| Show THE SALT LAKE CITY UTAH SUNDAY OCTOBER 21 1917 HERALD-RSPUBLICA- N r- How the United States is Working to Supply ‘‘Sausage” Observation Balloons for die Fighting Front and the Part the m mm ‘‘Nurse” Plays in the Great Game V v -- 7 z iiJ V - - v I " fc i V t jS A v r N (7 if 'Nurse’1 Balloon on U ar :d Truck S-Mot- Copyright Field Artillery Journal) A n - By Rene Bache kF the six hundred and forty millions appro- no Inpriated by Congress for considerable fraction will be devoted to the Purchase of observation balloons and their equipments Including motor trucks to carry them and teel tanks to hold hydrogen gas for their inflation Flying machines ane largely employed to direct by signals the Are of artillery but by far the most important work of 'this kind is done by ob-- ’ servers in "kite ballooift" held captive four or five miles behind the trench lines and about six miles apart k Relatively the airplane scout Is at a disadvan- tage Inasmuch as he can report only by wireless or by visual signals The balloon on the ‘other hand is In uninterrupted telephonic communlca--- ! tlon with the artillery commanders A wire run-nin- g through the cable that connects the gas bag with the ground below enables the observer thousands of feet aloft to speak directly (by the help of a switchboard mounted on a motor truck) to the officer in charge of any battery in the neighalr-flghti- ng v : ' : A Sausage Balloon and called "nurses" which are conveyed to the hangar and emptied into the big gas bag A peculiar feature of this type of balloon Is a "ballonet” at the rear end which contains air under pressure It is separated from the gas bag proper by a diaphragm When the balloon is full of gas the diaphragm is pushed so far to the rear that there is no air-ithe ballonet But when some of the gas is lost by leakage air enters the ballonet through a sort of funnel in the bottom of the "tail-fin- " and thus the "sausage" is kept well borhood Prom his post of vantage ih the sky the observer can overlook a great extent of territory Assisted by powerful field glasses and a telescope he' Is able to note the slightest change In the enemy trench lines to watch every movement of bodies of troops and almost at a moment's notice to let loose the fire ‘of hundreds of guns upon any target that may seem to invite attention : ’ 1 V n The Balloon School v distended Ordinarily the observation balloons go up- at daybreak and are hauled down at nightfall But sometimes they stay up all night to watch for the flashes of the enemy’s guns with a view to locating At Fort Omaha Is now being established a Balloon School where officers and men will be trained in the business of handling and operating observation balloons ftv will work in with the School of Fire at Fort Sill where the art of artillery shooting is taught' in all Its branches The School of Fire will give a supplementary course In ballooning to students who elect for aerial work and many of its graduates will go to School to complete their education ' the Balloon of the Part training at the Balloon School will or now and be in the navigation of free balloons a balloon that breaks loose then it happens captive and must be operated as a free balloon to effect a safe landing Uncle Sam is to have many balloon battalions organized as quickly as men and officers can be trained and tlieir outfit will be in all respects of very latest pattern including specially designed ' motor trucks with windlasses and winding drums to operate the balloons-j-t- he machinery In tlon being driven by the truck's own engine - A battalion comprises three companies " one balloon' Recent experience In shown that there should be ' operating has Europe officers to a company and to '160 men three" "shifts" every 24 hours provide for The work of the observers (ordinarily two of them ' is especially arduous and every together in a car) balloon has 'to be hauled down to few hours the ' a fresh with pair them replace - : -- S' - them Sometimes two balloons are used as end stations of a base line for calculating the range of targets Or an- extemporized wooden tower conveniently hidden by trees may be utilized for one end station a "sausage" doing duty for the other The signals telephoned to the batteries for directing gunfire are the simplest possible the mere words “Over" 'Short" "Right" “Left” "Hit" serving the purpose The observation balloon on the other hand is not an easy target for the enemy artillery to hit For one thing it Is four or five miles distant and seen from that far away a tiny object in the sky Then too with the uncertain breezes it is con' stantly changing its position The only' foe it really fears is the battleplane - - attacking with incendiary bullets incendiary arrows or bombs But it does ‘not lack capable defenders On the ground beneath it are antiaircraft guns' Above it far aloft in the sky hover friendly battleplanes - ' - If t 4 The Science of' the “Sausage” t Now the balloons used for purposes of military observation and the direction of gunfire are of a people They are kind unfamiliar toso most on account of their called balloons— "sausage” special quality that makes them v Shape— and the steadiness in the air A wind of their useful is not cause them to bob will hour an miles forty extent To help their about to any disturbing are provided with a sort of stability some of them conical canvas cups several kite-ta- il carrying 80 about feet is balloon long and has a a Such feet Jt is filled with cubic "25000 of capacity gas obtained by the electrolysis of -- &L Q( $ o fllM 0 hydrogen s hydrogen) and stored water (which is in use steel cylinders under a for until required The 150 generating and atmospheres pressure of in railroad installed is compressing machinery whither the rail nearest cylinders point cars at the refilled to be are taken A sausage balloon is calculated to lose 300 cublo feet of gas daily The loss is replaced at night being to fill (at the a method commonly adopted nearest field generating plant) small balloons two-third- ft - mm Wftmi f) v (On the left) Filling & French Balloon (On the right) A “Sausage” in the Air " ' Nmiwper Fcatm Service 1917 " - -- : y : ' ' ' f s tl s ' - - ' r : - if Its “Nurse' of Field Artillery Journal A French Spherical Observation Balloon |
