The Chandler News. (Chandler, Okla.), Vol. 7, No. 41, Ed. 1 Friday, July 1, 1898 Page: 9 of 10
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BALLOONS IXTHL XAVY.
like a great kite high into the air. KEENE'S "RICHARD."
The ship gets under way, and, with the
balloon appearing scarcely larger than Th« Actor's Fight on the Floor Tin*
a good-sized orange, starts in tO*vard j Represented the Boswortlt Field.
the coast 011 its mission of observ ition -Thomas W. Keene was the only
and detection. Telephonic comm.-ina- Richard who ever finished a fight on
Haw T1lOVr MflV Rp liSPfl for tllO Pltrnnsp Of tion is kept up wilh the occupafts }a ! Bosworth Field to the satisfaction of
FLOW i litV 1 1(1 V UL Uotu 1 Uipusc U1 jthe car, and the direction and the ^ gallery,' said a Western man in
yin(i on the Enemy—Great Aid
Spy
to the Admirals of Fleets.
speed of the craft are at on< e i<spous | Speaj.jng Qf jjje tragedian, whose death
iv? to the guidance of the watchers in ^ ^ occuri.ed. re.
that tiny car a quarter of a mile above. , ^ ^ ^ M]. Keeng
When they have completed their recon-
noissance the winding machine
js quit this, but when he first went out
as a tragedian under the management
started, and they are quickly and easily ^ ^ ^ r ^ ^ got dQwa on
drawn down, while a little slUiiiui i
Balloons are going to play an im-
portant part in the work of our navy
around Cuba, and each day of delayed
action will make them more needful
in observing the Spaniard's strength
ened lines of defense..
The tortuous waterways and the
generally land-locked nature of t ie
harbors, their narrow fortified en
trances, and the excellent retreats e
wide reaches of water offer to t eir
ships make it imperative that we "av®
some fairly safe and reliable means o
making reconnoifesances of the Span
lards' positions. The fighting
yes, even the mastheads, are of litt e
avail for observation at the distances
imposed by the watchful batteries o,
the enemy, and the captive balloon
alone solves the difficulty. This is es-
pecially so where high promontories
like those of Santiago de Cuba and >_an
Juan completely shut out the harioi
from view and make hitting a ee
therin mere guesswork. Recent experi-
ments in Germany, France and Rus-
sia have emphasized the importance o
the captive balloon in widening a fleet s
powers of observation, just in the same
way that the captive balloon will serve
the army; and the patient trials and
study of the Germans have evolved a
curious aerostat that by virtue of its
shape and peculiar properties is es-
pecially well adapted to the greatet
range of naval work, and it is quite
safe to say our own balloons will em-
body the general features of the Ger-
man design.
The balloons will really be three bal-
loons acting in concert. The first and
largest is like an immense sausage,
and bears the main burden of the load-
ed car. The second is somewhat simi-
lar in shape, but hugs the lower end
of the big balloon like a creeping
caterpillar. This second and smallei
balloon acts principally in the capacity
of a rudder, and aids materially in
. holding the balloon in a peculiar posi-
tion, while the third and small spheri-
cal balloon trails along independently
behind at some distance and serves in
the same steadying capacity that a
kite's tail does. In action, this triple
balloon floats vdth great steadiness or
immobility when not under way—
something impossible in the pear-
shaped affair familiar to all of us.
The observation car is pendant from
the main balloon, which poises^n the
air at an angle 'of about 45 degrees,
practically like the position of the kite
common to every school boy, and it
is just in that way that the force of
the wind is utilized to increase the
balloon's buoyancy and to subserve
also to that peculiarly marked steadi-
ness or directness of flight.
Made up. as it is, in three separate
parts, it is less liable to total and in-
stant collapse in case of puncture, and
it is even possible to se< ure a wider
being equal to bearing a burden of half 1
a ton; and a balloon capable of rais-
ing a party of four persons will scarce-
ly weigh more than a good-sized boy
of 10.
The especial advantages of the bal-
loon for naval work were discovered
so recently as 1894, In that year the
Russian monitor Rusalka foundered
with all hands in the Gulf of Finland.
An expedition, under Colonel Nicolas
d'Orloff, undertook to discover the lo-
cation of the lost vessel by using a
captive balloon for the purposes of sub-
marine observation, and while he was
unable to find the craft, still the re-
sults of his search were fruitful in val-
uable Information for future naval pur-
poses. The balloon, which was held
captive by a \arge naval transport fit-
ted up for the service, ascended to al-
titudes varying from G50 to something
just over 1,400 feet. Two observers,
who were relieved every three hours,
were constantly in the car, and it was
found that the naked eye was better
adapted to disc j-ning objects at the
bottom of the sea than were the aids
of telescopes or glasses. With a favor-
able light rocks and sandbanks were
clearly defined at depths of from 1? to
23 feet. Large, light sandbanks—such
as prevail about Cuba—could be seen
more or less distinctly, depending upon
the color of the water, at a depth of
even 40 feet, but it was not possible
to distinguish the details of objects so
deeply submerged. The view from the
car reached to a distance of quite 45
miles, and it was possible to hear the
sound of distant cannonading which
was inaudible to persons on land. Ob-
jects on the surface of the water were
more easily detected than they could
have been on land, and the character
of distant craft, whether mercantile or
naval, was easily discoverable; and,
finally, it was found that the steadier
nature of their currents over the
water made certain delicate observa-
tions possible where the broken cur-
rents over the land would have made
them prohibitive.
Backed by the reflecting bottom sand
about the Cuban ports, explosive mines
in the shallower water will stand out
strongly silhouetted, as would also
other obstructions opposed to our
ships' approach- something that could
not be detected with safety in any other
way. This seems a strange power of
the air, but it is only because the eye
is carried above the highest angle of
the sun's reflected light, and the water
becomes as a sheet of glass faced
squarely with the light behind one's
head.
With a modern equipment of long-
distance or telescopic photography it
is possible, fr im a ba.-? so st.- idy as
me of these balloons, to take pictures
of the enemy's coa-\ forts bidder,
batteries and the location- of hL- ves-
maneuverlng lands them on deck and
the nimble seamen soon have the bal-
loon snugly anchored and covered
against mishap. The work can be car-
ried on night or day and with wider
applications than possible to a fixed
military base, and its use on board a
naval craft as an auxiliary to opera-
tions of the army would be of inestim-
able value.
The illustration depicts the balloon
moored to a speeding torpedo boat and
the result, perhaps, of a very good
night's work in our behalf. The bal-
loon has ascended from the depot ship
as usual, but when at the desired
height was fastened to the light-
draught and fleeter torpedo boat. This
boat has crept in to the neighboring
coast under cover of darkness and
sought the temporary shelter of some
jutting arm of the land. As the first
mists of the early morning rise, the
balloon, like a poising eagle, soars high
above the enemy's defenses, but not so
far as to be beyond the piercing reach
of its telescopic eyes. There, practical-
ly safe from harm's reach, it absorbs so
much that is vital to the enemy's wel-
fare, and at the first shot of alarm the
boat darts out from cover, and before
either boat or balloon can be caught
in range they are hastening away to
the offing with a wealth of informa-
tion and such detection as it is impos-
sible for the foe to guard'against be-
fore an assault be made.
Blanco also has balloons, but they
are hampered by the fixed base essen-
tial to military operations and the
shifting courses of the land breezes, but
we shall have a system of espionage
second to none—not even his coast-
wise telegraph; and whether it be for
the massing of troops, the successful
bombardment by only one small gun-
boat. or the grand, concerted action of
an entire fleet, we shall have the am-
plest means of information with the
least exposure of life.
We shall watch our enemy even
while he sleeps, and the first thing he
shall see as he looks up from the land
still clothed in the gray of dawn, will
be our guardian high above and touched
by the first glint of the coming day—
an omen of heaven's guidance and
promise of golden victory.
ROBERT G. SKKRUETT.
margin of safety by subdividing the in- s"la 315,1 N ' ■' 'u ' ' ' M
teriors by thin membranous walls and
fitting them with little valve-
what like those nov u-< i
[ tire, which would enable ti
be tilled, but which at the me tin-
would shut oft" automatically an in-
jured compartment by v irtue or the
unimpaired fort" of th< n a .. •
good ones. A liappv, chance shot that
might damage one or even two of the
compartments would only car.s" the
balloon to sink slovyiy like an exhaust-
ed bird, and would either er. .I> 1 th >
aeronauts to prepare for a jump in Pr
safety or permit the balloon to b ■
drawn beyond the reach of further at-
tack before touching the water These
balloons are built up in sections out
of a Wonderfully ligc.t but very tough
fabrication of silk—: strip a yard long
i- not speculation, but an accomplish-
ed fact.
Xow let us see how the work wi.
lie done in all pro'- ibiKtj. One of the
auxiliary vessel- will b • a^d-.n d eac >
fleet to serve as a balloon depot ship,
and a good wid 1 stretch of deck will
be set apart for the stowage of the
balloon, its inflating and for its ascen-
sion and subset; i >nt retain. * Hie hy-
dros n gas will be made either down
1' low and sir : ii-d by pi;'1, to the bal-<
loon on deck, or stored, under great
surt, in stout sreel cylinders, which
I can be carried where most convenient
and fed directly into the grca; folds
i of the "a.--ostii;." When all is ready,
the observing officers rt.ep into the car,
I a fine steel rope, und< r mechanical
I control, is let out, and the balloon
Well I Keit Sword.
Capt. Weaver, who is going into the
war as captain of an Arkansas com
pany, wears a sword which has done
duty in three wars His great-grand-
father carried it in the Revolutionary
war, his grandfather in the war of 1S12,
and uncle in the war between the
states, and now he expects if he gets a
chance to slash some Spaniards with it.
\\ ar Welcome at. Such :i Time.
Mrs. Benliam T see by the paper
that a w stern man lias thrown up a
good posit :., sold all his property and
gone t". a to fight th" Spaniards.
There's patriotism for you!" Benham
—"Probably his wife was houseclean-
ing."
What We'd I-ike to Know*
Fii'-t lieautN I s<e, dear,
that it has b. en fashionable in Paris
to be photographed in one's corset.
Second Society Beauty—Dear me!
what on earth do they want to put
them on for?
the floor of the stage in his encounter
and fairly dragged himself across the
'field,' knocking things right and left,
while the gallery caused the roof df the
house to sag. When Keene secured
Hayden for his manager it was under-
stood that Hayden was to bill the show
aud manage it a3 he pleased. '1 here
was never anything in the line of
gorgeous lithographing that surpassed
Hayden's posters during the first two
seasons in the West. The Bosworth
Field scene took up nine-tenths of the
big sheets, and it there was any color
overlooked I never heard of it. I was
in a town where Hayden hid billed his
attraction along with the Barnutn-
Bailey show, and I declare on my honor
that the stand pilt up by Billy Hayden
drew the crowd. 1 have been told that
the rolling around on the floor business
in the Bosworth Field scene was Hay-
den's conception of the fight and that
poor Keene was forced to soil his king-
ly attire every night under protest. At
the expiration of the contract it was
renewed with the proviso that there
was to be no fighting on the floor."—•
Ex.
INDIAN AND TIGER.
According to a good and true tiger
story in Cornhill an Indian who had
learned some of the elementary prin-
ciples of jugglery and contortion, went
out one evening to walk upon a ridgy
plain. When he reached the top of one
of the mounds, he saw a tiger ahead of
him, five or six hundred yards away.
Before the man could h'ide behind a
mound, the tiger had seen him, and
began to bound toward him at its top-
most speed.
Having no means of defense, ther«
was nothing for the man to do but to
race for the nearest tree; but though he
tried it, and put forth his utmost
strength, the tiger steadily gained up-
on him
Wli •. v..: ae to dj? In sheer des-
peration, he resolved upon an unusual
scheme. Just as he disappeared, for an
instai , from the tiger's sight, in run-
ning over a ridge, he halted, stretched
out his legs at' right angles, curled
down his head so as to look between
his legs to the rear, and extended his
arms upward in a fantastic manner,
like the sails of a windmill.
In a few seconds the tiger hove in
sight, and at that, instant the face of
tht , iiject assumed a hideous grimace.
A prulpug' i yell arose, such as had
perhaps never before pierced the ear of
any tiger, and the sails of the windmill
began to revolve backward and for-
ward, as if a sudden whirlwind had
burst upon the scene.
Th« Hulen Will I;«■ <;<>ne.
Mule meat is- seiling foi a pound
in Havana. Units.- th > town is taken
pretty soon by the Amer.. aas it is dear
that the most valuable part of
Spanish forces will 1 i 1 ■■■' forever.
the
The ti ' i r<coil"r| What, he evi-
dently thought, is this? There stood a
ferocious star-shaped monster, gigan-
tic against the sky. it- hi >■ mi head
was situated in the very .center of its
bod.* : nay, 1'- Uk« jaws, lv-tween
which those fiendish roars .vere issuing,
were actually placed ibove its two
fiery eyes. Its Iirn! were furiously
clamoring for action; and the man he
had been chasing, where was he? Al-
ready devoured by this terrible beast?
The tiger could not pause to reflect.
He turned tail nd as he disappeared
over a friendly ridge a last awful yell
caused l im to redouble his pa e. He
was conquered by the unknown.
Why does a ripe scholar sometimes
live to a green old age?
I
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Gilstrap, H. B. & Gilstrap, Effie. The Chandler News. (Chandler, Okla.), Vol. 7, No. 41, Ed. 1 Friday, July 1, 1898, newspaper, July 1, 1898; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc115388/m1/9/?rotate=90: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.