Thefirst—mentionedstationwaspresidedoverGodard，thelatterbyM。Yon，assistedbyM。Dartois。
Itwasnotdoubtedthattheresourcesofthecitywouldbeabletosupplythelargedemandthatwouldbemadeforsuitablematerial;butsilkasafabricwasatoncebarredonthescoreofexpensealone。Asinglejourneywasallthatneededtobecalculatedonforeachcraft，andthuscalicowouldservethepurpose，andwouldadmitofspeedymakingup。Slightdifferencesinmanufacturewereadoptedatthetwofactories。
AttheNorthernstationplainwhitecalicowasused，sewnwithasewingmachine，whereasattheOrleansstationthematerialwascolouredandentrustedonlytohandstitching。Theallimportantdetailofvarnishwassuppliedbyamixtureoflinseedoilandtheactiveprincipleofordinarydriers，andthis，laidonwitharubber，renderedthematerialgas—tightandquicklydryenoughforuse。Hundredsofhands，menandwomen，wereemployedatthetwofactories，atwhichsomesixtyballoonswereproducedbeforetheendofthesiege。Muchofthemoreimportantworkwasentrustedtosailors，whoshowedspecialaptness，notonlyinfittingoutandriggingtheballoons，butalsointheirmanagementwhenentrustedtothewinds。
Itmusthavebeenanimpressivesightforfriendorfoetowitnessthedepartureofeachaerialvesselonitsventuresomemission。Theboldplungeintospaceabovetheroofsoftheimprisonedcity;therapidclimbintotheskyand，later，thepearldrophighinairfloatingawaytoitsuncertainandhazardoushaven，runningthegauntletoftheenemy’sfirebydayorbravingwhatatfirstappearedtobeequaldanger，attendingthedarknessofnight。Itwillbeseen，however，that，ofthetwoevils，thatofthedarknesswasconsideredtheless，eventhough，withstrangeandunreasonableexcessofcaution，theaeronautswouldnotsuffertheuseoftheperfectlysafeandalmostindispensableDavylamp。
Beforeanyfreeascentswereventuredon，twooldballoonswereputtosomepracticaltrialasstationaryobservatories。OneofthesewasmooredatMontmartre，theotheratMont—souris。