Litchfield enquirer., 1851-07-17
Thrilling Adventures Of two Acre
nautE.

nautS.
A late London paper gives the follows
ing thrilling account of a disastrous &C
cident TO balloon, which caused quite a
panic at the Crystal Palace:
con the evening Of the 10th, Mr..
Graham the celebrated aronaut, with his
lady, made a balloon ascent on the Ken
sington Road, short distance from the
principal entrance to the Crystal Palace.
The signal was given for starting, at
about 6 o'clock.
The balloon rose gently and assembled
about 20 feet above the top of a pole
which surm ounts the building, but sud-
denly descended rapidly on the top of
the pole alluded to, and large aperture
was made in the balloon. The graphing
irons were thrown out, but there was
nothing to hold by, and the balloon
again assembled and descended alternate
ly, until at length it drifted away in
northerly direction towards the Crystal
Palace.
AS the balloon approached the Crys>
tai Palace, great fears were entertained
for the safety of portion of that build
ing and of those who were inside. At
the time alluded to there were between
$4,000 and 10000 persons in the build.
ing, some little departure having taken
place from the ordinary time of clearing
out In few moments the balloon
was directly over the 'ransept of the Ex>
hibtion. The eronauts, seeing the fear>
fully dangerous position in which they
were placed, let out the whole of the
ballast on to the roof of the palace. At
this time the graphing irons were within
few feet of the summit of the transept
and if hold had been obtained vast
mass of the building must have been torn
away.
Clearing at length the Crystal Palace,
the hagstatfs of which it destroyed, the
balloon drifted towards Grosvenor gate
and thence took diagonal direction be-
tween Half Moon street and Engine street
Piccadilly. AS though by magic it in
stantly rose again, and was driven to-
wards the front Of the houses in Airing.
ton street which face the Green park.
These houses, together with those in Park
place, st. James's street, form two sides
Of a square, and upon these the work of
destruction appears to have been most
severe. Alighting on the park front of
Gel, North's mansion, Is Arlington street
the graphing irons came in contact with
the parapet. A gust Of wind arose, and
the balloon again slightly assembled, bear.
ing away, by means of the renewed
force impaired to it, the heavy coping
stones and large portion Of the parapet
hurting them on the roof, through which
they descended, carrying away in their
downward course the rafters over the
staircase, which they precipated into the
hall below. BY this time the escape Of
gas from the balloon was so great, that
no altitude could be obtained. 1t drifted
between the huge stacks of chimneys
which surmount the houses in Arlington
street and Park place tearing down all
with which it came in contact, breaking
in roofs wherever they fell.
At length the balloon became embed
ded between two huge blocks, the Chin
neys from which had been torn away,
and this arrested its progress and preven-
ted any further damage. A body Of po>
lice, Immediately provided the means of
arriving al the top Of the house, where a
frightful spectacle presented itself. The
car of the balloon was jammed between
the two blocks so firmly that all means
Of releasing it appeared for long time
hopeless. Mr.. and Mrs. Graham had
been thrown from their seats. and were
lying on the roof of the house apparently
lifeless. The first impulse of the police
was to procure medical aid for the un-
fortunate eronauts, and they were re-
moved with as little delay as possible to
the residence of Mr.. Moore. surgeon in
Arlington street. On examination they
were found to be alarmingly confused
and lacerated, but the surgeon expressed
his opinion that death was not to be ap~
pretended"