The First Official Air RICHARDB. WETHERILL,M.D. The United States Air Mail Service is a branch of the Post Office Department in which certain classes of mail are transported and delivered over officially established lines under the supervision of the federal government. These routes at present extend in every direction throughout the United States and into many foreign countries. The first government record of an experiment for an established air mail route was a service from New York to Washington on May 15, 1918, which was operated for a short time. Encouraged by the success of this venture, other lines were soon in operation. So rapid wa+s the expansion of this service that it was found advisable to transfer the trans- portation of air mail to contracts with private operators un- der government restrictions. This plan has been continued to the present time with the exception of a short period when, by reason of certain irregularities in management and num- erous fatalities through accidents, the service was temporari- ly transferred to the War Department. As this change did not prove satisfactory, the service was returned to operation by private companies. At the present time, special air mail is extensively car- ried by aeroplane, which method will probably be further developed and the bulk of air mail increased in the future. While we should be proud of this wonderful accomplishment, the fact remains that the earliest experiments in aerial naviga- tion were made in a free flying balloon. From this beginning, there followed a gradual evolution extending over a period of one hundred fifty years. First there was the crude paper affair of the Montgolfier Brothers in 1783, followed by the devices of Blanchard and Jeffries who drifted across the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 1785. The next important advance was made by Charles Green, an English- man, who, in 1836, made an ascension at London and landed 500 miles from that city. This venture was eclipsed by Henry Gifford in 1878, using a balloon of a capacity of 450,000 cubic feet. Gifford is also said to have invented the first successful dirigible, but the credit for inventing the modern lighter-than-air dirigible must be given to Count von Zeppe- lin, who, in 1910, completed his first passenger machine. The First Official Air Mail 39 1

A most important discovery was made by the Mont- golfier family when they found that smoke and hot air could be utilized as a lifting power for balloons. Then fol- lowed the discovery of the properties of hydrogen gas by Cavendish in 1766, which, by reason of its greater buoyancy, was more suitable for that purpose. The early cost of man- ufacturing this gas, however, made its employment prohibi- tive, and, until a cheaper process of production was discov- ered, the employment of coal gas or hot air was used. Then hydrogen came into use, but, as it is dangerously inflam- mable, helium is considered more desirable for lighter than air craft. The earliest record of air mail transportation in Europe was at the siege of Paris in 1871, during; the Franco-Prus- sian War, when nine tons of dispatches and three million letters were sent out in sixty-four free flying balloons. Fifty- seven of these fell in friendly territory and the mail even- tually reached its destination. Gambetta left Paris by one of these balloons to secure an army of relief. Unsatisfactory results with the free flying balloon led to the development, in 1910, of the dirigible of the Zeppelin type. It was a few years before this date (December 17, 1903) that the Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville, made the first successful flight from Kittyhawk and their success on this occasion marks the birth of the modern aeroplane. The story of the conquest of the sky has been most dramatic. Though there has been a considerable loss of life and fre- quently planes have crashed to their destruction, progress has continued and air travel is now a favorite method of transportation. The story of how the city of Lafayette, Indiana, played a part in the early history of air mail delivery is of much interest. For a number of years John Wise, a professional balloonist of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, made exhibition flights in various parts of the United States. He made a study of aviation as it was then practiced here and abroad. It was his experience that there was little danger in a free flying balloon while it was in the air, but that, on making a landing, personal injury frequently resulted from the basket dragging over obstacles on the ground before the complete collapse of the bag. This danger was obviated by the device of the “rip cord,’’ which, by opening a panel of the balloon, resulted 392 Indiana Magazine of History in rapid deflation, and accidents due to the dragging of the basket were reduced to a minimum. As a result of his wide experience, Wise was led to believe that in the upper air there were currents like the trade winds which constantly blow in the same direction, and he held that in the Middle West these currents in the upper air took a course from West to East. This being the case, he believed that if a balloon could be made capable of a sustained flight, trans- portation of passengers and light mail would be .possible from the United States to Europe. To test his new theory, Wise made an ascent from St. Louis in 1858 with the object of transporting express by air from that city to the Atlantic Coast. This experiment was only a partial success as it was necessary to throw overboard the cargo to prevent the balloon from falling into Lake On- tario. Although mail on this trial trip ultimately reached its destination, it was not sponsored by the federal post of- fice but was an experiment by a private corporation. The following year, Mr. Wise planned an ascension from Lafayette, and came to that city for the purpose in the sum- mer of 1859. August 16 was set as the date for the flight and a notice appeared in the local papers that letters and other mail would be accepted by the flyer to be carried by his balloon Jupiter for delivery in New York City: On account of a slight accident, the ascension was not made on the appointed day, but took place on the following day. The mail was delivered at Crawfordsville and eventual- ly reached its Eastern desination. The mail bag contained one hundred twenty-three letters and twenty-three pam- phlets. The conspicuous facts in this experiment (which demonstrate that this was an official delivery) are: 1. Notice in daily papers that all mail intended for this delivery must be plainly marked on the envelope with “By Balloon Jupiter” and must be deposited in the post of- fice on a certain date and postage prepaid at current rates. 2. This mail was received by the postmaster, Thomas Wood, and placed in government mail bags duly sealed. 3. Notice of arrival in Crawfordsville was given, and delivery to federal postal authorities at that place was made. 4. Arrival in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and in New York City of the mail took place. All statements made in this article are fully authenti- The First Official Air Mail 393 cated and the complete records, including letters, clippings from daily papers and photographs are to be found in the archives of the Tippecanoe County Historical Association Museum, at the State Library, Indianapolis, and in the Con- gressional Library, Washington, D.C. The evidence of the historical value of this first air mail is recognized by the fact that a single letter contained in the delivery has a value to collectors of ten thousand dollars.’ On the anniver- sary of last May, designed to celebrate the establishment of the federal air mail service in the United States, the Post- master General permitted a cachet to be employed as a stamp on Lafayette letters, consisting of a circle which contained a picture of a balloon inscribed with the name Jupiter, and beside it one of an aeroplane. Around the seal was the in- scription : “Prof. John Wise carried U.S. mail consisting of 123 letters for N. Y. City, Aug. 17, 1859.” Publicity was given to this historic event in the daily papers two weeks in advance:

BALLOON ASCENSION FROM LAFAYETTE Aug. 16, 1859 The Balloon ascension- Arrangements were completed yesterday with Prof. Wise for an ascension on the 16 inst. The voyage will be a transcontinental one, the object being to reach if possible the Atlantic Shore. Mr. Wise will probably be accompanied by a citizen of Lafayette. The ascen- sion will take place about three o’clock in the afternoon from the Court House Square. The balloon Jupiter, in which the ascension is to be made, arrived yesterday, and will be immediately re-coated and outfitted for a long voyage. It is now at Balls Hall. Arrange- ments will be made on all the railroads leading to the City for the accommodation of people from abroad who may desire to witness the ascension. The ascension will take place on Tuesday and the 16th of the present month. The almanac makers are unanimously of the opinion that the weather will be favorable on that day and the certainty of moonlight is a propitious circumstance. The balloon will be inflated at the gas works on Illinois Street [now Fourth]. The large gaso- meter (fortunately one of the largest in the state) will furnish the requisite quantity of gas. As soon as the inflation is complete, the balloon, properly secured against the contingency of a run away will be conveyed to the public square, where the ascension will take place.” The Crowd- It is safe to assume that the crowd in attendance at the ascension may be estimated by thousands and many of our citizen8 are quite

Frank D. Morris, “Stamp Stampede,” CoUier’s WeekZg, July 30, 1938. 394 Indiana Magazine of History sanguine in the anticipation of as large a crowd as was present at the 4th of July demonstration. We presume that all the railroads will run extra trains at half fare? In the Daily Courier of the day preceding the scheduled flight this announcement appeared : Miltary Parade- The Lafayette Guards will parade tomorrow afternoon (blue pants and plumes) and will escort Prof. Wise and his aerial ship “Jupiter” from the gas works to the Public Square. Dr. Fonda requests us to urge upon all members of the company a prompt appearance at the Armory at one o’clock.3 In the Courier of the same day, notice was given regard- ing letters to be carried by Professor Wise: Express Mail by Balloon Jupiter All persons who wish to send letters to their friends in the East by the balloon to day must deliver them at the post office previous to 12 m., as the Jupiter’s mail closes at that hour. The letters must be addressed with the words ‘via balloon jupiter’ added to the ordi- nary direction, and prepaid.4 The ascension so widely advertised for Aug. 16, 1859, proved a failure. The inflation took place in a lot adjacent to the gas works and was completed by three o’clock in the afternoon in the presence of the largest crowd ever assem- bled in Lafayette. A procession was then formed, headed by the Lafayette band, and the balloon with Prof. Wise standing in the basket was towed by guy ropes up Mississippi Street to the Square. During this parade, telegraph wires impeded progrees, and, in the effort to get over them, the balloon unfortunately got loose and mounted to the sky. As the arrangements for the ascent were still incomplete, Prof. Wise was compelled to let out the gas and come down. He descended on South Street near the residence of Robert Jones. Upon examination, it was found that the gas valve had been damaged in extricating the balloon from the tele- graph wires. After repairing this defect, the local papers announced that a second ascension would take place on the next day, which would be August 17. In the Daily Journal of Lafayette, the following bulletins which had been issued after the ascension were published :

Lafayette Daib Coltvier. Aug. 2, 1869. 8Zbid., Aug. 16, 1669. 4 Zbid. The First Official Air Mail 396

Thursday Morning, August 18, 1859 Mr. Wise determined that the original program should be carried out, and yesterday announced that a second attempt for the trans- continental trip would be made at two o'clock in the afternoon. The air ship was fully inflated, and all the arrangements for the voyage perfected at the appointed time, and precisely at the hour designated, Prof. Wise set sail. A large crowd had been attracted to the lot near the gas works [N. W. corner Illinois and Vine Streets] where the ascension was made, and they greeted the departure of the veteran aeronaut with loud and long continued cheers. The balloon rose very gracefully in nearly perpendicular direction bearing slightly to the south until an altitude of probably a mile and a quarter was reached when it bore to the southwest. It apparently reached a great height; but it remained visible for nearly two hours when it finally disap- peared in the dim distance. The professor took with him about 300 pounds of ballast and was prepared for a long voyage. He remarked when starting that he should not be satisfied with a trip of less than a thousand miles in length. He had promised to telegraph us as soon after landing as possible. Later We received a note from J. B. Hooper dated at Convin at 4 p.m. yesterday [August 171 stating that the balloon was in sight at that place about the size of a piece of chalk and moving fast in a south- westerly direction. Still Later A gentleman who left 'High Gap' on the Wea at 5 P. M. yesterday saw the balloon in a southerly direction. It seemed to be about four miles high. The Very Latest(Landed) We are in receipt of a dispatch from Crawfordsville stating that Prof. Wise landed two and a half miles below that place at 6:30 P. M.5 The same issue of the Journal carried the following item: As may be reasonably expected, the hotel and saloon keepers, and the humbler cider and gingerbread venders did a thriving business in appeasing the hunger and quenching the thirst of so many people. The demand for malt and alcoholic drinks was particularly great, though we observed very few who betrayed an immoderate use of those beverages. The general order was excellent. The harmony of the day remained unbroken until its close.6

A photograph of the first ascent was taken at the public square at Lafayette for the New York Illustrated Journal, and that paper published the following letter which was among those carried by Mr. Wise on August 17:

'Lafayette Daily Journal, Aug. 18, 1869. Ibid. 396 Indiana Magazine of History

Saturday, Aug. 27, 1869 Mr. Wise in the balloon Jupiter from Lafayette, Ind., took with him a special mail bag, which he subsequently dropped from the clouds over Crawfordsville. The letters were forwarded to their destina- tions, and among them was the following: “Messrs. Rudd & Corellon, New York Gentlemen: Mr. Wise the Aeronaut rises from here today [Lafayette, August 161 and desires to take mail out to New York in his balloon. We take this opportunity to present our respects to you. Yours truly, Johnson & Bro.” Mr. Wise we understand hopes to see the day when will be regularly conveyed by balloon.? Mr. Wise hurried to Pennsylvania, after the landing of his balloon, evidently making good train connections. His flight occurred on Wednesday A.M. and he wrote the fol- lowing letter on Saturday. Lancaster, Pa., Aug. 20, 18698 My dear Friend: Tomorrow I hope to send you a copy of my narrative. Till then you will please draw your own conclusions. I done [sic] full justice to the artesian circulars. I have still three bottles (artesian water). One I sent to Col. Forney with a note and he will probably mention it in the Monday press. It was to me a remarkable trip-no ozone in the air, a deficiency I should think for healthful purposes. I wrote to Joseph Dautzier today to forward me the balloon if he had not sold her. Several parties are aftel) her at $300. When Mr. D. settled with my son he had only collected $625 and $25 for our hotel made all told $650. I reached the upper current at bar of 19 inches but it had ex- hausted the balloon one half and this cost me all my sand ballast. I am sincerely & truly yours, John Wise. This ascension of 1859 has some scientific interest. One of the earliest attempts to study the chemistry of the upper atmosphere was made by Gay Lussac on Sept. 16, 1804. In the year 1840, Schonbein discovered ozone in the atmosphere and studied its properties, and the origin of this allotropic form of oxygen. The subject was of great in- terest to scientists at that time, so when Wise made his flight, Dr. Charles M. Wetherill, an eminent chemist of Lafayette, persuaded Wise to take with him some papers treated with starch and Potassium Iodide with which to

“New York Evening Post, Aug. 27. 1859. John Wise to Prof. Chas. M. Wetherill of Lafayette, Ind. The First Official Air Mail 397 test the upper air, since by change of color they would show the presence of ozone. It has not been possible to find the report on this experiment, but to the best of the writer’s in- formation, the attempt was among the first to study the chemistry of the upper atmosphere by balloon. Eighty years have now passed since Wise’s notable achievement in carrying the U. S. mail by his balloon Jupiter. Since then, the aeroplane has proved the most sat- isfactory means of rapid aerial transportation and the early exploits of Mr. Wise had been forgotten until the Federal Post Office Department published its intention to set aside a certain date to be observed as the anniversary of the first air mail flight, which was undertaken experimentally from New York to Washington on May 15, 1918. This project awakened an interest in air mail history and called to mind the early experiments of Wise, which resulted in the publi- cation of an item in the Sunda.y Star of Washington, D. c., the caption of which was: The First Air Mail was carried by Balloon 75 Years Ago. Uncle Sam’s Mail was Flown by Balloon in 1859.9 The first part of this article of 1918 gives an account of the early experiences of Wise in aeronautics which is fol- lowed by the details of his flight from Lafayette with all the public notices relating thereto. At the conclusion of the article, the following from Mr. Wise appeared: In looking through the clouds I noticed a town a little to the west of me. By reference to my chart it proved to be Crawfordsville. Knowing if there were no currents below I could safely and easily land in the town, and in order to make the arrival more interesting, I concluded to send my mail ahead, and to effect this in a systematic form the following expedient was adopted: Having with me a muslin sheet nine feet square, I attached to each of its corners strings of about 5 yards in length. These were tied together at their lower extremities and to this knot was attached the mail bag and thefi I dropped it overboard. The muslin sheet made an admirable para- chute. A few minutes informed me that it would drift to a consider- able distance to the south of Crawfordsville, as there was a slight breeze below drifting in that direction. I pulled the valve and Jupiter followed and soon overtook the mail. We kept together all the way down as I could regulate the descent of the balloon to the descent of the parachute, and both of the aerial machines landed within 50 feet of each other in the public road six miles south of Crawfordsville -their descent being very slow.10 gSundag Star (Washington), Apr. 6, 1932. 1OZbid. This statement was made by Mr. Wise shortly after his flight in 1869. 398 Indiana Magazine of History

A few days after the balloon flight of August 17, 1859, the following appeared in a Lafayette paper: The which left this city on the transcontinental voy- age of Prof. Wise contained 123 letters and 23 circulars. The bag was 'brass locked' and labeled New York City. At Crawfordsville it was consigned to the care of Col. Reed, U. S. mail agent on the N. A. & S. Ry. and doubtless has ere this been de- livered.11 From Crawfordsville, as previously mentioned, the mail bag was sent on to New York and we have news of its prog- ress in the following press notice: The Balloon Mail The special letter bag expressed by the post master of Lafayette with proof of Wise's departure, was dropped from the clouds over Crawfordsville and passed through here today [Lancaster, Pa., Aug. 191 en route to New York in good order.12

Following the receipt of photostat copies of press no- tices and letters sent to the Division of Aeronautics of the Library of Congress, the following acknowledgement was mailed to the Tippecanoe County Historical Association : Library of Congress Division of Aeronautics Washington July 17, 1935 Dear Mrs. Pollock: Some time ago this Division received from you, through the Ac- cessions Division, a photostat copy of newspaper clippings concerning John Wise's balloon mail from Lafayette, Ind. We appreciate khe courtesy and take pleasure in sending you a copy of an article writ- ten by a member of the staff of this division in 1932. The second half of the article describes the balloon mail from Lafayette. The first half deals with a similar venture which was not however spon- sored by the post office. Yours truly, A. F. Zohm Chief, Division of Aeronautics

From the authenticated facts here set forth, it appears without any doubt that the honor of inaugurating the first official air mail delivery sponsored by the United States Post Office must be given to Lafayette. This de- livery was also perhaps the first in the world. It is true

"Daily Cowiw. Aug. 28, 1859. Laneaster Press. Aup. 19. 1869. The First Official Air Mail 399 that before the flight of the Jupiter, letters had been fre- quently carried by balloon, even at much earlier date, but their delivery was unofficial, not being sponsored by the federal Post Office Department through its duly accredited agents. At some future time some enterprising investigator will search the records with the object of obtaining the early history of the United States department of the air mail service, and finding the material collected and preserved by the Tippecanoe County Historical Society and else-where, will give to Lafayette the credit she justly deserves.l%

This will mean a recognition of Lafayette as a pioneer in this field, and, when this comes, the Philatelic Department in Washington will, in all probability, is. ue , an airmail stamp commemorating the notable achievement of John Wise in carrying Unittd States mail by balloon from Lafayette to Crawfordsville.