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Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
35
former
elevation.
Third
Ascent:
The
balloon
rose
again
with
Roziers,
accompanied
this
time
by
another
aeronaut,
Gerond
de
Villette;
and
as
the
cords
had
been
lengthened,
the
adventurers
were
carried
up
to
the
height
of
324
feet.
At
this
elevation
the
balloon
rested
in
perfect
equilibrium
for
nine
minutes.
It
was
the
first
time
that
human
beings
had
ever
been
carried
to
an
equal
elevation,
and
the
spectators
were
astonished
to
find
that
they
could
remain
there
without
danger
and
without
alarm.
The
balloon
had
a
superb
effect
at
this
elevation;
it
looked
down
upon
the
whole
town,
and
was
seen
from
all
the
suburbs.
Its
size
seemed
hardly
diminished
in
the
least,
though
the
men
themselves
were
barely
visible.
By
the
aid
of
glasses,
Roziers
could
be
seen
calmly
and
industriously
making
new
gas.
When
the
balloon
descended
the
two
men
declared
that
they
had
not
experienced
the
slightest
inconvenience
from
the
elevation.
They
received
the
universal
applause
which
their
zeal
and
courage
so
well
deserved.
The
Marquis
d’Arlandes,
a
major
of
infantry,
afterwards
went
up
with
Roziers,
and
this
latter
experiment
was
as
successful
as
the
former.”
Some
days
after
these
experiments
the
conductors
of
the
Journal
de
Paris
who
described
them,
received
a
letter
from
Montgolfier,
and
also
one
from
Gerond
de
Villette.
The
latter
only
is
of
interest
here.
Gerond
de
Villette
says:
“I
found
myself
in
the
space
of
a
quarter
of
a
minute
raised
400
feet
above
the
surface
of
the
earth.
Here
we
remained
six
minutes.
My
first
employment
was
to
watch
with
admiration
my
intelligent
companion.
His
intelligence,
his
courage
and
agility
in
attending
to
the
fire,
enchanted
me.
Turning
round,
I
could
behold
the
Boulevards,
from
the
gate
of
St.
Antoine
to
that
of
St.
Martin,
all
covered
with
people,
who
seemed
to
me
a
flat
band
of
flowers
of
various
colours.
Glancing
at
the
distance,
I
beheld
the
summit
of
Montmartre,
which
seemed
to
me
much
below
our
level.
I
could
easily
distinguish
Neuilly,
St.
Cloud,
Sevres,
Issy,
Ivry,
Charenton,
and
Choisy.
At
once
I
was
convinced
that
this
machine,
though
a
somewhat
expensive
one,
might
be
very
useful
in
war
to
enable
one
to
discover
the
position
of
the
enemy,
his
manoeuvres,
and
his
marches;
and
to
announce
these
by
signals
to
one’s
own
army.
1
believe
that
at
sea
it
is
equally
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