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"washed" him earthward, and, barely missing Notre Dame Cathedral, 
he landed in the Seine River, whence sailors rescued him. He had 
landed outside the city, however, and when he attempted to re-enter, 
he was stopped by an over-zealous customs officer. Inspecting 
Triboulet's equipment, the officer proceeded to open all the plate 
holders, thereby exposing not only the plates but his ignorance of 
photography, as well. 
By 1880, aerial photography had aroused the interest of many 
inventors, and writers for scientific journals found much material 
for their stories among the myriad of ingenious new devices for photo 
graphing from balloons. On August 2, 1887, J. Fairman, of New York 
City, obtained a patent for an "Apparatus for Aerial Photography" 
(Figure 15), In his patent claim, Mr. Fairman states: 
"The object of my invention is to provide a method of an 
apparatus for taking photographic views from a great alti 
tude without the necessity of the presence of an operator. 
In carrying out my invention, I attach to a balloon, kite 
or suitable projectile, a photographic camera, with its 
lens and tube pointing vertically downward, or at any 
desired angle, and I provide the camera with a shutter 
actuated by a spring and controlled by clock-movements 
or other time arrangement, and I inclose the whole in an 
inverted funnel to insure steadiness during ascent."