The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-20 00:00:00

OTTOMAN GAS COMPANY.

The company's engineer has returned from Smyrna, hav-
ing purchased a desirable site for the works contiguous to
the sea and the railway pier. Near to the land purchased
there is an abundance of good stone, lime, clay, and other
building material.

THE BALLOON ASCENT FROM WIN-

CHESTED BARRACKS,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,-Mr. Colwell having stated to me that our flight in
his balloon from Winchester to Harrow, on Tuesday last,
was one of the most successful and interesting which have
been made, I am disposed to offer a few additional observa-
tions to those of your previous correspondent.
He made a slight mistake as regards the time in which
the journey was performed, the distance being got over in
one hour and six minutes—four minutes less than he com-
puted.

It being necessary to move upwards with great velocity,
an additional interest attached to the ascent. The moment
the rope was loosed by our guide, we felt first a gentle move-
ment, then a bound into space, almost a realisation of the
" translation" of good men of old. It is hardly possible to
deecribe how this movement outstripped thought. A fleet-
ing vision passed the mind of friends near becoming in-
stantly distant, amid the waving of handkerchiefs, the
strains of music, and the cheers of the crowd ; we were
high in air, however, before we could return these saluta-
tions.

At this period our velocity could not have been less than
at the rate of three miles a minute, our course describing a
parabolic curve, the balloon being moved by two forces—
upwards by the dense masses of the lower air, and north-
wards by the wind. This pace gradually lessened till we
reached our extreme altitude, upwards of two miles, when
we took the more moderate rate of about 70 miles an hour,
and travelled at the same elevation until almost over Chert-
soy, when we descended, in a parabola of less inflection,
upon Staines. This descent was of great velocity, although
tha only effect felt by the aeronauts was the rotation of the
balloon slowly. This was rapidly checked by the delivery
of a sandbag, when for some time we preserved an altitude
of about 900 feet ; subsequently it became necessary to
ascend to 1,000 feet to clear Harrow-hill with the grapnel,
which hung 100 feet below us, and was a scale by which
we could estimate height, and our altitude was now gradu-
ally lessened until the descent was accomplished.
It was interesting to note the difference of the aerial cur-
rents. Until we passed over Staines, rippled waters were
observable, and we anticipated a rough descent; near there,
however, some smoke was seen to blow towards the west,
although our direction was northerly, indicating a lower
and different current of wind. After our descent upon
Staines we noticed our pace was diminished, and that we
were probably moving at the rate of about 35 miles an hour,
which pace appeared uniform until half a minute before
touching ground, under the shelter of Harrow-hill.
London was to be seen, a great bank of fog, with build-
ings in its outskirts, which we left on our right.
I ought not to forget to mention a very brilliant effect
produced by the sun striking on a cloud over the Isle of
Wight. The cloud shone with an intensity equal to elec-
tric light. Nor should I forget our passage over the fami-
liar scene of much military pomp in which we had figured—
the great dust plain and hideous huts of Aldershott. There
a solitary bugle call was detected by the sharp ears of our
helmsman, who pointed out the value of balloons in mili-
tary reconnaissance. Although at the height of two miles,
any manoeuvres upon the dust plain could have been easily
seen. Even troops secreted behind the reservoir, or in the
hollows of Ciusar's Camp, would have been unable to hide
from the searching eye of the aerostatic observer.

A. M.