much. The balloon rose to an altitude of 16,500 feet. Finally the aeronaut landed exhausted, but safe, near Koenigsberg. The reeord flight made by Suering was no less exciting. He wras aceompanied by the experienced Professor Berson. According to their instruments they reached a height of 36,000 feet. They felt well up to 2 D,000 feet, where the thermometers registred a temperature of lOdeg. Then they became sleepy. Four hours after their start they had reached 30,000ft., and had encountered a temperature of minus 2 3 deg. They were apathetic, and f ound it more and more diffcult to fight against fatigue. They succeeded in continuing their observations and in making further entries in their journal. The memory of the scientists was very hazy coneerning what happened in the strata beyond 33,000 feet, when facts and fancies began to blend. Berson stated that he pulled the valve cord because Suering failed to respond to his attempts to rouse him. Releasing the valve, however, exhausted the last ounce of his strength, and he collapsed in a long faint. With both occupants unconscious the balloon descended, and the scientists did not revive until they had come to within 20,000 feet of the earth.