The Siege of Paris and the Air-Ships

By Karl Blind

In this classic work, first published in 1898, Karl Blind describes early balloon journeys in which he took part and the role of balloons ("air-ships") in the Siege of Paris (1870-71).

Extracts:

"When we ascended in the great captive balloon, the volume of which was no less than 424,000 cubic feet, and its height 121 feet, during such stormy weather that Mr. Glaisher thought at first the enterprise should be given up on that day, we had rather a strange experience. At a great altitude we were bumped about so badly, and at such suddenly changing and precipitous angles, that one of the passengers near me was seized with an insane kind of giddiness. All at once he felt an irresistible impulse to throw himself overboard into the ocean of the air "

"The balloon Libert took the liberty of escaping with an abrupt movement from the hands of the volunteers who held the ropes. The men suddenly became terrified when a gust of wind drove it sideways. Those standing on that side, when seeing the enormous ball coming towards them from the height of a four-storied house, let the ropes go, and then everybody fled."

"With the balloon Egalit , Wilfrid de Fonvielle at last went out of Paris, on November 24, with four companions. Only a few open letters were taken in, and of provisions very little- ox sausage, roasted horse-flesh, black bread, some bottles of claret and coffee. An essential part of the baggage was four cages with carrier-pigeons. About thirty bags of ballast were hooked on the outside of the air-ship. This well-conceived arrangement, thought out by M. Fonvielle, has since then been often repeated with great success."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1693383071
• ISBN13: 9781693383076
• Release Date: September 2019
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 24 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"