Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1852-08-19
Great Balloon Ascension.

Great Balloon Ascension.
! Mons. Petin, Frenchman, made a
fine balloon ascension at Bridgeport, Ct.,
few days ago, and has published an ac-
count of it. His balloon was 70 feet in
diameter, and the boat attached was 25
feet long. In it beside himself, were
Mons. Gustave Regnard, of France, and
Mr.. Wood, of Bridgeport. "a men held
the ropes until the signal was given to
"let CO." He says
"With the rapidity of an arrow we went
in 2 few minutes, to the height of 10, 900
feet. We yet heard the huzzas which
were sent to US from our friends below,
and felt the vibrations in the ropes of our
balloon. We now saw the cities, villages,
woodsand rivers, as an unsurpassed land
scape. In beautiful frame of green we
saw the public buildings and churches of
the city of Bridgeport, whose domes and
towers and spires, gilded by the sun,
sh9ne like gold and pearls beneath U.S.
We saw the city of N. Haven, with its
pleasant green's, and on the other side the
villages of Fairfield, Westport, Southport,
Norfolk, Stamford, New Rochelle and a
thousand other scenes Of domestic tran
guilty and happiness SO highly favored
by the Creator of the world.
"Far beneath US, shining like molten
silver, lay Long Island Sound, dotted with
vessels, which appeared like specks upon
its bosom, while Long Island appeared in
the distance, and far beyond, the broad
expanse of ocean. We observed the di-
rection of our currents-it was the fifth
time we changed them-and we found
constant current, $4,000 feet from the
earth, from east to west, which would
take US over the American continent
current known already to extend over
$4,000 miles. Below and about 1000 #.
from the earth, is current in the oppo-
site direction, which would take US to
Europe in less than four days, if it were
the will of the Supreme Being. At the
height we now were $4,000 feet,) the
balloon appeared to US like a vast ruby,
framed by the azure. 1t threw its large
shadow on the clouds, and gave US the
image of an eril Venice. threw out
more ballast, and we assembled nearly as
far as possible for human being to exist
we had reached the height Of %, 900 feet
The earth appeared chaos-thermome-
eter at 9 below zero. The cold was in
tense heavy hail storm, held in the
air by power unknown to US, but prob
ably an electric power, enveloped us,
in a thrilling and awful manner. Respi-
ration was almost impossible, and we
could not hear each other speak.
Gone of our companions, being benum-
bed, fell into profound sleep. We felt
SO weak that my other companion and
myself were hardly able to open the valve.
At last we succeeded in opening it, and we
descended rapidly to an altitude of 49,
900 feet. The imagination of one exal-
ted to such extreme height grows vivid
and warm, as the body becomes dull and
chilled. For us no reality, no limits, were
existing. The dreams of Bernardine and
st. Pierre were realised f; universal peace
seemed to be on earth, and the whole
globe were United States. But strong
condensation of the gas brought us back
to the reality of terrestrial objects, and
we descended to the ground.
We landed at River Head, L. l., so
miles from Bridgeport, and 80 from Brook
lyn, where we found the kindest assistance
from the inhabitants"