SINGULAR TERMINATION OF THE "LONG-RANGE" EXPERIMENTS.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 142, 9 October 1847, Page 4

SINGULAR TERMINATION OF THE "LONG-RANGE" EXPERIMENTS.

The readers of this paper may remember that in December, we made several allusions to experiments which were being performed with the utmost secrecy, by Captain Warner, with bis long range. Although we had every confidence in the reporter from whom we obtained the information, the nature of the experiments appeared to iis to be so ridiculous, that we thought it right to Accompany the accounts of them with some very stiong doubts. A balloon was mentioned as the chief implement of the long range, which no rational being could have believed without ocular demonstration. It turns out, however, that our informant Mas quite correct in his description of the experiments. Captain Chads, and Lieut e nani-Colonel Chalraen, the Commissioners ap-

pointed by Government to witness the experiments have delivered their report. They state, that it having been found necessary to learn some portion of Warner's secret, they found, on its being partially revealed, that the long range is effected by means of air-balloons, from which shells or other destructive missiles are dropped. Captain Warner stated that by placing these 'shells in frames, and by means- of a regulated fuze, he could cause them to descend, ordrop, on the object sought to be destroyed, in flights of 100 if necessary, and of the weight of 500lbs. each We were not, continued the Commissioners, in the mildest form in which extreme astonishment can be expressed— " Pi epared fur the mode of operation 1 thus disclosed to us, uor f upon our first impression of it, could we consider it capable of realising the certainty of aim, power of using it under all circumstances, and impenetrable secrecy, which Captain Warner has, in his printed correspondence, and in his intercourse with former Commissioners, so confidently ascribed to his long rangev Most anxtous to bring this important and long-pending question to a settlement, and considering that we are acting iv the spirit of our instructions, we proposed to Captain Warner that he should prepare a balloon of such ascending power as to be capable of raising 45 projectiles of lOll>s>. weight each, without containing any explosive suhstan-ce ; that be ahould so manage the experiment as to deposit or drop, 15 of these projectiles at or round an object placed at four miles distant from the point of starting, a second flight of these projectiles (15,) at four and a half miles, and the remaining J 5 at five miles. This Captain Warner readily undertook to accomplish, and stated that the expense would be about £1,300, which sum was eventually granted to Capt. Warner, by the Government, upon his giving certain securities fur the due performance of the experiments. The neighborhood of Southend, Essex, was at tint chosen, but on examining the proposed ground, certain objections were presented, and the locality eventually fixed on was Carnock Chase, the property of Lord Anglesey, in Staffordshire, for the preparations ; andatr. « called the Fair Oak, in Haywo>d Park, three miles distant, as the mirk for the first flight of shot. On the morning of the 28th of November, Captain Warner announced that everything was ready By three o'clock, Lord fngestre, who acted in Warner's behalf, and Captain Chad's hail taken their station at the Fair Oak, and Lord Anglesey and Lieut.- > Ctdonel Chalmers, at a cross road about a quarter of a mile nearer Haywood Park, all anxiously watching for a pilot-balloon, which was to be sent up about ten minutes previous to the long range balloon making its appearance. The Commissioners tell the rest of the story in the following terms . — " Half past three o'clock had arrived, and all parties waited in anxious expectation, directing their at* | tention towards Haywood Park. At a quarter past four o'clock, Lord Anglesey left the ground. The sun had set, it was growiug dusk, and we gave up hopes of the experiment taking place, when, at 20 I minutes after four o'clock, Lieut-Colonel Chalmers I perceived the balloon, at some height, coming from Haywood Park, and, as he thought, directly towards him. He called out loudly, which soon brought Lord Anglesey back to hi* old position. The balloon cons tinucd to approach, its elevat'on increasing considerably, and it continued visible to Lord Anglesey and Colonel Chalmers for more than 20 minutes, taking a more easterly direction, many points wide of the Fair Oak, till it disappeared, from the great elevation. i Neither Lord Anglesey nor Lieutenant-Colonel Chalmers, could distinguish anything to fall from the balloon, and they had doubts whether it was ihe pilot, or the large balloon they had seen. Lord Ingestre and Captain Chads had given up all hopes of seeing the balloon that evening, when their attention was called to it, by the shouting of Lieutenant-Colonel Chalmers— it was at a considerable height, drawing on towards south-east, and rising quickly, till lost sight of by them ' When moving on to join Loi d Anglesey, they heard a sudden rushing noise to the eastward of them, but no hing was perceptible, and Captain Chads had also their doubts as to whether the balloon seen was the one containing the shot, or only the pilot one. Captain Chads and Lord Inge - tre rode to Haywood Park, and there ascertained that it was the balloon with the shot that hed been seen, and it being now late, aud too dark to make search for the projectiles or shot, the party left the Chase and returned 1 ouae. The next day was partly spent in seeking for the shot over the grounds, but *Uhout success. At about four o'clock, Lord Ingestre proposed to drive Captain Chads and Lieutenant-Colonel Chalmers in his chaise, through Rugeley, on their way back to Beau Dessert; and having ascertained that the balloon had been conveyed to the Bell Tavern, they stopped there to obtain information. On going into the town they were met by a person whom Lord Ingestre appeared to know, and who informed him that the balloon had falleu about half a mile short of Rugeley, the preceding eveu ing— that some labourers had got hold of it, aud had given it up to a geutleman fora guinea— that be (the person who ad* dressed Lord Ingestre,) had claimed it as his own, ou which disputes arose about if, and some alarm had spread over the village, as some powder, and nine of the shot were found attached to the balloon, and there was also a suspicion that some one bad gone up with the balloon, and had been killed. The police were sent for to take charge of the balloon, and directed by a Magistiate to retain it Lord Ingestre told the police that he wu a Magistrate, and that there was nothing improper intended, and to give the balloon up to the person claiming it, and that he would he re* sponsible for their so doing, to which they assented. This person then went with Lord Ingestre aud Capt. Chads, to a stable, shewed the balloon, and explained the circumstances of its ascent, and was quite con* versaut upon the subject On Lieutenant Colonel Chalmers entering the stable, he discovered this person to be one of the Messrs. Green (the aeronauts), and who stated that the balloon was his property and named the ' Albion.' Mr. Green was passing under' the name of Brown, in order to keep all proceedings a* to a balloon being in the neighborhood, a secret. Lord Ingestre said that farther search should be made by the keepers, for the shots, but that then, we could do nothing more. We left Rugeley for Beau Desert, and on arriving there, we all had an audience with the Marquis of Anglesey, reporting what we had seen and heard, Lord Ingesjlre (Captain Warner's own nominee,) ackowledging that he considered the ex* penment a failure, in which Captain Chads, and Lieutenant-Colonel Chalmers fully coincided.*' Several days after, Lord Anglesey's bead gamek( «per found 18 shots— five within 100 yards of where the balloou fell— eight at about three miles from Hay* < wood Park — and five, one mile from where the balloon started. The penetration was, from one to four feet, in hard gravelly soil. Thus ended the experiment of the long-range, about which much public interest has lieen excited, much currespooeence indulged in, aud j£1,300, of public money speut.— Morning Paper.