Hoi Air and
Cool Nerves
How they built, inflated and flew the
old home-made balloons on the IVortli
Carolina eoastland long' ago.
By LEWIS PHILIP HALL
A little over 80 years ago a number
of "barn-storming" aeronautical groups
were touring North Carolina and thrill¬
ing great crowds of people by rising to
unbelievable heights in balloons in¬
flated with hot air. The most amazing
part of these exhibitions, however, was
the fact that these balloons were
"home-made” affairs of common, ordi¬
nary sheeting.
Powered flight was only a dream in
1892. and over a decade would pass
before the Wright brothers would make
their famous flight from the sands of
Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk. N. C.
In the summer of 1892 the Grace
Shannon Balloon Company, of Char¬
lotte. N. C., announced through the
newspapers of Wilmington. N. C. that
a series of balloon ascensions and dar¬
ing parachute jumps would take place
near that city. The star of this com¬
pany was the world renowned lady
aeronaut "Little Dot and Her One and
Only Canine Aeronaut. Gyp."
Shortly after the arrival of the com¬
pany to the city Prof. R. C.
Hutchinson, aeronautical engineer and
manager, made arrangements with
James Stokeley for the rental of a large
tract of land in the village of Wrights-
villc on the Sound, near the present
highway U. S. 74. Workmen began at
once to construct the means to inflate
the huge hot air bags, which method
was called "the furnace.”
Inflating the Balloons
First a trench, about 18 feet long, 2
feet deep, and 2 feet wide, was dug in
the earth. At one end a large barrel,
with the heads removed, was placed.
An iron cylinder, about four feet in
diameter, was then inserted within the
barrel and earth was packed in the
space between the staves and the iron,
forming a smoke stack. Sheet iron and
boards were then put over the open
ditch, after which several cart loads of
sand was placed on top.
On each side of the chimney, and a
good distance away, two poles. 28 feet
tall, were erected, each equipped with a
pulley and enough rope to reach the
balloon, which would later be placed
between the poles and hoisted to its
proper position for inflation.
In the meantime the five seamstresses
of the troupe, assisted by Mdllc Dot
Zelno and Mdme Leona O'Dell, the
star performers, at their quarters at the
Island Beach Hotel on the Hammocks
(now Harbor Island), were busily cut¬
ting and sewing the number of seg¬
ments required for a balloon 90 feet in
circumference and 180 feet tall.
When completed, the entire balloon
was then sized in a mixture of glue,
alum, soda, salt and whiting in water,
and when this was dry the balloon was
decorated.
At the mouth of the balloon Prof.
L. N. O'Dell attached an ordinary
buggy wheel rim. from which four
ropes, called quarter guys, were
brought down and fastened to a block
of wood with a hole in it. From the
quarter guys a rope was attached which
passed through the hole in the block to
a ribless parachute below’.
In order that the aeronaut would be
able to detach himself at will from the
balloon, above the hole in the block a
knife blade was pivoted which worked
in a slot in the block, and was held out
of contact with the rope by a rubber
band. To the end of this blade a rope
was fastened leading down to the
aeronauts' hand. By a second rope the
parachute hung from the same block. It
is obvious that on pulling the cutting
line the rope will be severed and the
parachute detached.
The parachute, when expanded, was
about 25 feet in diameter. It was made
in gores, and in its center was a 12-
inch hole, to lessen oscillations. From
its periphery 32 cords led down to what
was called the concentrating hoop, or a
strong wooden ring 18 inches in
THE STATE, January i. 1970
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