Voyaging In The Sky

Among the very few people wlio have tednced aerial navigátion to anything like an exact science are Mr. and Mrs. Cari E. Myers, who are iiovv living on Reid avenue, Brooklyn. By a series of experiments stretching over a period of tnore than Iti years they have Jearned to manase and guide a balloon with approxiuiately the same accuracy that a sailoi employs in guidíng a staip, the only element of uncertainty being the weather. A reporter ca lied on the Myerses a tewdays ago to learn soine of their experiences and adventiues in cloudland. He fouml thein uot at all like what one would expect ot people who pass a large portion of their lives in a inost periloua occupation. Mr. Myers is a slender, rather short man abont 40 years old, with black side whiskers, the face ot' a acholar and a benevolent expression. Mrs. Myers, who was formerly known professionally as Carlotta, ia a eweet faced woinau, with keen gray eyes, wavy browu hair and a biight, eager marmer In conversation. Sbe looks to be abont 36 years old. She does not now make ascensions, having stopped in 1891, bnt she helps her husband in bis experiments at his farm at Mohawk, N. Y. In her career she haa made more thau 500 ascensions. Mr. Myers has been up among the clouds 53 times hiuiaelf and hassuperintended npward of 1,300 aerial excursions. For observational purposes and in pursuance of his studies in meteorology he still niakes his dangerous trips, although indeed both he and his wife maintain that ballooning, when carefully conducted, is not a dangerous occupation. Neither of them haa ever been injured. "To an experienced aeronaut, " say3 Mr. Myers, '"the danger is really no greater than that of sailing in a smali boat. It is possible to navigate a balloon by taking advantage of tlie different air cúrrente, and in going down the balloonist can steer by weights on the same principie as steering a canoe by ■ ■ -v Lr . - ■- v. j j. ' ..' i 1 1 UVVV1 4 UH CA V Cl 1 i vx K} J leaning lo one side or the other. The platform on which the aeronaut stands serves as the rurfder, and by throwing his weight to oue side or the other and thns slauting the platform he can guide Liiinself. Of conrse his rising and falliug are eontroüed by the vaivén ánd th eandbags. " ín illustration of this Mr. Myere toJd how his wífe once followed a course fnapped out for her by Peter G. Campjell of Brooklyn, who built the airahip iu which Ed Hogan went out to sea and vas lost íour years ago. Mr. Campbell challenged Mrs. Myers to start froin East New York, go to the city hall in Brooklyn, thence up tbe river, across New York and to the Pennsylvania station ín New Jersey, to the city hall in .Tersey City, and finally to land in Secáucus. She made the trip in less than an hour, and Mr. Campbell gave her a handsome gold badge as a memento. "There are twoor three rules always to be observed in managing a balloon," continned Mr. Myers. ''First, be eure that everything is taut and shipshape; eecondly, don't try to estímate distances for yourselfthey are extreinely deceptive when yo are in the air. JRefer to the barometer, which is the aeronaut's compasa, always. The most important rule of all is, 'JSTever give up the ship.' No matter what happens, as long as there is anythiug left of yonr balloon and yon are stíll fastened to ít, you've got a chance." "Have you ever had any nnpleasant experiences?" aaked the reporter. "Mrs. Myers has had more experiences than I have." Being appeakd to, Mrs. Myera, a fier a minute of thougbt, said : "A very peculiar aerial adventure I once had was over Stafford Springs, Conn., where tvvo thunderclouds played' battledoor and shuttlecoek with me and my balloon. Uaually I experience no difficulties with electric clouds. ïheir terrors diminish p.s you approach them, and when actnaliy ainoug them the danger isíslight, if it exists at all. In this instance,' hovvever, I got between an upper cloud and a lower cloud, both heaviJy charged. I and my balloon acted as a conductor betweeu them. First, I would go .up to the upper cloud and become charged with electricity and then be repelled to the lower cloud, only to ie recharged and bounced back to the uxipér agahj. I played this elevator game 11 times öefore the clouds got inatters adjnsted to their satisfaction. Tlien they let me go nnhurt, but pretty bad!y frightcned by being made tLe )layt?iing of snch gigantic powers. "Another expKience, more commoc to balloonists an3 more dangerous, I had on the occasion of the first trial of natural gas for ascensión in 1888 at Franklin, Pa.," continued Mrs. Myers. "The balloon was filled hurriedly, and in some way the balloon cloth got caught over Ihe valve, closing it. 1 went up too rapidly and tried to open the valve, but broke the cord. In such a case there is but one thing to do - knot the ropes and keep the balloon f rom espanding to its full extent. CJnder ordiflary conditions a balloon half full at the earth'ssurface will be fully expanded at au aJtitude of 3} miles beca use of the detreased pressure of the attnosphere. Henee by knotting up the balloou repês the cubic area is diminished, and the gas begins to pour out sooner. Notwithstanding ïuy doing this, so fast did the balloon rise that it reached an altitude of more than four miles before it stopped goiug up. There I fouud a etroiig east current, as is alnaost invariably the case in very high altitudes. By the aid of that current I traveled i)0 miles in as inany minutes and finally landed in the only clear spot in a forest oí 40 miles eitent. '