The Balloon Dreams of 1889
While aeronauts of the late 19th century insisted that aerial travel was the future, Seattle residents remained skeptical of the 'helpless' hot air ships.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The balloon ascension of Wednesday recalls to mind the many predictions that have been made as to the probability of utilizing the air-ship at some future day for the purpose of making long voyages free from the trials, troubles, and inconveniences incident to steamboat and railway travel. Enthusiastic aeronauts are prone to believe that the day will come when balloon journeys will be of every day occurrence and that people traveling for business and pleasure will, in course of time, have an opportunity of selecting a route over land or through the air.
Even today there are several celebrated professors of ballooning who never cease to expatiate on the great progress that has been made and will be made in the matter of aerial navigation. Professor King, of Philadelphia, is probably the best known aeronaut in the country today, and he affirms that ballooning is only in its infancy and that great possibilities are in store for those who continue experimenting with air ships. He has made over three hundred voyages and now proposes to cross the Atlantic in his favorite vessel.
The general public will probably entertain doubts as to the possibility of making so long a voyage in the air and it is very certain that they would not believe that Professor King intends making the trip until he has left the earth with a strong west wind blowing. However much aeronauts may boast of the improvements made in balloons and the proficiency attained in handling them, the fact still remains that they are practically of no more use for traveling than they were at the beginning of the century. The bag, netting, basket, and valve may be of better pattern, but the modern air ship is as perfectly helpless above the earth as it was years and years ago.
“The fact still remains that they are practically of no more use for traveling than they were at the beginning of the century.”
In 1889, Seattleites looked up at primitive balloons with the same skeptical, cautious curiosity with which we view modern high-tech transit experiments today. It is a reminder that the 'miracles' of one generation—be it flight or autonomous vehicles—are often viewed as dangerous, impractical novelties by the public until they are proven by necessity or endurance.
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