The General’s declaration that “he believed himself in novelties,” must have produced conflicting opinions in the minds of many more conservative brother officers; but what must have been the effect of the next assertion? namely, “the more novelties the better.”
Lord Wolseley believed in what Napoleon said: “You must change your tactics frequently.”
The first impression made by his ascent of 500 feet, elicited the General’s approval.
In the course of a conversation with one of his staff, Lord Wolseley stated that “had he been able to employ balloons in the earlier stages of the Soudan campaign, the affair would not have lasted as many months as it did years.”
We get therefore a very high testimony as to the value of the balloon for military objects, and as the exploits of our war balloons do not amount, at present, to anything particularly noteworthy, the General’s encouraging remarks will have an excellent effect, it may fairly be presumed.
The most recent effort in this line, near Dover, was not successful.
The balloon “Sentinel” was filled and essayed to watch the volunteers, but was forced to retire with the most eccentric capers—owing to the freaks of rude Boreas, which was, after all, merely imparting useful instruction, though not particularly pleasing, probably, to the officer who occupied the seat of honour.
It is, doubtless, a matter to rejoice over, that he was not blown out over the adjacent coast line; had he been driven away down Channel in a small skin balloon under the influence of a north-easterly wind, he might have touched the extreme corner of the French coast, or been sent down betwixt the Channel Islands.
Happily, however, there was no fresh fatality to lament over, and the instructions imparted by the clerk of the weather as to the impracticability of captive ascents during strong winds will not be lost, and may prove of the greatest importance, so that it is well worth while referring to it as a warning for future caution.
As the writer of this book holds it to be his province, and his duty as a practical man to review both sides of public opinion respecting his speciality, he considers it right to state, that the representatives of the press, like the representatives of our constituencies in parliament, do not all take one and the same view about military ballooning; neither do superior officers or the rank-and-file, who, in these advanced days are quite capable of drawing their own conclusions.