The Sun.
London, England, 1837-07-26 00:00:00

" At this juncture, had it not been for the application to
our mouths of two pipes leading into an air bag with which
we had furnished ourselves previous to starting, we must
within a minute have been suffocated, and so, but by dif-
ferent means, have shared the melancholy fate of our friend.
" This bag was formed of silk, sufficiently capacious to
contain 100 gallons of atmospheric air. Prior to our
ascent the bag was inflated, with the assistance of a pair of
bellows, with 50 gallons of air, so allowing for any expan-
sion which might be produced in the upper regions. Into
one end of this bag were introduced two flexible tubes, and
the moment we felt ourselves to be going up, in the manner

just described, Mr. Spencer, as well as myself, placed either
of them in our mouths. By this simple contrivance we
preserved ourselves from instantaneous suffocation, a result
which must have ensued from the apparently endless vo-
lume of gas with which the car was enveloped. The gas,
notwithstanding all our precautions, from the violence of its
operation on the human frame, almost immediately de-
prived us of sight, and we were both, as far as our vi-
sionary powers were concerned, in a state of total darkness
for between four and five minutes.

" As soon as we had partially regained the use of our
eyes, and had somewhat recovered from the effects of the
awful scene into which, from the circumstances, we had

been plunged, our first attention was directed to the baro-
meter. I soon discovered that my powers had not sulli-
_ _

ciently returned to enable me to see the mercury, but Mr.
Spencer found that it stood at .13-20, giving an elevation of
23,384 feet, or about four miles and a quarter.
" I do not conceive, from the length of time I had been
liberating the gas, that this was anything like our greatest
. .

altitude, for we were evidently effecting— a rapid descent.
This impression is corroborated by a rough calculation,
which leads me to believe, knowing the customary rate at
which the gas makes its escape, taken in consideration in
conjunction with the length of time I had been pulling the
valve-line, that we had lost at least 30,000 feet of gas, or
180,000 gallons, a total of 5,000 feet more than my own
balloon will contain.

" I may be regarded as somewhat surprising that not a
larger quantity had evaporated, especially when the size of
the valves are considered, that at the top being nearly three

feet in diameter, whilst the one at the neck of the balloon

is upwards of two feet. The reason, however, is easily
pointed out. The extreme rapidity with which we as-
cended, coupled with the consequent pressure of the atmo-
sphere on the upper part of the machine, necessarily pre-
vented much escape from the top valve. The same cause
also forced an extraordinary emission from the opening at
the neck, and I am decidedly of opinion, had it not fortui-
tously happened that the proprietors permitted this latter
valve to be increased from 18 to 25 incises in diameter, that
the balloon must have burst, and my companion as well as

myself been hurled headlong into eternity.
" As I hays stated, we wore now rapidly on the descent,
having got rid of all the unusual annoyances to which I
have referred ; and finding that we were proceeding down-
wards with the ordinary calmness and steadiness, although
with much speed, we hastened to empty two tin vessels of
water which we had taken up for the purpose, and to charge
them with the atmospheric air through which we were then
descending. Our desire was to effect this object at our
greatest altitude, but from the circumstances which I have
detailed we were unable to accomplish that end, and when
the vessels were filled the mercury in the barometer had
ascended to 17-50, or an elevation of 16,632 feet, about
three miles.

" When we had accomplished this matter, finding our-
selves suffering severely from cold, we referred to the ther-
mometer, which stood at 28, four degrees below the freezing

point.
" We were at this period apparently about two miles and
a-half above a Lose mountain of clouds, which presented

the appearance of impenetrable masses of dark marble,
whilst all aroun 1 us was shed the brilliant rays of the setting
sun. We continued to descend with great rapidity, and as

we approached the clouds that velocity considerably in-

creased. At this time so large had been our loss of gas
that the balloo i, instead of presenting to our sight its
customary rotun I and widely-expanded form, now merely
looked like a comparatively small parachute, or half dome,
without any ape, ture in its centre. We had parted with
at least one-third of our gas, and were as far beneath the
balloon itself as 50 or 60 feet.

" Recollecting the late hour at which we quitted Vaux-
hall, I now began to be anxious about the time, on ap-
plying to Mr. Spencer, ascertained that it wanted not more
than a quarter to nine o'clock. From this I was aware,
notwithstanding in our then position we were blessed with
a magnificent light, that on emerging below from the clouds
darkness would have assumed her sable hue over the
earth, and that we should have much difficulty, therefore,
in ascertaining the nature and character of the country,
supposing us'to be over the land, on which we must effect
our final descent. I, consequently, became extremely
anxious to make our way through the clouds as quickly as
possible, which having done we proceeded, until we had
reached within three hundred feet of the ground, when we
found it requisite, from our inability to ascertain the na-
ture of the ground, the whole country beneath us offering
the appearance of thick woods, to cast out every article of
ballast and moveable matters, even to ropes and empty
ballast-bags, in order to prevent us from coming in contact
with what was supposed to be trees. After calling out for
some time, and hanging out the grapnel, we heard voices
in reply, and the parties speedily drew us to a safe place of
landing, which proved to be close to the village of Off-
ham, near Town Mailing, seven miles west of Maidstone,
and twenty-eight from London.
" The balloon was packed, and conveyed in a cart to
Town Mailing, where we were most hospitably treated and
provided with beds by the Rev. Mr. Money, who, singular to
relate, informed me that he is the son of Major Money,
the aeronaut, who, on the 23d of July, 1785, ascended
from Norwich, and fell into the sea 20 miles off Lowestoff.

"At half-past ten o'clock this morning we quitted Town
Mailing, and it was not until our arrival at Wrotham, at
which place I inquired whether they had heard where Mr.
Cocking had descended, that I became acquainted with
the unexpected and melancholy result of his experiment.
" I trust it is needless for me to say, how deeply the
feelings of Mr. Spencer and myself were harrowed up by
the sad intelligence thus conveyed to us.
" It is only due to the late Mr. Cocking I should add,
that throughout the whole of our voyage, up to the mo-
ment when he released himself from the balloon, lie dis-
played the greatest courage and fortitude, and the expres-
sion of his features, and the light and joyous, although
earnest way, in which he made his inquiries and conversed
with us, manifested his great satisfaction that at length a
theory to which he had devoted the last 25 years of his
life was about to be triumphantly put to the test.
" We were up about out one hour and twenty minutes.
" Individually my opinion was, that having withstood
the difficulties and severe pressure of the atmosphere in
its ascent, Mr. Cocking's parachute would accomplish its
descent with perfect safety."
Having disposed of the valuable statement of Mr. Green,
we now proceed to a brief account of circumstances con-
nected more immediately with the unfortunate victim.
Our reporter yesterday went down to Lee, where he ex-
perienced as much difficulty in arriving at precise facts as
he would have met with in the streets of the metropolis.
Every person had seen the accident, and every one had his
own tale, each differing in some essential point from the
statement which had just preceded it.
Such being the case, we shall abstain from entering into
any further minute detail of the descent beyond that which
appeared in our columns of yesterday, which would seem,
in most respects, to be correct. As far however, as valid
evidence can be given upon the subject, we presume it
will be offered before the coroner who has summoned the
jury for to-morrow.
It is distinctly admitted on all hands, that not the slightest
blame or imputation can in any way rest upon either the
proprietors of the gardens or Mr. Green.
When Mr. Cocking, who by profession we understand
was an artist and a man deeply practised in scientific mat-
ters, and, by the by, about 60 years of age, made the pro-
posal to the Messrs. Gye to come down in a parachute, be
produced calculations, which he said, and we believe with
truth, had received the sanction of several highly scientific
gentlemen, demonstrating that such an experiment would

be attended with success.
A careful examination of these calculations corroborated
the statement, and directions were given that every order
Mr. Cocking gave with a view to the prfect construction
of the machine should be instantly acted upon.
Accordingly many hands, male as well as female, have
been hard at work for some weeks.
Various alterations at the suggestions of Mr. F. Gye and
pud el
ds
the
have were
been
c proprietors cn u meobnr
soot urf
other scientific friends were made, during the pr,,zress of
icnoacukuifnagc,tsucrery, u,%'vit„hs,a,rDier,o'nt,to
let
ts innlcere:as‘e,ed
isttresongitlleia,‘b;; Mr.and
even at almost the last moment he expressed himself as
constructed
o f gardensm a t
ewr
icarles
most anxious that the tin tube circle at the explnsion of
fearful lest the ropes
tbeMpra.raFc:huGtCeslaion
similar to thole of which the hoop to the grand balloon is