A thousand miles through the air

              A THOUSAND MILES
THROUGH THE
AIR

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A Story of his Personal Experiences and of the Rapidly Advancing Art of Navigating the Air
BY
HENRY HELM CLAYTON
METEOROLOGIST AT BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY

Address: Readville, Mass.

Telephone: Hyde Park 71-3




THE POMMERN LEAVING ST. LOUIS OCT. 21, 1907





MR. HENRY HELM CLAYTON, Meteorologist of the Blue Hill Observatory, has prepared a lecture describing his experiences in ballooning and telling of the rapid advance in the art of navigating the air by balloon, airship and aeroplane.  His lecture is illustrated by numerous lantern slides, showing the methods of launching and of landing balloons; showing pictures in colors of the earth taken from a great height under a variety of conditions; showing fields, cities and clouds seen from a balloon.  There are also pictures of monster airships designed for war and of the newest flying machines which navigate the air without the lifting power of gas.

Because of his expert knowledge of air currents, Mr. Clayton was one of the two men selected to aid the pilot of the German balloon Pommern, which won the cup in the recent balloon race from St. Louis.

Mr. Clayton has been engaged for many years in the scientific study of the atmosphere by means of balloons, kites and clouds.  In pursuit of this knowledge he has taken part in expeditions across the Atlantic, and as far southward as the Cape Verde Islands.  In the latter voyage he made a trip of about 12,000 miles, studying the air movements with balloons and kites, up to a height of several miles.  For the purpose of investigating the atmosphere he has also climbed numerous mountains—all the way from Pike's Peak to the Peak of Teneriffe.  This has given him an expert knowledge of atmosphere in many moods and in many climes.  He has numerous stories of thrilling experiences, and his talks are full of incident.

During the past ten years Mr. Clayton has frequently delivered lectures in and about Boston on his experiences and studies.

In describing his balloon voyage from St. Louis, he tells why the air currents chosen were those which enabled him to win the race.  He describes the lonely journey through the night; the panorama of mist and fog which was unfolded to view in the early dawn; and the wide expanse of farms and cities, separated by glistening brooks and rivers, over which they passed during the day.  He tells of the crossing of the dark gray ridges of the Allegheny Mountains, and of landing on the coast, a few miles south of New York City, where the great blue Atlantic spread out before them, barring further progress toward the east—the voyage being illustrated with many pictures taken from aloft.  He tells of the daily life of Mr. Erbsloh and himself, and their experiences during the forty hours in which they were crowded in a narrow basket two and a half by three feet.  He tells of the intense cold and profound silence of the upper air, and of the manner in which the balloon glided along, seemingly without motion, over rivers and mountains, with the speed of an express train.

He then describes the recent rapid progress in the art of flying, showing pictures of elongated balloons, kites, and flying machines; outlines the possibilities in this new art of aerial navigation in the near future, when man shall freely traverse the unobstructed highway of the air at great speed, and no longer be compelled to build costly viaducts of steel to cross rivers, and bore tunnels through the heart of the mountains, in order to travel from place to place.




PRESS NOTICES.

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In the College Hall Chapel of Wellesley, H. Helm Clayton, of Blue Hill Observatory, last evening lectured before a large audience on his recent balloon trip from St. Louis to the New Jersey Coast, in the winning balloon, Pommern.
Mr. Clayton's interesting description of the balloon voyage—which was one of the longest voyages that has ever been made—was illustrated with stereoptican photographs.—

Boston Transcript Nov. 13. 1907.


The Technique of Ballooning as reviewed by Mr. Clayton, of the victorious Pommern, opens fascinating vista, or to be accurate, unfolds birds-eye views of a brand new profession.—
Boston Transcript, Nov. 14, 1907


Cadets of the Chestnut Hill Military Academy and their friends heard H. Helm Clayton, of Blue Hill Observatory, Mass., who sailed in the prizewinning German balloon Pommern, tell the story of the successful flight in the international contest, at a lecture last night in the gym.
Mr. Clayton illustrated the lecture with slides showing photographs of the start, the descent, the sky in rainstorms and sunrises.  Particularly interesting was his description of a big city with its myriads of twinkling lights as seen from a balloon.—

Philadelphia Press, Nov. 16, 1907.


Henry Helm Clayton, meteorologist of the Blue Hill Observatory, last night lectured in the Harvard Union.  His subject was, My Balloon Trip from St. Louis to New Jersey, and the Future of Aerial Navigation.
Mr. Clayton was in the German balloon Pommern which won the race, and his knowledge of the air currents played no small part in winning the race.—

Boston Globe, Dec. 4, 1907.


Mr. Clayton's story of his record-making trip of 876 miles from St. Louis to New Jersey, sometimes two miles above the earth's surface and then again only a few hundred feet in the air, illustrated as it was with views taken en route, and his subsequent talk on aerial navigation and its progress, was decidedly interesting.
The most impressive part of his trip he said was the silence, grand and inspiring.  He remarked on the intensity

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of the sun, when one was above the atmospheric belt close to the earth, and described the beauty of the sunrise and sunset.—

Haverhill Times, Dec. 5, 1907.


At the regular monthly dinner of the Beacon Society, at the Algonquin Club, last evening, among the after-dinner speakers was Henry Helm Clayton, meterologist at Blue Hill observatory, who described his experiences as a participant in the recent balloon race from St. Louis to the Atlantic coast.
Mr, Clayton's description of his balloon voyage from St. Louis to Asbury Park, N. J., was illustrated by photographs which he took at various stages of the journey from the balloon.
Great applause was aroused by Mr. Clayton's statement that Americans have been the first to evolve a practical aero plane with motor attachment, that is to say, a flying machine not dependent at all on a gas bag.  Mr. Clayton declared that in the upper air, in which he voyaged, there is a steady current from west to east, as there is in the Atlantic Ocean a steady flow of water in the Gulf Stream.
He expressed his belief that navigation of the air is to become thoroughly practical in the not distant future.—

Boston Herald, Jan. 26, 1908.


An attempt to capture the leading three balloon trophies at the same time will be made by Leo Stevens, Henry Helm Clayton and C. J. Glidden.
Starting from Omaha, Neb., or Dallas, Tex., in a monster balloon, the three will try by a sail of three nights and three days to land near Boston.'—

Boston Herald, Dec. 25, 1907.


Mr. H. H. Clayton of the Blue Hill observatory, lectured last night at the rooms of the Women's Branch, People's Club, on Aerial Navigation.  The subject and the well known experience of the lecturer, attracted a large audience made up of people of all ages and occupations.  The lecture was illustrated.
Mr. Clayton is confident that we are only just be ginning to realize the possibilities of aerial navigation.  He believes that some time, in not very distant future, the air will be a highway of human travel.—

Lowell Couirer Citizen, Feb. 21, 1908.


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