Denver people are rapidly degenerating into Balloonatics-
Littleton Independent, March 21, 1891
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- Schematics for Gas Generator
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- Gas Generator
Fort Logan housed the Army’s first Signal Corps balloon, moved to Denver from Fort Riley to prevent its destruction by the Kansas winds. Post personnel used the balloon for weather surveys until 1895, when winds destroyed it. Sgt. Ivy Baldwin-wire walker of Elitch Gardens fame-constructed a new balloon of varnished pongee silk.
This balloon, named the Santiago and sent to Cuba during the Spanish-American War, lay in the sun on a Florida dock awaiting shipment. Its varnish melted, and although it made three ascents to survey troops behind enemy lines, the Spanish shot the leaky craft out of the sky.