A BALLOON EXPLOSION.

Evening Star, Issue 10391, 12 August 1897, Page 3

A BALLOON EXPLOSION.

A terrible accident has occurred near the Templehof Common, Berlin. Dr Wolffert, the inventor of a balloon which he hoped to be able to steer by means of a benzine motor, made an ascent with an assistant on July 12. A major of the Balloon Detachment had decided at the last moment not to accompany him. The balloon, which was thirty metres high and eighty long, had been moat carefully tilled by men of. the Balloon Detachment with 900 metres of hydrogen. The vessel was in the shape of a cigar, and had two aluminium wing 3 attached in the rear and a bamboo at the front of the car. The ascent took place at 7 p.m., in presence of a number of officers and several hundred spectators. The correspondent of the 'Daily News' says that, when the motor was started, those present noticed that flames momentarily shot out from the side, and fears of an explosion were expressed by officers. Dr Wolffert had remarked as he entered the car: "It will be my last voyage. Either it will succeed or I shall be a corpse." The vessel rose magnificently to a height of 2,500 ft, and the aluminium wings were seen to be acting successfully against the north-west wind. Suddenly a long tongue of flame was observed to shoot upwards from the car, and wa9 followed by a loud report. In a second the vessel was converted into a huge ball of flame, and, driven by the wind, flew away in the direction of the city, to fall into a timber yard in the Ringbahnstrasse. The bodies of the aeronauts, when recovered, were fearfully mutilated and burned in the upper parts beyond recognition. Death had evidently taken place before the ground was reached. The catastrophe is stated by a witness of the accident to have occurred through the forgetfulness of Dr Wolffert to extinguish the flames before opening the valve with a view to descend. As the valve stood immediately over the motor, the escaping hydrogen was ignited, with the result described. The flumes in the timber yard caused by the fall of the balloon had to be extinguished by tho fire brigade.