396 : The Atlantic 



referred to as the Great Nassau Balloon. Charles Green, who was the 

 leader of this flight, was also the inventor of the guide rope or trail- 

 ing rope which had a considerable vogue among balloonists. 



Later, bigger balloons were built and went on longer flights. In 1859 

 an American by the name of John Wise built a large balloon in which 

 he left St. Louis, landing at Henderson in New York, covering a dis- 

 tance of 1,120 miles. This record was not beaten until Count Henri 

 de la Vaulx rose from Paris and traveled to Korosticheff, a point in 

 Russia, 1,193 niiles away. 



From the point of view of distance covered such balloon ascensions 

 were impressive. Even into the twentieth century balloons were popu- 

 lar and widely used. They were used for entertainment and spectacle 

 on such occasions as exhibitions and county fairs. Frequently the dar- 

 ing balloonists returned to earth by parachute. National and interna- 

 tional balloon races became annual events. Balloons were also used 

 for serious scientific study of the atmosphere and the cumulative rec- 

 ords of the balloonists added considerably to our knowledge of the 

 weather and of the behavior of the upper air in periods of winds and 

 also of calms. 



In fact, the first proposal to cross the Atlantic by air contemplated 

 the use of a balloon and not of an airship. In 1873 a New York pub- 

 lication named the Daily Graphic publicly proposed such a crossing 

 and John Wise, who had already made his long flight from St. Louis, 

 announced himself as willing to make the attempt and prepared a 

 balloon for this purpose. There is room for skepticism regarding the 

 complete sincerity of this proposed crossing. At least on this occasion 

 Wise not only didn't see the ocean, he didn't even rise from the 

 ground. His huge balloon appears to have been made of very weak 

 materials for it tore open while it was being inflated. 



An entirely honest and serious attempt to reach the North Pole was 

 made as late as 1896. The originator and director of the enterprise 

 was a Major S. A. Andree, who had had some experience both in bal- 

 looning and also in Arctic travel. He was accompanied by Nils Strind- 

 berg and Knut Fraenkel in a balloon called the Eagle. Their depar- 

 ture was made from Danes Island, Spitsbergen, on July 11. Messages 

 which they dropped in buoys were recovered but later it became 

 apparent that the balloon and its three occupants had disappeared. 

 Thirty-three years later, that is in 1930, remains of the expedition 

 were discovered on White Island. Journals and diaries were recovered 

 which showed that the flight had lasted three days and reached 83 



