The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-06-11 00:00:00

TWO BALLOON ASCENTS:

Some excitement was caused in the vicinity of
'Woolwich by the appearance of a large balloon about
6.25 on Monday evening. It seems that Captain
Morton, the Alexandra Palace aeronaut, ascended
from that place at 5.15 in kis, balloyn. "Champion,"
passing over the entire East-end of Londoa. On
crossing over the Thames, and finding he had an
opportunity of effecting a descent within the precincts
of the Arsenal, he determined upon making the
attempt. By a little good inanagcraeLt he succeeded
in landing his balloon on a small piece of grass land in
the Arsenal. He was assisted by the police and a
number of artisans, who quickly assembled and gladly
rendered their valuable aid in packing up the machine.
As this is the first •balloon that has ever descended
within the Royal Arsenal, it naturally caused a deal
of commotion to some thousands of spectators outside
the grounds.

The highest altitude attained was 4,500 feet, and at
that height the aeronaut passed through a snowstorm;
several claps of thunder were distinctly heard, and the
atmosphere appeared to be in a very disturbed con-
dition. The 'ascent was made under the auspices of
the Balloon. Society of Great Britain and the aeronaut
wae acoe;mpanied by Mr, G. E. Oakes, Dotking.

Mr. Le Fevre, President of the Balloon Society,
'writes to the Daily News :—" Accompanied by Mr.
Cobb, of the Photographical Department of the Royal
Military College, Woolwich, Mr. Barker being the
aeronaut, I ascended from the Lillie Bridge
Grounds at 6.45 p.m. on Monday afternoon. In
a -very few minutes the balloon was among the
clouds, and when they cleared away after an in-
terval of about twenty minutes I perceived we
were sailing over the Thames midway between the
Albert and Battersea Bridges. The clouds soon again
darkened beneath us, and when, after the lapse of half
an hour, they next opened, we perceived to our as-
tonishment that the balloon was still almost in the
same position, and we discovered that our aerial ship
had been all the time gyrating or hovering round a
central point in the atmosphere which was no doubt
the focus of two distinct air currents of which the river
was acting as the divider. We threw out here three of
Mr. Sparrow's homing pigeons, and the birds flew
round and round the balloon for several minutes, evi•
idently bewildered by the novelty of the situation, before
they disappeared. Our next observation disclosed our
position to be over Battersea-park, and that we were
under the influence of another air current. Throwing
•out ballast, in ten minutes we attained a height, as
shown by our aneroid, of two miles, passing success-
fully through heavy showers of rain, hail, and snow.
There we sent off three more pigeons. The snow
.covered the balloon by degrees with a thick coating,
-which after the lapse of nearly an hour by its weight
and pressure caused an equally rapid descent, but not
till we had been permitted several glorious peeps of
sunshine and felt the breath of the warmer air.
The lightning was leaving our point of departure
as we rose, so that we had only one really good
view of the electric phenomena as it passed away
in the direction of Epping Forest. Mr. Cobb seized
the opportunity, however, for borrowing its aid to take
lone or two photographs, and the result will be shown
at our next meeting on Friday evening. Mr. Scott,
of the Meteorological Department, was so good as to
favour us with a weather forecast before we started.
It was, 'Fine, and wind travelling at the rate of 20
miles an hour,' but for once his department made a
mistake. We had certainly a tine thunderstorm. We
"were up for an hour and a quarter, but we made only
a distance of eight miles. Mr. Sparrow informs me
that the whole of the birds arrived home the same
evening."