The Courier d’Avignon, dated October 28, confirms these facts:
“From Paris, October 18: Here are the details announced last week for Mr. Montgolfer’s experiment. The calm weather for the last 7 or 8 days has allowed them to be multiplied. Mr. Montgolfer himself has risen on several occasions with Mr. Pilatre de Rozier and a worker Duke of Chartres, witness to the experiment, wanted to climb into the gallery one day; but although there was no risk involved, this plan was opposed. Mr. de Dillon took his place with another Knight of St. Louis, and they were lifted to a height of 50 feet. At the moment when it was noticed that the machine was going to descend, the ropes holding it were released and it touched down at the end of the garden 100 paces from where it started. The fall was so soft that the machine touched the ground before Mr. Dillon noticed it”
And from Charles Dollfus painstaking research… “The day after tomorrow, October 15, still participating in the experiments in the Réveillon garden, Pilâtre was probably to come back to this pessimistic impression; he was in fact acquiring the immortal glory that he had desired after the Versailles experiment, of being the first man to have The newspapers, the book by Faujas de Saint Fond: ‘Description des Expériences de la Machine Aérostatique de MM. de Montgolfier’, published a few weeks later, and the text by Étienne Montgolfier agree: on October 15, 1783, towards the evening, Pilâtre de Rozier was lifted up in the balloon held at the end of ropes, to a height of about a hundred feet.
In the afternoon two people entered the gallery, were lifted 7 to 8 feet and carried about 10 paces. The machine was carried back to the platform with relative ease when the men had come down. Mr. de Chartres who arrived requested that the experiment be repeated, the empty machine was removed. Mr. de Dillon climbed into it as it was leaving, he was lifted about fifteen feet and carried 20 paces from the platform where it was carried back with ease when he had come down… “.
Charles Dollfus at his desk surrounded by his unique collection of balloon artefacts and history.
