The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1855-06-13
IFortha Journal.
Balloon Ascension.

At the request of many citizensswto hon.
ored me with their presence on the occasion
Of nv erial voyage, herewith furnish you
with an account of the excursion.
OF what transpred in the arena during
the imitation, it will be unnecessary to speak.
With that, the large and respectable audi
ence who patronized the experiment, are
well conversant. At ten minutes past four,
"the last link was broken" that bound the
good air-ship "Eclipse" to the earth.
As she rose majestically and smoothly
towards the misty regions of the clouds, the
landscape below seemed to settle into one
vast plain, and as rosa still high er, it as
sumed hollow appearance. Immediately
under the car objects looked to be at an i'm
mense depth, but off and approaching the
horizon, they appeared gradually to rise, the
furthermost, being from forty to fifty miles
off, rising to level with the eye.
For the first few minutes, the prospect
was most grand and enchanting. The city
of Evansville spread out before me like
map; the winding and Wandering Ohio,
which followed with my eye in its tortur-
Gus course until it was lost in the horizon;
the canal, which formed striking contrast
with the river, it being as straight as dart;
the boundless forest dotted here and there
with farms; the arena covered with moving
objects which looked very much like ants,
but which / knew from the repeated shouts
that reached my ears, to be the same enthu-
elastic mortaIs whom / had left few mo-
ments before-all went to fill up and cre-
ate a subIime interest in the grand and vari-
ed ma nornma which nature has so beautifully
spread. but which is so seldom seen by the
eye of man.
While contemplating the scenes oeio"'
it appeared to me that was not risi. 7g last
enough to reach the clouds, until / sht9uld
be too far for the people below to get goot'
view of the balloon entering them. Ac-
cordingly threw overheard a few hands
full of ballast, and in a moment more, /
was enshrouded in a thick mist.
The atmosphere in the clouds was cold
and disagreeabie. The vapor condensed and
dropped from the balloon like rain. From
the time occupied in passing through the
clouds, l should think they were at least two
thousand feet in thickness. Upon emergin g
from them, the reflected light and heat were
at times really painful. The heat caused
the gas in the balloon to expand rapidly. |
| al I nj frpm nd 0ue
rate; as there was plenty Of room for the
expansion of the gas, concluded to see how
high could GO. Adjusting myself as CON-
fortably as possible, by arranging bag OF
sand and bundle of rope, fell into con.
templative mood. Grandeur and sublimity
surrounded me on every side. Above, the
blue vault of heaven; below, the boundless
| expanse of an ocean of clouds, with naught
intervening save the presence of the good
air-ship ECLIPSE" and its solitary director.
The clouds presented varied appearance,
in the distance. Towards the sun, they ap-
peared like mountains and hills capped with
sno~, while in the opposite direction, with
the sun shining on the side towards me, they
appeared like huge masses of wool piled up
to tremendous height. So intently was
engaged in surveying the beauty of the
scene, that had almost forgotten where
was. Looking up to the balloon, | saw il
was dstended 10 its utmost capacity. The
atmosp here was also getting very cold. ant
then looking at the indicator, | perceived
that | had attained tremendous altitude
being not less than three miles and quarter
high. AS had not intended to make Ions
voyage, opened the valve and commenced
descending. In a short time emerged from
the clouds, and again terrestrial beauty burs
, upon my enchanted vision. To the South
about three miles, lay the village OF Rock
r port, while up ard down the river were sever
} al smaller villages. AS | was descending
; rapidly, l made preparations for landing
! The wind blew strongly from the East, and
would here take occasion to remark, that il
, ascending to the height of three miles, tn,
balloon will pass through several currents o
air blowing in contrary directions, while a
the height of three miles it always blow
from West to East. As approached tn,
earth, apprehended some difficulty in max
S ing a safe landing, as the country was al
f most entirely covered wit h forest. BY throw
t ing out some ballast, 1 thought could max,
y a good landing in a clearing about mill
< ahead. When within about three or fou
D hundred feet of the earth, as was congrat
: ulating myself upon an easy and safe des
}, cent, flaw of wind struck the balloon, an
: in less time than it takes to write it, foun,