What I Saw
Ten days apart, the submarine "Gustave-Zédé" proved itself in Corsica, and the Santos-Dumont airship did the same in Paris. In two consecutive issues, l'Illustraction was able to devote the front page engraving to these two — the first — accomplished in the field of aerial navigation.
The balloon of Mr. Santos-Dumont, which has just made the round trip from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower two days in a row, is the fifth aerostat with which this twenty-eight year old engineer has tried to solve the problem of dirigibility.
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The respective positions of these various devices have been determined with great care and after much trial and error, so that once everything is in place and taking into account the weight of the aeronaut, the keel is horizontal and an equal tension of the suspension cords. This condition explains why the aeronaut's seat is far from the engine.
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Finally, it is by moving the rope guide, suspended under the keel and weighing 38 kilos,
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