Balloons in the Siege of Paris. 1874 broadside listing the balloons used to evade the Siege of Paris (1870-71) during the Franco-Prussian War. Details include balloon name,volume,weight,owner,balloonist,ascent and descent points,passengers,number of pigeons,and flight distance,time and direction. The text states that 168 people,3 million letters,363 pigeons,and 5 dogs,left Paris on 66 balloons. The illustrations show inflation of a balloon (top left),descent amid wolves in Norway of Paul Rolier and Bezier (top right),death in the Irish Sea of Alexander Prince (bottom right),and Rene Dagron and his microfilming carrier pigeon messaging system (bottom left) |