Talking On The Air

Tales areplGutyof long distaiices over which niun's voioes havo been conveyed by the medium of placid water. Au Adirondack guide tells of having talked in ordinary tones, ou a very still day, with a companion % iriiles distant at the other end of a lake, and another guide caps this story with one of yells which were heard and returned uear a water extent of tbree miles. These tales are quite outdone by a well authenticated story told by Carlotta, once the most famous woman balloouist in the world. In her story air, instead of ■ ter, was the medium, and the distanco of tho conversation was four miles. It ! took placo above t!ia outskirts of St. Louis some years ago. "It was au aeronautic exhibition, " says Carlotta in telling the story, "and a young man ïiamed White, who was inexpnrionced in ballooning, had agreed to inake an ascensión. I had already gono up and was quietly drifting east on an easy air curreut when he started out. Ke had had enotigh experience to kuow how to handlo the valves and sandbags, and he intended to go up a mile or so and thn descend easily. Now, tho upper !r.i is fallof varying curren ts. You may be going duo west at a half a milo altitnüe, and when you get np a few hundred yards farther yon may strike :i current; that carries yon due east. Mr. White checked bis upward career in u west bound drait, so that when he finalJy drited out of that curreut into uüüo wo were a good loug distance apart. "I alwaya have apowerful glass with me when I make an ascensión. When I turned this on him, I saw that he was in trouble. His balloon had twisted a little in suc!i a way that I jndgod it was likely to twist more, and he was clambering around the ropes trying to right it, but without nmc;h appareut conception of what was best to do. I was frightened for him, for when the bag of a balloon turns too much the gas begins to escape rapidly, and theresults are likely to be serious. I know that voices could be heard a long way in the air, for I had ofteu heard people a mile below m! shouting, so without knowing how far the two balloons were apart I deeided to hail the other one. I gathered all my breath and sbouted: " 'Helio, helio, helio!' "Then I turned my glass on the other balloon again. Up where the air is bo clear as it is a inile above the earth one can seo at great distances with wonderful distinctness. Through my glass I could sec Mr. White start and look all around him. That was qniteawhile after I had shputed. Ha didn'tseem to uudei'fitand where tho voice came from, but finally I saw him put his hands to his mouth, evidently making a speaking trurupet of theni. I waited and waited and was just aboutto shout again when the huge gasbag above me began to thrill with sounds. They seemcd to buzz along its sides and diffuse the air, only to colleet and come whirring and rumbling down the funnel to be poured into my ears, and theyformed in a tone that seemed made up of a million other tones: " 'Helio! - are - you?' "It was tho most peculiar sound Ihad ever heard. When it had soattered itselï into silence, 1 took out my watch, and timing mysolf shouted: " 'Throw out one sandbag. 111 come to you!' "Forty seconds later my balloon began to vibrate again, finally forming the words: " 'All right. In trouble!' "Thore was inethod in my telling him to throw out the sandbag, as it was af t erw ar d of use. I threw out a number myself, for I reckoued that a littlo above me I would find a current to carry me toward Mr. Whito. This I did and was soon withiu a short distance of him, aerially considered. Tho troublo with his balloon was a slight disarrangement of the x-opes, which I had myself experieneed, so I told him what to do, and he was soon all right. As I explained to him when we reached the earth, we had been talking over an aerial telephone, the gasbags being the only material object.sup therecollecting all the sounds and actingashugereceivers. ' ' " 'Well, ' said he, 'you got me out of a very bad scrape, but I uever was bo scared in my lire as when that voice gnrrannded me. I thought the balloon was talkiug, and that I had goue crazy. " 'It was a pretty long talk,' said I, 'for, allowing tho voice to travel five seconds to a mile by my timing, we must have been close to four miles apart.' " 'That'ssimply impos-sible, ' said he. " 'Very well,' I said. 'That's why I told you to drop that sandbag. I threw some out, too, and we can find out how far they landed apart. "It waan 't much troublo to find people who had found the bags and knew just where they wero. Fortunately they liad landed neár a railroai track, so tho distance estimating was made easy for us. It was 4 '.f miles. Iguess that is tho record up to date for long distnnce talking without a wire. "