n Franklin, at the moment representing in France the American
colonies then struggling for liberty, witnessed this ascension! "Of
what use is a new-born child?" he remarked sententiously as the
balloon vanished. 'Twas a saying worthy of a cautious philosopher.
Had Franklin been in Paris in 1914 he would have found the child,
grown to lusty manhood, a strong factor in the city's defence. It is
worth noting by the way that so alert was the American mind at that
period that when the news of the Montgolfiers' achievement reached
Philadelphia it found David Rittenhouse and other members of the
Philosophical Society already experimenting with balloons.

[Illustration: _A Rescue at Sea._

_From the painting by Lieutenant Farre._

Photo by Peter A. Juley.]

A curious sequel attended the descent of the Montgolfier craft which
took place in a field fifteen miles from Paris. Long before the days
of newspapers, the peasants had never heard of balloons, and this
mysterious object, dropping from high heaven into their peaceful
carrot patch affrighted them. Some fled. Others approached timidly,
armed with the normal bucolic weapons--scythes and pitchforks.
Attacked with these the fainting monster, which many took for a
dragon, responded with loud hisses and emitted a gas of unfamiliar
but most pestiferous odour. It suggested brimstone, which to the
devout in turn implied the presence of Satan. With guns, flails, and
all obtainable weapons they fell upon the emissary of the Evil One,
beat him to the ground, crushed out of him the vile-smelling breath
of his nostrils, and finally hitched horses to him and dragged him
about the fields until torn to tatters and shreds.

When the public-spirited M. Charles who had contributed largely to
the cost of this experiment came in a day or two to seek his balloon
he found nothing but some shreds of cloth, and some lively legends
of the prowess of the peasants in demolishing the devil's own
dragon.

The government, far-sightedly, recognizing that there would be more
balloons and useful ones, thereupon issued this proclamation for the
discouragement of such bucolic valour:

A discovery has been made which the government deems it wise to
make known so that alarm may not be occasioned to the people. On
calculating the different weights of inflammable and common air
it has been found that a balloon filled with inflammable air will
rise toward heaven until it is in equil