Star.
London, England, 1824-09-07 00:00:00

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PALLOOANG !
•
Yesterday wits the day ~ippciinted liy Mr. math *1
op which he would make MS promised ascent fr.* di,
Mermaid Gardens; Hackney, t* profits of which wgio
to be appropriated to the suffering Greeks. The heavy
rain, however, which fell in the morning, and which in-
dicated a continuance, preirented an early influx of com:
pany ; but as the day became more favourable, the gar:
dens were gradually filled.
The inflation proceeded slowly, and. tnttett Irhpatience
was manifested. The musicians were very busy, and the
people out of the gardens were very noisy.
the inflation proceeded so slow, that It was at ten, iti
generally thought no ascent would take place. At five
a pilot balloon, which went off, took E rk.g. but k
halt: pa'st seven it was announced, that in consequence
of 'the deficiency in quantity and quality of the gas,
balloon would not astend. A person then ascendktd
to the front of the platform, and stated that the Impe-
rial Gas Conipany had shamefully ill used the Comtnittio
—that on that very morning, they hid received forty
gtiineasfor the supply of a proper quantity of gas, and
that there had heel' not only a deficiency in citiantity
but in quality. . .
The balloon at this time was rolling.about at [torte: ft
liberty, to ascend if it could: It soon became more
stationary, and rested itself upon the edge of the plAt,
form, the valve being then at the bottom. The pUblic
at this period, at least that part of thorn within the gar=
dens, were excessively indignaht at the barefaced hoax
which had been imposed upon them. Their spleen was
printipally directed (in words) against Mr. Sniithes
and we were informed, that some of his friends felt it
prudent to place him under the protection of the police.
With respect to the charges made against the Gas
Company, it may be proper to observe, that po fault
could be found with the flavour. of the vs. The bore
of the pipe was 4i inches, being the usual width uptia
such occasions ; and the time for supply was .to ter-
minate at five o'clock, whereas it continued until a
quarter past seven o'clock.
Oil the contrary, let us not forget that the balloon
was unsound—that it was torn—that a tailor was re'
pairing it on the platform—that its weight was 21 cwt,
just two hundred weight more than that of Mr. Green's
—that Mr. Smithes was not perhaps sufficiently ac-
quainted with whathe had to do; and from more cause
than one, was utterly incompetent for the task.
The balloon was the same that Mr. Graham suc-
ceeded in ascending with once, and failed twice, com-
monly called the "lawn balloon." The car was on a
par with the balloon, for a more shabby concern we
never saw. It was an old wicker-work basket ,(or car
ifyou will), covered outside, and lined within with fade.l
velvet, that might once have been a purple colour, and
a little bit-of orange fringe round the top.
A number of persons got upon the roof of the tap of
the Mermaid Tavern In order to witness the ascent,
when, from the pressure, the greater part fell in. The
shrieks were dreadful, but fortunately no one was se-
riously hurt. Much damage was done to the trees, and
several tomb-stones were broken in the old Church-
yard by the assembled multitude.