niRCLiNG p:iffkl tower in air ship. 577 



Thosc^ triiiiu|)hs tiMidiiiy- to nuike him iiiorc aiiihitlous, he hado his 

 friends an revoir and sailed otf for the jicar -hy station of Puteaux, 

 returning very soon without touching ground. It was now that he 

 declared for the little living trip around Eiffel Tower. He refilled 

 his petroleum eaii and otf he started at an encouraging rate, while his 

 f'iend« stared after him, still too dazed for the hysterics of enthusiasm 

 which were soon to possess them. 



FKOM I.ONGCHAMP TO THE EIFFEL TOWER THROUGH THE AIR. 



The distance from Longchampto the tower is a little more than l^ miles, 

 but the airship made it in ten minutes, keeping at an altitude of from 

 IdO to 8(»() yards. It is dilficult to imagine what nuist have been the 

 astonishment of early-morning visitors on the tower when they saw a 

 man in a flying machine come soaring near them and genially waive 

 them his greetings. 



The bizarre traveler rounded the tower and was returning whence 

 he came when one of the gear cords of his rudder broke. So, as 

 naturally as a wheelman dismounts to repair a jjuncture, he came down 

 into the Trocadero Gardens, Iwrrowed a ladder, climbed up the side of 

 his balloon, tied the cord, and remounting, proceeded on his wa}^ back 

 to Longchamp. Counting in the delay, he had been gone one hour 

 and six minutes. 



Bv this time the party at the race course had recovered sufiiciently 

 from their amazement for more or less intelligible congratulations. 

 He had solved the fatuous problem of aerial navigation — that was their 

 refrain. And almost the entire press of that day supported their 

 words. He had undoubtedly steered a balloon. The two essentials 

 were there, and they had worked efl'ectively, namely, the propeller 

 and the rudder. He had sailed the four points of the compass, he had 

 sailed in circles, and he had sailed up and down, and the bulky aerostat 

 of Count Zeppelin over Lake Constance was now rated as an insignifi- 

 cant step, while the real, great stride had just been achieved by the 

 young Brazilian. So his companions insisted that he should try at once 

 for the Grand Prix. 



THE BALLOONISTS' GRAND PRIX AND ITS CONDITIONS. 



Now it should be explained that the Grand Prix referred to is the 

 otlicial goal of l)alloonists. A wealthy member of the Aero Club, 

 Henry Deutsch, founded the prize last 3'ear. The amount is $20,000, 

 but the conditions seemed too preposterous; vevy ingenious, only 

 impossible. The conditions prescribe that the winning aeronaut shall 

 start in his airship from the Aero Club Park (the inclosed hillside on 

 the Seine near Longchamp), sail to and around the Eiffel Tower, and 

 return and land in the park, a trip of about 8 miles, without touching 

 SM 1!>()1 87 



