The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-09-19 00:00:00

plucs.

Butter, per cwt. : B. B. Cheese, per cwt. :s.
Dorset ..140 to 148 Cheshire 66 to 82
Friesland .......... —le. Glouc., oew7o 78
.1 ersey lO6 124 Cheddar 76 84
Eng. Fresh, per doz 16 1.8 American 4B 60
Bacon, per owt Hams: York --HE 120
Wiltshire, dried .... 76 80 Cumberland —.116
Irish, ‘Teen, Lob.. 80 84 Irish ....... 96 104
TALLOW.
LONDON, Monday, Sept. 14.—P. Y.C. Is dull, at 415.9 d. per
cwt on the spot. Town Tallow is quoted at 38a. 64. per cwt.
net cash, and rough Fat Is. leieL per bibs
.4. 4.
Town Tallow, per cwt. 41 3 Rough KWH, per cwt. 14 9
Rough Fat, per Blbs .. 1 14 Graves 19 0
Melted Stuff, per cat. .29 0 Good Dregs , 6 0
Yellow Russian, new .... 41s. 9d. per cwt.
Ditto ditto old ... 00s. Od. „
Australian Mutton Tallow 414 64.„
Ditto Beef Ditto 394 94. „
HAY.
WRITICHAPEL, Kept 12.—With a fair supply of hay as
straw on sale, trade at this market has been good, at Was
rates. Prime clover, 100 s. to IZ7s. ; inferior, 765. to 864
Prime meadow hay, 90s. to 1151 ; Inferior, Ms. to 761; sad
BtraW. 8311. e 0 e2e. pee Pad.

M. DURBOF'S BALLOON ASCENT FROM
THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
M. Thum d made an ascent on Monday from the
Crystal Palace grounds in one of Coxwell's mammoth
balloons. The ballocr. used contains about 60,000
. cubic feet, and a basket car was attached to it. The
advertisement announcing the ascent of Madame
Durnof also was only kept to the letter. The brave
lady was on the ground. She was lifted into the car
and rose with the balloon a few feet from the earth.
At the sight of her the crowd of spectators who stood
round raffled a cheer. The balloon was meanwhile
held by a cord, and when Madame Durnof had been
observed of all, the balloon was pulled down again and
she got out. The public represented at Sydenham
were the last to wish that is woman who had already
given unmistakable proofs of courage should imperil
herself again for their amusement.
Glaisher. Mr. Coxwell, and Mr. Simmons were
on the spot, and Mr. Coxwell directed the operations.
It illad been announced that seats in the car might be
secured upon payment, and Cr, was the amount de-
manded at the Palace. Several persons had paid in
advance. At the last moment, however, it was very
difficult to find a place. 4'he enclosure had first to be
pierced trough a crowd several deep. In the en-
closure itself were gathered a number of persons
who had purchased special admissions to it. The
coolness which must characterize successful aeronauts
in their element appeared to have deserted on land
those who had the management of the business
of receiving passengers. The base of the balloon
. was a scene of shouting, pushing, crowding, and excite-
ment, in the midst of which more than one person
anxious for a place, was kept back from the car until
it was too late; others, it is true, having secured places
did not after all present themselves to make the
ascent. Mr. Coxwell said, immediately after the
balloon had started, that he would have to return
about i:5O. It is probable that more method in the
arrangements on the ground would have obviated many
complaints which arose. The persons who ultimately
ascended were M. During, M. Wilfrid de Fonvielle,
Barker, an assistant of Mr. Coxwell's, Captain Bur-
naby, and three other gentlemen.
The start was made at twenty-five minutes past five,
inflation with the ordinary gas of the Crystal Palace
District Company having commenced at half-past
twelve. At the time of the ascent the wind was blow-
ing a little to the east of north, and the aeronauts had
expressed the intention of descending within an hour
and a half. They thought that they would land in
. Essex. The balloon mounted and was out of sight
with inconceivable rapidity, and, leaving the ground
strewn with bags of ballast, the spectators of the
ascent turned towards the terrace to observe the dis-
play of the great fountains which, rising in their grace-
ful way, showed as clearly as the balloon the force and
direction of the wind.
M. Duruof and his party descended safely at Ingate-
stone, in Essex, at half-past six in the evening. The
exactness with which the calculations previously made
werednlfilled by this descent is a hopeful sign.
M. Durnof is 33 years of age, slight, tall, resolute.
His wife is also young and prepossessing. So little
malice does he cherish for the French town from which
he started on his eventful voyage to the North, that he
only returned at seven o'clock on Monday morning
from a flee herd at Calais in his honour and for the
benefit of those concerned in his escape.

Two correspondents of English papers were privi-
lege(l to go up with M. Durnof, and one of these,
representing, the Daily News, gives the following
account of the journey :
It was a quarter-past five when we left the earth, and in
less than five minutes the Crystal Palace grounds, with its
sea of upturned faces, had faded from our sight. Contrary
to progtostieation, there was only the slightest breeze, and
this setting north-east, carried us towards the river in the
direction of Greenwich. We seemed to skirt the eastern
fringe of London, St. Paul's standing out in bold relief
through the light wreath of mist that enveloped the
city The balloon slowly rose till the aneroid marked a
height of 1,504) feet. Here it found a current which
drove it slightly to the south, till it hovered for some
moments directly over Greenwich Hospital, the ship beneath
looking like a cockle boat with walking sticks for masts and
yards. Driving eastward for some moments, the balloon
slowly turned by Woolwich and crossed the river, thereafter
steadily pursuing a north-easterly direction. Looking back
from the Essex side of the river the sight presented to
view was a magnificent one. London had vanished, even
to the dome of St. Paul's, but we knew where it was by
the mist that lay upon it, and shone white in the rays
of the sun. Save for this patch of mist, that seemed to
drift after us far below the car, there was nothing to
obscure the range of vision. lam afraid to say how
many miles was computed lay within the framework
of the glowing panorama Put I KnOW that we could follow
the windings of the river that lay curled like a dragon
among the great fields, with shining scales all aglow in the
sunlight, and could see where it finally broadened out and
trended northward, and there, as M. Dania observed with a
significant smile, was "the open sea." There was no feel-
ing of dizziness in looking down from the immense height at
which we now floated--2,000 feet was the record as we
cleared the river and the warm rays of the sun began again
to rarity thexas. By an unfortunate oversight we had no
map of the country with us, and were, except in respect a
such landmarks as Greenwich, nimble with any certainty
to distinguish the places over winch we passed. That,'
said the captain, from his perch up in the netting over
the car, " is one of the great drawbacks to the use of balloons
In warfare. Unless a man has a natural aptitude, and is
specially trained for the work, his observations from a
balloon are of no use, a bird's eye view of a country giving
Impressions no different from the actual position of places,"
My own experience goes entirely with this dictum. I have
often been struck in passing through towns with the
haphazard, " higglety-pigglety " way in which the streets
are laid cut. But seen from a balloon a notoriously
rambling town resolves itself into beautifully defined
curves, straight lines, and various other highly respect-
able geometrical shapes. We could not at any
time make out forms of people. The white highways
that ran like threads antotig the fields, and the
tiny openings in the towns and villages, which we guessed
were streets, seemed to belong to a dead world, fir nowhere
was there trace of a living person. the strange stillness that
brooded over the earth was made more uncanny still by cries
that occasionally seemed to float in the air around no, behind,
before, to the tight, or to the left, but never exactly beneath
the car. We could hear people calling, and heel a vague idea
they were running after us until cheering : hut we could dis-
tinguish no moving thing, Yes, once someone exclaimed that
there were some phea-ants running across a field below ; but
upon close investigation they turned out to be a lot of brown
or chestnut horses capering about In wild dismay. A flock of
sheep in another field, huddled elose together, looket like a heap
of limestone chippings. As for the fields stretched out in
wide expanse, as far as the eye could reach they seemed to
form a gigantic carpet, with patterns chiefly diamond Ethane,
shaded from bright emerald to russet brown. It is six o'clock,
and the sun Is beginning to drop behind a broad belt of black
cloud that has settled over London. The mist that has been
following us ever since we crossed the river has got up tons,
even passed us, and is strewed out over the earth, the
sky above our heads being yet a beautiful pale blue.
We are passing with increased rapidity over the rich
level land that stretches from the river bank to Chelms-
ford, and there is time to look round at each other.
At htdUpast six we were still passing over the Turkey
carpet of the same interminable pattern. Some miles
ahead the level stretch was broken by clumps of trees, which
presently developed into woods of considerable extent. It
was growing dusk, and no town or railway station was near.
Mr. Harker thought we haul better descend whilst it was
yet light, and all agreeing, the valve was opened wide,
and the earth grew nearer and nearer. Says Mr.
Barker, "fat no one get out of the car when it touches
the ground. All stoop down and hold on to the ropes
when it begins to descentl" We go down like a shot
when we start. There is a rushing noise in the ears, a
magnifying of the hedge rows, a sudden vision of cows
and horses, and villagers running across the fields
towards us, and then a heavy bump on the ploughed laud in
which the anchor has caught. The balloon rushes up again,
and conies down again and again with other bumps, which
finally grow feebler till the great thing ceases to palpitate,
and we walk out on terra firma, to find that we are at High-
wood, in the parish of Writtle, Essex, twenty-five miles
from London, and nearly forty from the place of our depar-
ture an hour and a quarter ago.

The Palace Company shows in the Centre Transept
a compass, a stopped watch, a discoloured log-book,
and other articles, saved with the aeronauts from the
wreck of the balloon from which M. Duruof and his
wife were taken by the Great Grimsby fishermen ; but
the balloon itself has been picked up in the North Sea,
150 miles from Christiansand, and it will soon be on
view at the Crystal Palace for a few days. Messrs.
Negretti and Zambra have published some good photo-
graphs of the adventurous pair, the promise of whose
ascent, together with the comedy of Brighton, the
athletic sports of the boys of the Duke of York's
School, the fountains, and an assault of arms by certain
sergeant-instructors, drew 11,943 people to Sydenham
on Monday.

M. de Fonvielle and Mr. W. Grist have published
together a short life of M. Duruof (remarks The Times,
from whom we are quoting). The pamphlet shows
how the progress of an art is assisted by the gradual
growth of a population practised in it. One man may
be from his youth upwards accustomed to balloons as
another is accustomed to horses. M. Duruof wag em-
ployed as an assistant in the Giant, M. Nadar's bal-
loon, which was exhibited in the Palace eight years
ago. He made two ascents in this balloon, and then
became the proprietor of a small balloon of his own,
which he navigated in company with De Groof, the
unfortunate flying machinist of Chelsea. With another
balloon he made a celebrated descent near Cape
Grisnez, and with the same balloon he was shut up
in Paris. The Government wanted despatches to be
carried to Tours. On one September morning Durant
started on the wing of a strong wind, and, safely
running the gauntlet of German bullets, reached a
railway station in friendly hands at Evreux. This
began the series of those balloon voyages, by means of
one of which the Dictator Gambetta broke loose from
the capital to stir up the provinces to their hopeless
but heroic resistance. • Duruof afterwards found less
respectable roasters in the Commune; but he was
acquitted by a military Court of criminal participation
in their excesses, and resumed the occupation of an
engineer's draughtsman, lie soon found employment
again ass constructor and master of balloons. Then
came the taunts of the Calais mob, and the rash flight
which ended so fortunately for an aeronaut who is
he4ceforth a popular favourite of two countries.