The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-07-08
THE DAILY GAZETTE
SALtoox txcuxS1or.

THE DAILY GAZETTE.
SALIoox fxcunnor. nv
+ Our worthy iittle brother, Add. n. San.
ders, Of the Evansville Daily .Journa, has
been taking al excursion into the erial re.
.bgions He gives d long and interesting
I account ofhis feelings and the appesrancs
Of things below upon ftis 6rst ascension, all
Of which We omit and puSfish below the
| conclusion Or about one- fourth orthe arti
Icie. The @tonsut, Mr.. Brooks, was III.
same that made the excursion from KocI
Island, but the balloon awas much large
tban ttie one used on that aoccasion:-- .ais
at dnarter past six, Mr.. Brooks be.
gan TO look for place to ahght, and
commenced letting ont gas. We did
not think our ride ought to be brought
tosa close in this manner so early, and
protested. Upin the air we then and
there contracted that he shonld get
out when we @toue he'd bottom" and
1.-THE balloon besubmitted to our care for
another voyage. We tried to land
/ in a certain field, bnt just when we
had almost reached it, sudden gust
sent Us around it, and promised to
land us speedily on the top Of a black
forest. All the ballast was then
Thrown out, and we arose, but not to
d great height, Again we came down
With the intention Of landing in fields
IHcouple miles distant. For q time
we went along nicely, then began to
approach flie free tops too closely, and
without ballast to save lls. First the
bottles and sandwiches went over
board. We had Just hanled offa cloth
Ecoat, containing in its pockets a spy
glass, memorandum book Of state Of
barometer. &C., with various remarks
ll&c., written in the skies, cigars, &c.
With painful regret we saw Mr..
Brooks poking that coat through the
cords, and in answer to our question,
he distinctly told JUS If was going to
drop, and drop it did. This saved us.
| We grazed the tops OF the trees skirt
! ing the field, cast out the anchor, and
in moment strnck the earth, bounced
up, struck again twenty feet of, then
snugly reposed on the oats. We had
been conversing with men below us
during the latter part Of the excursion
| and in a few minutes twenty or thirty
gathered around us. While at the
greatest height the thermometer stood
at s1o. We note this as we go along.
We landed fourteen miles from Evans
vile, and two miles this side of Mil
lelsburg. There was but little breeze,
and we had travelled slowly, having
been up an hour and twentv-eight
minutes. sAas Ea
At Mr.. Brooks direction, the men
took hold of the balloon and he got
ont. He then filled two ballast bags
with dust, gave rs his coat, and after
a short talk, not at all of a serious ma
ture as the people around seemed to
think it ought to be and with hearty
goodbye, holds were let 90. The
balloon shot up like rocket. 1t had
| just been released Of nearly $50
pounds, and in place of fthese two
bags substituted weighing probably
not forty pounds. With twice the
speed of the first ascension, the earth
appeared to taU-to be dropping
| from us. The little crowd of twenty
or thirty spectators first seemed to
''close ranks" then they became a
mere speck, then invisible. Large
cultivated farms appeared closing sa
contracting to little gardens, while
the houses grew less, and finally al
most disappeared. The tops of the
trees became one blank dark green,
the shades ofevening already settled
upon them. And still the balloon
was rapidly rising, Feathers sank
Hike bullets, and were soon ont of sight.
The mouth Of the balloon opened, and
the smell OF gas was strong. Up, up,
up-feathers still falling, not an OBJ
iect on earth to be recognized in its
distinctive form. Certainly if man
were ever alone with his God it was
here. IF the great Presence ever
struck mans soul dumb, and breathed
into him the thought Of his own insig-
niIicance, it was while such a flying
atom in the iinmensity ofspaee. And
stllsup! The valves were tried, and
though kept open but second. some
what retarded the upward fight. In
a few minutes Cleft the earth at oa
O'Clock and at this time three minntes
of seven} the balloon was abont sta
tionary. The thermometer stood at |
62deg. The air was cool, but not un-
comfortably SO, as of ecurse we would
feel no breeze. The snn was obscured
in a mist, and the earth looked dark
beneath. The barometer index was
closed. this point. upon the pre-
sumption that with Mr.. Brook we
were three miles high at the greatest
altitude, the balloon Hercules was now
nearly or quite four and half high. -
The only i'll effects experienced was
an oppression in the ears, as though.
they were stuffed with cotton-b
not actually painful. Mr.. Wise,
when five miles high by actual meas.
urement, experienced no i'll effects
more than if he was on earth. aIaisw
The balloon now began to descends
at first very slowly, then rapidly
Tue canal soon became visible, and f.
nally lock, which looked as ifa skiff
could not enter it. Crossed the canal
a short distance belew the lock. Got
solow as to converse with the people.
Hurrahed for Fillmore. anda rascal,
infinitely beneath us, shouted for |
Buchanan. Wanted me to stop, but
declined. Threw out over a bag of
ballast, part,ofit in hurry, and soon
rose. Got up very respectable
height, barometer indicating one mile
and three quarters. Again balloon
descended; and threw ont nearly all
of remaining ballast Almost n con-