The day set for its ascension was the 27th of August, 1783. By the night of the 26th it had been partially filled with gas. It was tied to a cart, and long before daylight, started its journey to the Field of Mars. Throngs of spectators crowded every avenue. From the roof tops thousands of eager men, women and children peered down upon it through the darkness. Every window in every building was crowded with faces. A strong military guard surrounded it, riding on horseback and carrying flaring torches.
All day long multitudes crowded and jostled each other impatiently at the point where the ascension was to take place. At five o'clock in the afternoon the sudden booming of artillery fire gave notice to the hundred thousand waiting that the great event was on. Released from its bonds the balloon shot up, and in two minutes it was over 3,000 feet above the heads of the watchers. Still it continued steadily to rise, until finally it was lost to sight by the heavy storm clouds through which it had cut its passage.
[Illustration: MONTGOLFIER EXPERIMENT AT VERSAILLES, 1783]
[Illustration: THE FIRST CROSS-CHANNEL TRIP]
The spectators were overjoyed, as on that first occasion when the Montgolfier balloon rose into the skies. It was pouring rain, but they did not seem to notice it as they cheered themselves hoarse at the second great air victory.
The balloon, likewise, was undiscouraged by the rain. Far above the clouds, where all was quiet sunshine, it journeyed peacefully along for fifteen miles, and descended in an open field.
The first two important chapters in the history of ballooning had now been written. Looking back, we are filled with gratitude to the French, whose courage, intelligence, and boundless enthusiasm made possible the conquest of the skies.
In other countries, of course, experiments were also in progress, though they lacked to a great extent the popular backing which helped the French efforts to bear such splendid results. In London, an Italian, Count Zambeccari, constructed a hydrogen balloon of oil silk, 10 feet in diameter and _gilded_, so that in the air it was dazzling to look upon. A few months after the three Frenchmen launched their hydrogen balloon in Paris, this gorgeous affair was sent up in London, in the presence of thousands of spectators. One month later still, the city of Philadelphia witnessed the first ascension of a hydrogen balloon in the New World. It carried a carpenter, one James Wilcox, as passenger.