Consequently a second method is practised.
This is to dig a pit into the ground of sufficient size to
receive the balloon. When the latter is hauled in it is lowered
into this pit and there pegged down and anchored. Thus it is
perfectly safe during the roughest weather, as none of its bulk
is exposed above the ground level. Furthermore it is not a
conspicuous object for the concentration of hostile fire.
In some instances, and where the military department is possessed
of an elaborate equipment such as characterises the German army,
when reconnaissance is completed and the balloon is to be removed
to another point, the gas is pumped back into the cylinders for
further use. Such an economical proceeding is pretty and well
adapted to manoeuvres, but it is scarcely feasible in actual
warfare, for the simple reason that the pumping takes time.
Consequently the general procedure, when the balloon has
completed its work, is to permit the gas to escape into the air
in the usual manner, and to draw a fresh supply of gas from
further cylinders when the occasion arises for re-inflation.
Although the familiar spherical balloon has proved perfectly
adequate for reconnoitring in the British and French armies, the
German authorities maintained that it was not satisfactory in
anything but calm weather.
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