The Sun.
London, England, 1838-10-05 00:00:00

T PiuIACIIUTE A.T
CHELTENHAM.

We are enabled tc-day to supply some additional particular
respecting Mr. Hamt ton's parachute descent at Cheltenham,
on Wednesday. Our informant wishes us to correct a material
error, into which he with the great rnaj eity of the spectators
was led, and %bleb he bad no means of rectifying until after
post hour. It wis gcnerall ysuppestd that Mr. Hampton,
when he detached the parachute from the balloon, had caused
the gas to ignite. This supposition is accounted for from the
circumstance of the balloon having, at that instant, passed an
extremely bright cloud, which, when the gas exploded, pre_
sented to the spectators the appearance of lambent flame. Had
such an experiment been attempted, it must have beer, at great
personal risk to the aeronaut, the para hute not having de-
e( eade d many yards from the balloon. Our informant has since
conversed with Mr. Hampton, who said he was not at all sur-
prised at the misconception, for that the explosion had precisely
the same appearance to himself. Mr. Hampton describes
the way in a hich he effected the separation as follows :—Al-
though, from the conditions imposed upon him by the Pro-
prietors of Montpelier Gardens, he had neglected some ne-
cessary preparations, yet he had secretly resolved to make
the descent; with this view he caused a slight line to be
passed through the centre of the balloon, one end of which was
made fast to the silk, the other descending through the orifice
at top of the parachute into the basket. When the balloon had
ascended from the gardens to the proposed height, he cut
away the stay-ropes, and the machine rose rapidly until it at.
tained, as he suppeses, an altitude of ono mile and a quarter,
or about 6,000 feet. Being then is a geatle current of air,
he judged it expedient to detach the parachute, which he ac-
complished by cutting the rope connecting it with the balloon,
at the same time lidding in the other hand the line attached
to the silk. The separation of the two machines, and the
explosion of the gas, were therefore nearly simultaneous ;
so
nearly, that Mr. Hampton declares that the repot t resembl d
a thunder-clap. When the ges had escaped the balloon col-
lapsed, and descending with great rapidity, reached terra
firma some minutes before the parachute. The latter never
swerved from its equilibrium, but floated gently downwards, at
the rate, as Mr. Hampton calculates, of about 500 le 2t
per minute. The descent was elected, as me st ted yes-
terday, in a field at Badgeaorth, the property of a gentleman
named Hicks. The time occupiedewes twelve minutes and
forty seconds, which, Assuming the etitude allowed to hove
been 6,000 feet, would' give that result. The aggregate
weight of the parachute, basket, and ballast, added to the
aeronaut's own weight, was 328 lbs. Of this he had dis-
charged 56 lbs. of ballast in his descent, but another bag of
36 11)3., placed outside the basket, be was unable to detach
without the risk of leaning over; could he have :succeeded
in doing so, the descent must have been much more gra-
dual. With the exception of a superficial Wound cv2r the left
eye, Mr. Hampton has sustained no injury whatever: The
parachute and balloon (in the latter of which there is a rent
from top to bottom), were exhibited in the Montpelier Gar.
dens to-day (Thursday), Mr. Hampton being present to an-
swer any inquiries. He is at this moment the great " lion" •
with the folks and fashionables of Cheltenham. There were
reports in circulation that he had heavy bets on the result,
which, however, he denies.
The following is an extract from a letter addressed by Mr.
Hampton to the Editor of the Cheltenham Chronicle, which we
copy from a second edition of that paper :
CHELTENHAM, WEDNESDAY EVENING. —After leaving the
earth my sensations were of the most delightful kind. The eve-
ning turned out very propitious, and ray satisfaction in having
reduced one of the most novel and extraordinary exhibitions
which have been for many years a matter of considerable
doubt with the most celebrated aeronauts, to a perfect safety,
must be to me, and to every admirer of aeroatation, a very
gratifying result. At the altitude of about 9,000 feet I cast
my eye to the different portions of my apparatus, and finding
everything as I considered perfect, my mind was made up for
the awful moment—that it was an awful moment, no one, be
whomsoever lie may, or possessing the most cast-iron nerve,
cannot but acknowledge that in such a situation, a struggle
es it were, between life and death, must have been of no very
mporary description. However, my nerves were, thank
Providence, perfectly collected and firm ; and armed as I
was with a good weapon, I hesitated not, but applied my
I.nife to the only cord which held me between Heaven
and the vast abyss beneath me. The effort was mo.
mentary—my balloon ascended from me immediately
after the separation for some hundred feet, and with a
ter, ific noise rushed through the atmosphere, and in the space
of a few seconds only, burst over my head with the violence of
a thunderbolt—but I was pleased to find in unison with my
original plan, collapsed, and reached the earth before I did
myself. My descent was of the most gradual and progressive
description, my sense of danger being wholly divested • being
convinced from the very easy and strictly perpendicular line
that I found myself approaching terra firma, and that any de-
gree of doubt as to my safety was not for a moment question-
able. Indeed so fa from a supposed violent rate of velocity
having taken place during the descent, at various times the pa.
rachute was almost stationary, and had it not been that a
a safety hag containing about 301bs. of ballast attached to
my car (an appendage usually adopted by all aeronauts, by
way of breaking the fall, as it may be termed in plain language)
hastened my power of descent, I must have reached the ground
under the mast perfect quiet and pleasing gravity, as the time
from my sepaiatiog the cord to my reaching the emus was
only thirteen minutes, being then at a distauce of one mile and
a quarter in altitude.

As I purpose giving a more explanatory description of my
detecnt in public, I must beg to abstain from further trespass
on )our columns,

Remaining, with much gratitude,
Yours 'very respectfully,
JOHN HAMPTON.

REGISTRATI6N-THURSDAY.

MIDLESEX.
Messrs. COVENTRY and SIID
ADV% ILL held their Courts at the
Court-house, Marylelyrne, yesterday, to revise the lists of
voters for the parishes of St. Lmes, W'estminster ; St. George,
Hanover-square; St. Anne, St. Pancras, St. Marylebone,
aryl Paddington. No case of any interest occurred in either
Court. The result of the day's revision is as follows:
ST. samEs's, VVESTNIINSTRR.
Overseers Reformers Tories.
13 a
1:1 1......
ST. GI ORGE, Tie% NOVER SQUARR.
1...... 4
1 1

Objecticns . ...............
Sustained .

Objections
Sustained .

...... a
...... 2

T. ANNE.

Ojections
Sustained

10
7

ST. PANCRAS.

Objections
Sustained

10
4

ST. MARTLEBONK.

Objections
Sustained .

. 16
PADDINGTON.

Objections
Sustained 0
The Courts will be held to-morrow (this day) at the Whito
Conduit-house Tavern, Pentonville.

CITY OF LONDON.
(Before Mr. CRAIG.)
In the parochial list of St. Beret's Finck, the name of Mr.
Betts, the music-seller, was objected to by the Reformers, on
the ground of non-occupancy for a sufficient period. It ap-
t), ared that Mr. Betts had a shop, &c., under the Royal Ex-
change, which was destroyed by fire in the night between the
9th and 10th of January. He removed into his present pre-
mises on the 31st of Janust v, and it w:s contended by Mr.
Holmes, on the pia of the Reformers, that there was a defi-
ciency in the continuous holding required by the Reform Act.
Mr. CRAIG coLsidered the qualification sufficiently cor►ti-
nuous to justify him in inserting the name of Mr. Betts in
the' list of voters. The objection, therefore, fell to the ground.
In the parochial list of St. Botelph, Aldgate, the names of
fifty Jews were objected to by the Conservatives, on the ground
of being alit-ns. The proceedings, however, were not of
general interest.

COUNTY OF HERTFORD.
The Revising. R,uristers, Messrs. Deedes and Onslow, met
yesterday at the Shire hall, Hertford, to revise the lists of the
several parishes in the district. _
THE NEW RIVER SHAREHOLDERS-IMPORTANT DECISION.
Upon the Great Am. well list a number of gentlemen
claimed to vote as holders of shares in the New River Corn-
The Overseers objected to the names remaining-on

,any.
he list.

Mr. Gregory took an objection that in the list of names ob-
jected to the Overseer had put a brace to several names, and
written against them once only the words ‘‘ objected to,"
which he contended did not apply to all the names, end, in
point of fact, could not be taken to apply to any of the names.
He should submit that the Court could not entertain the
objection.

The Banisters decided that the objection was fatal, and
that all these names min.t stand upon the list.
The other cases decided were not of any public im

,rtallee;

PItEEMA SONRT.--The installation of the W. M.
of St. Luke's. Lodge, at the New Stag Trivern, Chelsea, on
the Ist inst., was numerously attended by the Craft, this being
the 73d anniversary of the Lodge in this parish, from which it
derives its very appropriate name ; the warrant having been
granted in .1765, by the then Grand Master, the Earl of
Moira. The able manner in which the Installing. Nlaster,
Brother Raekstraw, conduc'ei this Ancient and imposing rite,
elicited, as it deserved, the cordial and sincere thanks of the
brethren present. The LOdge, to mark its high sense of the
zeal and ability displayed by Brother Leadley, the immediate
Past-Master, voted its thanks, with the expression of regret at
his contemplated residence in a (wlisvitlaanctoProaprtaonyf England,hi where
es
the best wishes of the brethren
INFANTICIDE IN FRANCE.—The number of infan-
ticides and desertions of new-b ,rn children seems to be in-
a
A fewevenings since, a female infant, not
three s in go en
tr
he
s r )
0,
lida?.. was found in an unfinished housa in the rue
cre
m
des Martyrs. Some passers - by, attracted by its cries, took it
up, and conveyed it to the Commissary of Police of the quaker.
On the following morning the dead body of a nem-born child,
wrapped in cloth, was discovered under a tree in the Alice des
Veuves, Champs Elysees.
A new mail-carriage has
At
rca sr L.; g road by way of trial. It is
being formed as a coupe, with side and
frontlfiugshtNt a'wEeniiedvandepc;uwmitsAm,o anjonrd'dtit Caeu'' commodious,
at for the Courier behind. Under this
seat, and in front of the vehicle,
ehiele,are boxes to receive the letter-
hags,
s,naot appear
nd,w.betio be any i
i6ve, luggagetn;erial. of
Thereth e passengers,are two lamps
as thereout.
side, and a third which throws light into the interior.