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efore my time, when men went
up in balloons they left the earth
with an extremely vague idea of
where they would land again.
They went where the wind took them, and
when there was no wind they drifted aim-
lessly about, the sport of every current they
encountered. But I have shown the world
the steerable balloon. I not only start on
an aerial trip; I come back again. I have
said to my friends, "I shall meet you at
the Longchamps racecourse," and I have
done so. I have given rendezvous at other
places and steered my balloon to the point
agreed upon. I have left the Aerostation
Park at St. Cloud, have sailed round the
Eiffel Tower, and returned to the starting
point in half an hour. That is what I have
done.
