26 SEPTEMBER 1885, Page 3

The Paris Correspondent of the Daily Yews declares that the

problem of steering a balloon has at length been solved. Two aeronauts, MM. Renard and Krebs, ascended on Tuesday and Wednesday, and in the presence of the Minister of War guided a balloon towards indicated landmarks, made head against the wind, and, after their evolutions, returned to the place from which they started. We do not understand the Correspondent to have witnessed the experiments himself, and he gives no account of the atmospheric conditions; but if his report is in the main correct, the utility of the balloon has amazingly increased. Aerial travelling may be as far off as ever, but it would be perfectly possible in a balloon thus controlled to make a general survey of an unexplored country. We could, for instance, ascertain at once whether the interior of New Guinea is, as many suspect, a lofty plateau fit for cultivation. Roraima could have been ascended without effort in a navigable balloon.