Omaha
Sunday
Bee
PART THREE
MAGAZINE
PAGES ONE TO FOUR
PART THREE '
MAGAZINE ,
PAGES ONE TO FOUR
HE
VOL. XLI NO. 50.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE l 1912.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
S
cience of Military Ballooning
Taught
at
Fort
Omaha
F
ORT OMAHA has been the scene of
much maneuvering with balloons of
military size and qualifications dur
ing the last week. No 'swooping air
ships, nor darting planes; nor even
the ponderous contraptions that are
supposed to be devoted to the trans
fortatlon of passengers, , have been - on parade out
there. Uncle Sam's ballooning is carried on in a
practical manner. The general government has no
use for the affairs that are more' spectacular than
useful; when It adopts something for the use of
the army. It is because the Innovation has demon
strated its utility and its desirability as well. So,
try. Especially so if the. -balloon used is of the
spherical type with no means of guiding except by
air currents. ; The free balloon will finally rest,
eight times out of ten, on soil beyond the position 1
occupied by" the foe. Ballooning is fraught with
peril even for experimental purpose, not alone
when it Is actually the center of a standing army's
attack. For experimental purposes the captive bal
loon is more generally used.
Major Samuel Reber of New York; an instructor
of the army signal corps and commanding officer
of this branch of the eastern division, has been in
charge of the flights and superintending the
courses of instruction. Major Reber is vice president
while much of experiment has been carried on of the Aero Club of America, and has charge of
with aeroplanes and other flying devices, " the that department of the "club that arranges for
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training in the uses and advantages oif balloons
as adaptable to warfare Is with the balloons of the '.
kind that may be depended upon. So the ma
neuvers of the last week were with' big gas bags,
Inflated with hydrogen gas, made at the fort, the
same sort of gas as will be carried in steel con
tainers when the signal corps goes to the front
with its telephony, its wireless telegraphy and its
captive balloons. A huge dirigible is among the
equipment of the balloon house at Fort Omaha,
and it was also handled, but on the basis of the
spherical free floating balloon.
Fort Omaha Is the center of aeronautical in
struction for the western division of the army. . It
is here the officers and men of the, signal corps
come for their practical training in the handling
and maneuvering o! the big gas bags, and the
work, that has been going on out there Is but a
pert of the regular course of instruction. It was
hampered In the early' part of the week by the
stormy conditions that prevailed, but a number
of ascensions were made, and many experiments
with instruments were undertaken, all with some
success.
Ballooning for army purposes has finally come
down to a ground-work basis and the assigned task
called upon the balloons when war is declared will
be fcr three purposes. These are:
The observation of the enemy's camp.
Scouting purposes on the position of enforce
ments and the enemy's strength.
Transportation of supplies and men to inacces
sible places.
This last purposes necessarily would be seldom
If ever called into use. But for. observation . and
Bcouting the balloon Is the most valuable addition .
to the strength of a fighting army. For these pur-
poses wig-wag signals transmitting the govern
ment's secret code are used. Even the use. of wire
less telephony and telegraphy has been tested out
to further facilitate the distance the aeronaut can
go when wig-wag signals would be Impracticable.
Some sort of signalling is known to be absolutely
necessary as some mishap might happen to the
balloon and its passengers as it crosses the enemy's
lines. On most occasions tne men who compose the
balloon corps are called upon in actual warfare to
be martyrs to their profession and for their coun-
fllghts. He is an authority on all. forms of air craft
in present and prospective use. He will be stationed
at the post during the entire time the course ex
tends. , .
Besldges Major Reber and the balloon corps of
Fort Omaha and Its officers, fifteen commissioned
officers of the signal, corps at Fort Leavenworth
are ordered here andlll be present during the
flights. The visiting officers are: Major Samuel
Reber, eastern division, in charge; Captain George
E. Mitchell, signal corps, acting director of the
army signal school, instructor; .'First Lieutenant
J. 0. MarBorgne, Third infantry, Instructor; Cap
tain George S. Gibbs, signal corps; Captain Holland
Rubottom, signal corps; Captain Parker Hitt, sig
nal corps, and Captain Alvin C. Voris, signal corps,
students; First Lieutenant Frank S. Bower, Twen
tieth infantry; James G. Taylor, Eighteenth infan
try; Frank L. McEntee, Jr., signal corps; David L.
Roscoe, First calvary; Bert W. Phillips, Twenty
seventh infantry; Howard R. Smalley, Eighth cav
alry; Charles A. Dravo, Twenty-first Infantry; Karl
TruesdeH, signal corps; Second Lieutenant Edmund
R. Andrews, Seventeenth Infantry, all students.
At least one captive and one t i the free spheri
cal balloons at the post were ued for instruction
purposes. The post has a'toKi of four balloons,
including the dirigible, ' widen are considered to
be sufficient for use.
Beside the flights a school will be established
for the study of signalling from air craft. The use
of wireless telephony and telegraphy and the care
and preparation of a hydrogen gas station will bo
studied in regular set courses. Lectures along
these lines will be given by the instructor in
charge.
Military ballooning or aeronautics is not by any
means a new proposition, as has been generally
accepted. Neither has there been very rapid ad
vancement In the methods of military ballooning
over that of a century ago. When the balloon was
first used In the French revolution in the latter
,part of the eighteenth century, of late years the
aroplane has been used consldrably by foreign gov
ernments as aeronautical scouts, with special suc
cess by the Italians In the present Italo-TurKO war
In Tripoli. -
At the Fort Meyers' aeronautical experiments
last year and the year before the Wright brothers
demonstrated several of their aeroplanes and the
government has purchased a number of these. Des
pite this fact balloons have been more successful
in this country from .a military standpoint than
the monoplane or biplane.
The first usage of balloons for military pur
poses was in 1794 by the French government dur
ing the revolution of that year. An aeronautic
school was founded at Meuden by Guyton de Mor
veau, a noted chemist, and Colonel Coutelle of the
military establishment, in charge. Both men were
enthusiastic balloonlsts. Four balloons were con
structed for the armies north of the Sambre and
Meuse and south of the Rhone and Moselle and of
Egypt. Ascents were made that year by Coutelle,
as adjutant, general of the French army to recon
noiter the battle of Fleurus. Other sucessful ascents
were made in that campaign. In 1830 during the
troubles In Africa successful ascents were made.
About this time the efficient balloon corps of the
French army was formed. Today It Is one of the
ablest departments of any existing army In Europe.
During the campaign against Venice In 1849 this
corps did commendable work.
Both Russians and French used balloons dur
ing the Crimean war for reconnolterlng purposes,
though not used by any of the other allied armies.
The French again had recourse to the balloons
during the Italian campaign In 1859. A number
of brilliant reconnofsances were made before the
battle of Solferlno.
Hydrogen gas was used to Inflate the balloons
at the battle of Fleurus, while fifty years later a
fire balloon was employed. Eugene Godard, In
charge of the balloon experiments before Solferlno,
favored the fire balloons, as they were not so
easily destroyed or forced to descend If pierced by
bullets. The Austrian balloonlsts attested to M.
Godard's opinion later.
Ballooning was slow to be taken up by the
British army. It was only after the United States
troops had . successfully demonstrated the
practicability and efficiency of the balloons that
a balloon corps was added to Tommy Atkins' army.
Although the British War department was slow In
installing the balloon corps, Lord Kitchener, the
hero of Khartoum, had a small balloon corps with
him during his famous Soudan campaign. TBal
loons played a small part in the Boer war in South
Africa in 1900. On account of the scattered posi
tion of the farces and the heights that (hey. were
forced to ascend, however, the balloons proved of
very little military use. ,
Perhaps the most extensive use of military bal
loons was during' the siege of Paris. Sixty-four
were sent up from the French capital, the first on
September 23, 1870, and the last January 28,
1871. Gambettl made his escape from Paris on
October 7, 1870, and It was hla escape that pro
longed the German-Franco war. Two of the sixty
four balloons were never heard of again. They
were probably blown out to sea, sevoral were taken
prisoners by the Germans, who used them for
reconnolterlng purposes. The average size of the
Paris balloons were of 70,000 and 72,000 cubic
feet capacity. The aeronauts were generally sail
ors, and they did their work well. There was but
little use of the balloons during the siege for
reconnolterlng purposes, their usage being in car
rying messages and effecting the escape of leading
beleagured citizens.
Major General George B. McClellan used bal
loons for the i first time In American during his
Peninsular campaign in 1862. His balloon staff
consisted of a captain, two lieutenants and fifty,
enlisted men. Two gas generators! drawn by four
horses each; an acid cart, drawn by two horses,
and two balloons, drawn by four horses each, com
prised the apparatus of the staff. These balloons
were always kept partly inflated and were of about
13,000 and 26,000 cubic feet capacity. Their In
flation usually required about three hours. They
were captive balloons and were used for reconnolt
erlng purposes only. It has always been a mooted
question as to their availability for the purposes
intended. The balloons ' were practically of no
service to General McClellan, for during the entire
campaign the weather was wet, foggy and rainy,
and the settling of the heavy artillery and cannon
smoke left an .almost incessant fog over the
ground.
Much of the Impetus given towards successful
improvements of the military balloon got its In
ception from the Amerlcna experiments. These
experiments have been continuous. The last five
years has thown the greatest development. The
reason for this Is the general acceptance by all
governments that the warfare of the future will
not only be upon the soil, or upon the seas, but
also In the air. Therefore every leading govern
ment Is expending millions and training thousands
of soldier aeranauts. There has been a great
divergence of opinion' regarding the tyne ol bal-
loon that offers the greater value, whether the In
flated balloon Idea with its pear or globular shape.
or thedirlgible inflated cigar-shaped bag or aero-'
plane dea. - (
Top average capacity of the Talloons, used t
Fort OmSb is about 12,000 to 16,000 oublo feet!
The smallerlamount will be sufficient for experl-J
mental purposes, and the greater supply wheat
thought necessary. The balloons will have . lift
ing capacity of two or three men and a requisite
amount of ballast. , , , ; ' ' '
The objection to the .independent. balloon for!
war purposes is its unreliability In an emergency.;
and Its being absolutely at the mercy and whims
of air currents. Once leaving the earth 'the bal
loon is practically the master of its own move
ments, unless it be of the dirigible class, and evea
the ' dirigibles are uncertain ' In ' their whlmi ' If
ascending to any great height. The captive bal
loon can .be controlled from a given point, ; JThe
free balloon cannot be controlled at all.
The project of .dropping missiles from balloons
Into an enemy's camp, even if permitted under the'
rules of civilized warfare, is in a measure wholly'
problematical. The releasing of that much weight
from the balloon would have the same effect of re-r
leasing ballast, and the balloon would keep ascend
ing with the decreasing weight. It has been sug
gested that balloons might be sent up that carried
only .missiles or explosives to drop Into an enemy's
camp and that they be dropped automatically, or
in the case of captive balloons, they might be
dropped by electrical contrivances from the grdund
or point from which the balloon was. sent up. The
impracticability of such a proposition Is shown
again in the uncertainty of controlling the bal
loon, though it be a captive balloon, in the air cur-;
rents, and the uncertainty of locating the balloon,
directly over the dropping point desired. . With,
military authorities the matter of using captive,
balloons for dropping missiles or explosives into .
camps has never been seriously thought of, though; '
Italians are reported to have done so successfully.
To date the only use for balloons In warfare
are for observation, signaling aid and photography,!
and to this end the balloon school at Fort Omaha
was organized.1 Approximately $600,000 has al
ready been expended In the equipment ct the Fart -Omaha
balloon house and hydrogen gas plant
Each year an. allowance is made from the regular''
appropriation by congress to the army for .the
