The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-27 00:00:00

Fatal Balloon Accident near Nottingham.

The inquest upon the body of the unfortunate
man Ceanibers, who met with his death on Monday,
night at Arno Vale, near Nottingham (the begin-
ning of which we reported yesterday), came to a
conclusion on Tuesday evening.
In reply to a question by the foreman of the jury,
Mr. Coxwell said had the gas in the bal
loon been ordinary gas, purified in the proper way,
that which came into the face of the deceased
would not have hurt him. It was gas made with
more regard to quantity than quality. The works at
which it was made were but small, and they ac-
cordingly tried to produce as much gas as possible;
therefore the possibility is that coal was used which
would give a greater volume of gas from a smaller
quantity of ordinary coal.
The foreman—How could you bring your mind
to allow an ascent under these circumstances ?
Mr. Coxwell said he could not have thought that
any one who had the balooning experience of de-
ceased would have so mismanaged the balloon as to
allow a sufficient quantity of gas to go into his face
to render him insensible.
By a Juryman—When he was standing in the
car the balloon, from which the gas escaped, would
be about six feet from the mouth of the deceased.
Mr. Coxwell further said that when Mr. Glaisher
and himself ascended to great heights the gas in the
balloon proportionately expanded. The gas that
would occupy a space of 90,000 feet at a height of
seven miles from the earth would not occupy more
than a fourth of that space on the earth's surface.
If a balloon were to go up only half full it would
rise and rise unless checked until perfectly full. At
three and three quarter miles from the earth a
volume of gas will double its bulk. Now, he told
this poor man not to go too high, but to check the
balloon and come down if it was only at the dis-
tance of a mile.
In reply to questions by a juryman, the witness
said the danger of insensibility and death from
breathing gas was in proportion to its purity or im-
purity. He bad no doubt that some portion of gas
had been inhaled into the lungs of the deceased.
He also said that when Mr. Glaisher and himself
made their
h ascent about six weeks ago the
balloon washig
drifting out to sea, and they made a
very rapid descent. They came down two miles in
about four minutes, and the valve of his large bal-
loon, which was three times as large as this, was
broken in a similar way. The balloon came over
on its side and completely disarranged the whole
thing.
The Coronet—Then you are of opinion that the •
fall to the earth fractured the valve and thespring ?
Mr. Colwell—Decidedly.
Mr. \V ells
fives) w ha(solicitor on behalf of deceased's rela.
t was your balloon calculated to lift ?
Mr. Coxwell—With ordinary gas it would lift
14,0001 b. the weight of the balloon,
, deductin
3501 b., and then it should have lifting power equal
tt. three or four persons and the usual ballast.
A Juryman—The grappling-irons were, I sup-
pose left out unintentionally ?
Mr. Coxwell--They were left out intentionally ;
the would not rise with the grappling-irons.
ThA balloon would
would a man safely descend
b
without grappling-irons ?
Mr. Coxwell—l have frequently done it myself
on calm evenings. I have a rope in the balloon,
and by his not lowering the rope provided for him
in the balloon it proves to me fzat he was in an in-
sensible state.
The Coroner—Yon do not attribute the accident
to the gas ?
Mr. Coxwell—Oh no ; had it been lighter gas,
though, I should have gone upmyself, but knowing
this poor fellow to be experienced, Brod not wishing
to disappoint the visitors, I accepted his offer.
The Foreman—Supposing the man had not gone
up, what should you have done ?
Mr. Criswell—l had made ample provision in
that case. 1 had two tickets being written, " Mr.
Cox well's balloon from Basford Park ;" with direc-
tions to whoever should find it to return it. One of
these tickets was written, and while the other was
being written the deceased got into the car, and
went up.
The Coroner rammed up ; and
The Jury returned the following verdict :—That
the deceased Jaines Chambers, ascended the ear at-
tached to a balloon during fair weather; that he
ascended in a voluntary manner and by his own free
will ; that through inhaling gas he became insen-
sible, and was unable to work the ballon properly,
and the balloon coming into violent collision with
the earth caused his death.

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