Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . has a balloon specially arranged for suchwater expeditions. He has an air-bag, which is not a necessityin the case of a free balloon; but it helps to preserve the shapeof the envelope, seeing that from some points of view his balloonmay be considered as being of the captive type. Many failures 214 AIKSHIPS PAST AND PEE SENT. have resulted, but a man of his energy is not easily beaten. Thecar of his balloon also contains a small motor for driving a pro-pe
Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . has a balloon specially arranged for suchwater expeditions. He has an air-bag, which is not a necessityin the case of a free balloon; but it helps to preserve the shapeof the envelope, seeing that from some points of view his balloonmay be considered as being of the captive type. Many failures 214 AIKSHIPS PAST AND PEE SENT. have resulted, but a man of his energy is not easily beaten. Thecar of his balloon also contains a small motor for driving a pro-peller. His plans have been well laid, and he thinks there is nodanger in making a descent on the water. His water-anchorproduces such a braking action that in case of need theaccompanying steamship could easily overtake him. Othershave talked about crossing the Atlantic ; but schemes of this kindare too much in the air to be worth serious discussion. Severalattempts have been made to cross the sea from Germany, butthese have mostly been in the neighbourhood of Kiel or Jutland,where there are a number of islands convenient for a Fig. 134.—Deviator offering the maximum resistance.(From Die Umschau.) But such trips have no real value, and the risk of coming intothe water is too great to justify them in most cases, though anexception may certainly be made if there is some distinctscientific object in view. Two soldiers belonging to the PrussianBalloon Corps were nearly drowned on March 24th, 1906. Theyhad been for some time above the cloud level, and on descending-found they were over the Baltic. All instruments were thrownaway, the basket was cut adrift, and they even threw away someof their clothing. Finally the balloon drifted over the land nearKarlskrona; if the course had been a little more to the east, theywould undoubtedly have been drowned. A change in the direction of the wind may bring seriousconsequences, and the dangers of a journey across the sea maybe well
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