The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-11-15 00:00:00

THE GRAND BALLOON

(From the Standard )
It had been announced fur se-veral days past that the, grand
balloon would ascend from Vauxhall on the first favourable day,
and make the attempt to cross the channel, and reach the
shores of France or Holland. Many persons thought this ru=
incur was without foundation, and as no newspaper and no ad-
vertisements announced such an attempt it produced no sensa-
tion whatever, and nobody gave themselves the trouble to make
inquiry. This was exactly what the proprietors of Vauxhall
and Mr. Green desired. It was considered desirable to have
no mob in the gardens, and that every thing should be as quiet
and as private as possible, it not being the object of any of the
parties concerned to make money by the exhibition. The con-
sequence was, that on Monday, the day of ascent, not a dozen
people were in the secret, and, with the exception of the persons
employed in the inflation, not a dozen persons were in the
gardens. The inflation commenced about seven o'clock in the
morning, and by ono o'clock every -thing was in readiness.
'The balloon was inflated almost to its utmost dimensions, and
appeared capable of sustaining an aerial flight for many hours,
or even days. In the car were upwards of a ton of ballast,
several gallons of brandy and wine, a large supply of toffee,
-Cold fowls, ham, &c., an apparatus with unslaked lime for heat-
ing the coffee,- and every other appliance to ensure comfort and
prevent starvation and cold. There were also a supply of blue
.fights, stars, 111:4 other fireworks, to be let down at night, if the
voyage were not accomplished before dark, in order to enable
the aeronauts to reconnoitre the country from their elevation.
and chooso the point of their descent, and a number of para-
chutes, to which letters were faStened, to be dropped at intervals
on the shores of the continent, for the purpose of apprising the
public of their transit, arrival, and safety—in a word, a more
complete equipment cannot be conceived; and it was highly
entertaining to see the preparations of the passengers, and the
good-humour and confidence with which they shook hands with
their friends and took their seats. They were, moreover, fur-
nished with passports from the French and Dutch embassies,
and with a letter for the King of Holland, from his representa-
tive in this country.

At tweutv-six Minutes after one o'clock the rope was let
loose, and the splendid machine mounted quickly into the air,
having in the car Mr. Green, Mr. Monek Mason, and Mr.
Holland. They use most majestically, and with a celerity of
dispatch and regularity of motion which predicted success to
the undertaking. Thu atmosphere was more than usually,
clear, and the wind was blowing rather fresh from the north-
west. It was considered that, if the wind did not change, they
would be wafted across the channel by six or seven o'clock, and
that their course would be over Ostend, and in the direction to
Brussels. The wind, however, by three o'clock, veered more to
the north, which would of course blow the balloon further to
the southward of the French coast, and perhaps curry them
across somewhere between Calais and Boulogne, and it is also
probable that in their coming over the channel a current of air
would take them in a direction from north to south, instead of
from east to west. All judgmeni on this head is, however,
little better than conjecture.
Mr. Gys. is already on the continent to receive the intrepid
voyagers, and Mr. F. Gye, with Mr. Hughes, jun., started last
night for Paris, to welcome their arrival, and to arrange pre-
parations for an ascent from that metropolis.

We annex three letters received by post on Tuesday morning,
which convey the pleasing intelligence of the safe and rapid
progress, to five o'clock ouMonday afternoon, of these intrepid
aeronauts, ut which hour they had just entered upon the most
dangerous part of their voyage—that of crossing the sea to-
wards France.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STANDARD.
"King's Arms Library, Dover, Nov. 7, 18.16.
" Sir,—Annexed I beg to hand you a copy of a letter ad-
dressed to the Mayor of Dover, which was dropt by a parachute
from the balloon at Whitfield, a village about two miles and a
half from Dover. The person who brought me the letter stated
that he was at work at Whitfield Mill, and, seeing the balloon
descending, he stopped the mill to render assistance, when ho
saw the parachute coming down, from which he took the letter,
and brought it to me to inquire the residence of the mayor,
whither I accompanied hint, and took a copy of the letter by
permission. The balloon was visible here for nearly three-
quarters of an hour, and displayed the blue lights. Should the
wind hold in the same quarter, the greatest probability is that
they will make the French coast between Dunkirk and Calais.
in haste to save post.

" Your obedient servant,
The following is the note above alluded to :
B B."
"Balloon, Nov. 7, 1836.
"BOUND FOR THE CONTINENT.
"Mr. Green, Mr. Monck Mason, and Mr. Robert Holland,
present their compliments to the Mayor of Dover, and beg to
inform him that they left Vauxhall Gardens at half-past one
o'clock, and were nearly over Canterbury at four o'clock.
"To the Mayor of 'foyer.'

TO THE EDITOR OE THE STANDARD.
Doer, Nov. 7 .
Sir,—At half-past four o'clock to-day a balloon of a large
size passed over this town; it had a light in the ear, and ap-
peared to be making for France; it was nearly dark, and as
soon as the light was put out we lost sight of the balloon. The
wind was north-west, and it appeared to be going towards
Dunkirk.- Yours, &c. A.