3-085-727 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The recent Military Balloon Experiments in Germany: infantry and artillery shooting at a balloon at Interbogk, 1898. 'The result of the recent experimental shooting at a balloon at the military camp of Interbogk, ten miles from Berlin, went to prove that at a distance of about one thousand yards the fire of an infantry battalion was practically without effect on the sustaining power of the balloon, the pressure of the atmosphere immediately closing the small rents made by the bullets, and thus keeping the gas confined. The fire of an artillery battery, however, at a distance of some 4300 yards, soon brought the balloon to the ground, the shells tearing large holes in the covering, and making it evident that a captive balloon would have to be kept in constant and quick motion if employed in reconnoitring in the vicinity of any fortification'. From "Illustrated London News", 1898.