Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1856-08-07
Terrific Balloon Adventure.

devoted to the aronautic display
He was an entire stranger t.. me; but
not being superstitious in matters Of
etiquette, as we might suppose "a
gentleman of distinction to be- i
did not object to this brusque mode
of introduction, and SO oiyilly ans.
wsred: yes
But l shall go farther to see it
than you will,' scontinued- the gen
tleman; 1 intend to ascend with
Monsieur G.
'Youmay 60 farther andfare worse,
said |.
You are pleased to be witty
said he; but intend to make some
examinations of those upper regions
for myself to ascertain whether the
stars celestial are on duty during
the day, or whether theirs is as much
a sinecure as the office of our stars
terrestrial. Would you like to
ascend with u.s.
No, thank you kindly said i;
In getting into the clouds one might
lose oneseG--the way is likely to be
misA Every one to his taste; the
earth has such charms for me that |
would not change spadeful of it for
cubic miles of the blue empyrean.
/ am no poet
Vain declaration! How did ]
imagine the horrors which awaited
me! How little did / foresee my
dreadful fate hanging between the
heavens and the earth, a spectacle
to laughing men, giggling women,
and insensate hooting boys!
We entered the enclosure. There
was the vast silken bubble, putting
out its hollow cheeks like the face of
a fat clown when laughing, and rising
and tugging away at the ropes as
if impatient to leave our society.
Y ou will not accompany me?' said
my friend; to which ! replied in the
negative.
Perhaps the gentleman would
assist in cutting the ropes, said the
aronaut, in French, which singularly
enough, / understood. .'at that mo,
ment, though never before or since
ventured to exhibit my knowledge.
Certainly said l, with pleasure
Thank you,' said the aronaut;
please take your station
He and my friend entered, the car.
l grasped one Of the ropes and
awaited the order. In a moment it
came.
'Cut!' said one voice. NO, hold
ont said another. S<4
| was bewildered, and did both
When the others cut, l did the same,
and with the direction to hold Oh, l
grasped the end Of the rope still
near me, and held on In a mo-
mcnt more | was fifty feet from the
groundl
Imagine my suspense! There
was /, like a freshly caught fish.
dangling at the end Of line, with
the balloon representing the float.
cried ou. to my friends and the aero
naut, but in vain. The spectators
below, thinking l was some aerial
acrobat, who was about to turn fiji
ty double somersets and then alight
upon his feet before them, cheered
sufficiently to drown my voice. The
parties in the car could not see me
But by the hat, swung occasionally
over the. side, ! knew they were
bowing to the crowd below. Mean
while, I was swinging like pendu
Ium below them, with only ten fin
gers to sustain the weight Of one
hundred and eighty pounds, q an
rather stout) and to preserve me
from being thinly spread over tht
ground beneath, from Harding the
lean earth with my human form di
vine. What an age Of terror! The
dome of st Paul's became a parasol
men became nine pins; and fine goth
ic churches began to look like So
many chicken coops.
In the meantime my fingers stii
fened, but / cIutched the rope viii
the energy of despair. l bad lone
ceased calling; ] had exhausted my
self Suddenly a cold perspiratioE
broke out upon me; / knew my
hour had come. My fingers wer'
slowly slipping down the ropel Oh
| those aponiZino moments: inch by