Show IDEAS ABOUT BALLOONS 4 Suggestion That Tliey Should De I Made iu Triplicate I Ulan exploits himself within a very narrow range of altitude He is never much below the ocean level and not much above it He hugs the surface and much of this is too high for his comfort As regards the atm heri ocean says the Pittsburg Dl tch we live at its bottom and as the floor of this aerial ocean namely the dry land surface is much interrupted by protruding objects variations of surface sur-face etc we get an impression of atmospheric phenomena at variance with what would be manifest higher upThe surface of a deep rapid running river is generally placid while at its bottom may be sharp eddies and swirls up and down currents as bottom varies all of which makes but little impression on the surface This ocean of atmosphere is in almost al-most continual shifting as the warmer regions of expansion and the colder I I areas of condensation and the areas of I varying pressure all intermingle seeking I seek-ing equilibrium w ich is ever again I disturbed It is therefore of necessity to know more than we now know of the character char-acter of the upper atmosphere and to learn this it is necessary to ascend up to it This must be studied away from the surface influences and only when many observations have been taken made from many different points in U1 seasons and the results are carefully care-fully compared may we understand what may be hoped for as to navigating navigat-ing this ocean what part air currents play In the aerial economy and how nd whether we can utilize the knowledge S knowl-edge in any way to our advantage At the present time there is nothing in which to make these observations but to go up by the old balloon method on which there has been scarcely any improvement since the days of Vie Monlgolflers two centuries ago What is now in order is to devise a Construction that shall reach the highest maximum of safety and to the lowest point minimize the danger To thos ewho are interested in aerial matters mat-ters and contemplate structures in which to make high and prolonged journeys the writer respectfully directs di-rects attention to the Idea of having one or more small balloons inside of the outer one Let us conceive of the triplicate balloon bal-loon The first is the outer the safety shell The second Is smaller and inside in-side of No1 The third is the main reliance and inside of the second The intervening spaces are also harged The leakage is much less The entire outfit cannot be so jeopardized jeopar-dized in case of accident The outer saves the second both save the innermost This is the mainstay main-stay and as the outside is the same as the Inside pressure there is neither strain nor a particle of leakage A small outside captive might still he hold in tow for experiment With plenty of ballast fluids and provisions a two months continuous journey might be made and currents favoring the circumnavigation of the globe might be accomplished The grand possibilities in polar andS and-S all other geographical knowledge in thus getting birds eye views of the earth and photographing them is simply sim-ply such as to stagger the imagination Even if the inner structures were not within each other and only inside of dIe outer one any one can see that the safety line is much higher |