Smithsonian Research Information System, retrieved 2012-12-02

"Carl Myers (1842-1925) was a meteorologist,  photographer and balloonist. In 1875, Myers and his wife Mary ('Carlotta, Queen  of the Air') began experimenting with balloons and made their first ascensions in 1880. Myers constructed and flew a variety of balloons and airships, and worked on the following technical advances: he developed a varnishing machine for producing fabrics impervious to hydrogen gas; he produced a portable system for generating hydrogen gas; he patented an apparatus for guiding balloons; and he made the first balloon ascension using natural gas as the lifting medium.
 

Myers manufactured balloons for the U.S. Weather Bureau's rainmaking experiments and also supplied the Signal Corps with 21 balloons for use in the Spanish American War. Myers retired in 1910."

http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!228133!0#focus