The Northern star, and constitutionalist. [volume] (Warren, R.I.) 1834-1837, 1835-09-12

from the Lynchburgh Virgnian, that Mr. 3obnrt
returned to that place Tuesday last, sfisf mos,
reribus flight through the upper rsgionk The
balloon was cu, from Do cord st o'clock. and ia
lcss gi.an an hour he landed near Walker . church
IN Prince Edward county, dmtant about 90 miles |!
We regret, says the paper, that Mr. HobartIas DOT
yen been able to prepare description Of this dan
gerous journey. We must, therefore, content eur
selves for the present with stating gevl Of the
prominent particulars. In very few min6tes after
the balloon left the earth, II was lvst 20 view by
passing INTO a cloud. Mr. Hobart informs us that
after that time, he lost sight ofsthe earth entirely
A, half past seven he took his last observation,
when he was upwards Of three miles Eo,n the
earth. About that period lie saw two brilliant
nieteps in the north and the other in the west
the latter seeming to approach him. bot dishp
pearing without coming ia contact, very much to
MIR Ilobarts relief who feared the ignition of the
gas. Shortly after he encountered u severe gale,
the balloon and cur being whrIud To an imn,euse
height, he supposes not less than 26 ,OOq feet
from the EARTH from the effect produced upon his
respi, alton aud hearing, finding extremely diff
cult TO breathe, and being entirely unable 10 hear.
lie alten pied 10 operate On the safety valve, hut
from his inability to hear could not nscertnin whe-
ther the gas escaped or not In this sisaation l,s
every moment feared the balloon would barsi. aud
sisut some of his blood vessels would be rsptured.
pur OF the balloon, that his appreheusiops were in
part realized. He began to descend With greut
velocity, and, fortunately, landed fnyyrable
spot, his fall heng broken by pine saPlng, on
which he aiig!,ied He was hurled fioni the car,
however, with considerable force, nnd was Sc
vereiy jarred by the fall, breaking bis valuable
barometer, and damaging some Of his ether nstru-
menis. Hnd he descended in the woods, by
which he wns nearly surrounded, he thinks his
death would have been inevitable; and he evI-
denily had very narrow escape. On exnu'ining
the balloon, il wns found 10 have sustained rent,
near the top, Of about 20 inches in length, and
en- nnd patched had all been re-opentd. Its now
completely ruined
REMARKABLE PRtsERvArIoN OF CLAY
TON, THE AERoNAUr. We have published a
.bove an account or perilous balloon ascension,
made by MIR. Hobart, from Lynchburg, (ya.)
II is sufficiently fearful but the su5oned 9ccoun
by Mr.. Clayton, published in the Lexington tKy)
Inclligencer, of his frighfal descent, after an
cension from that city in the last week OF August.
makes I" each particular hair to stand on end, like
quis tpon the fretful porcuphe.' II is hardly
possible to draw breath Wills, perusng it. I.
At % minutes past 5, when at an alti-
tude Of 2 miles, discovered that the gas
had completely filed the balloon, and
that the neck. had become entangled be-
tween the cords by which it was suspend
ed, preventing The surplus gas from es-
Gaping, and confining the valve cord, so
that could not open the valve.
1 Immediately busted myself IN ibera-
ting rhs valve cord, and while in the act
OF doing this, the neck and cord were
snatcheG with violence from me, the up
per portion Of the balloon burst with a
tremendous noise, aud l and the whole
fabric fell two or three hundred leet, with
the velocity Of a stone. The rapid de-
scent was then little checked and now
the most critical moment of my life was
at hand-a moment that required calm
ness, presence of mind, and activity, for
an awful scene presented itself. The
lower part Of the balloon, by the violent
resistance of the atmosphere, in descend
ing, had been pressed against the surface
of the net work, and formed into para
chute, Of about % feet in diameter but
through the center of this imperfect para
chute, could behold the naked valve,
the small meshes of the net, and great
portion Of the silk on each side, which
formed the resisting surface, hung in RI
bands, dasling from side 10 side, and pro-
ducing a noise like the shattered sails Of
a ship in tempest. This hurricane
noise was not produced by the rapid de-
scent alone, but by the violent oscillatory
and rotary motion Of the parachute. At
one moment was almost in a horizontal
line with the parachute, and then was
dashed through the air to level on the
opposite side, thus describing and are Of
nearly semi-crcle, the radius of which
was about 80; and at the same time and
my car were whirling with a sickeniug
velocity. While in this situation ! sue
ceeded in dashing overheard all my bags
of sand, which weighed about 80 pounds.
In four minutes | descended about a
mile, and reached the region Of dense
clouds. AT this time ! united the upper
end of my cable, and held it in nay hands,
threw over my anchor, and allowed It TO
SWING at the full length Of the rope, SO
feet) and it was thrown at every vibration
far above the level Of my car.
On passing beneath the cloud, / saw
the town Of Athens little to ths-south
west of me. five minutes more l reach
ed the ground with pretty severe shock,
sustaining no injury worth mentioning. =
The whole balloon, OF parachute, was in-
stanily fiat on the ground, mass Of rib
bands. A few dark faces (negroes) ap-
peared at a short distance from me, with