The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1858-10-02
A Dalloonist Lost in the SKY.

a balloonist Lost IN the Sky.
A dispatch on Tuesday announced the 20.
turn % terra frHa 0f balloon which started
on very unexpected excursion from Riga
Michigan, ON the l7th inst, carrying with Il
MI Ihurslon, an aeronaut, who had not been
found At last accouptF l1Qt EIEi ssN'e1fRd 10
be Ia the marshes near Lake ST. Chair The
Detroit papers Of Monday contain hll partic-
( ulara Of the adventure of Mr, lhurstoRl which
was very remarkable one, and excited an
Intense interest 10 that locality f. appears
rtrHt NrTHrH thurETDn aud Hauibtcr, aero
nauts made an ascension on the morning Of
/ the l7th ON the occasion " Sabbath School
celebration at Adrian, Aher remaining
about forty minutes Ia the air, they alightcd
Ia the woods In the town Of Riga, about rs
miles FROM Toledo, While engaged In dis
charging the balloon, preparatory TO return
iug 10 Adrian, an accident occurred which
sent Mr., lhurslou on fearful aerial oxeur-
sion. 1t IL thus explained by the Adrian
Eypositor'
"Aiter the descent, the car wa, made fist,
and the gus allowed % escape from the valve
for nearly q half hour, when with the aid Of
other persons, Nlcssrs, lhurstou a Bauistcr
proceeded to dclatch the basket from the net
ting. This being accomplished, aud the net
ting also taken from The silk, Mr., Thur,tou
proceeded 10 the top end, where iA the valve,
and obtained firm hold Of the silk, com
pressed H., and seated himself nstrdc the
valve block which was inside and about thir-
teen inches In diameter, circular In shape,
aud Of inch board, Thus seated, with hn
arms around the compressed silk, with the
uid OF another man, holding the balloon, hc
told the others 10 let go and let up the
mouth Of the balloon, which with ih diane
tcr'ofcighteen inches il was supposed would
quickly discharge the gas. II Wil be under
stood by our readers that Mr.. Thurstou was
NJ this time on the ground, seated on the
XIlXr block ~ 1t4t ht--ir-t-- uTIri UTUTg CUCGS-
ing the top Of the balloon from which the
ga had been pressed into the other or lower
part OF the balloon. Under him was the
valve block, around which the entire silk Of
lhe balloon, after passing through hi, arms
and legs, was FIRMLY fastened, According 90
Mr.. Ihurston's order the lower part of the
balloon was thrown up. la Au instant the
whole iumprd into the air carrying Mr.
lhurston aud his assistant with il. The as
sistnt was holding on the silk with Mr..
Ihurstou, merely with his hands, and after
going up about ten feet let SO and dropped
% the ground without injury Relieved Of
thus weight, up went the balloon with Mr.
lhurston with increased velocity.
Mr.. /. called out ~ Bluis,rr that he must
follow him--that IL would bc all right And
that was, and up TO the hour which we write,
3 o'clock this afternoon, is the last which has
been heard from Mr. Thurston, except that
he was watched by Mr. Bauistcr aud others
ran houp when lac passed out of sight
lost spcck in the sky
The effect of this incident upon the popu-
lar mind is illustrated by the following eX
tract roH an account in the Detroit YTiJ- (
me;
$50 far as is known, there was, no possible
isiia tfT trzrsift =-r
otherwise. The part of the balloon filled |
with gas was full twelve feet above him, so
that there was no chance for him to cut il |
aud escape. lie could only cling to his pre-
carious hold and 90 whithcrsocyer the cur
rents of the air should take him.
Without regulation or control of any kind /
the balloon continued to mount upward, sail F.
ing off in the direction of this city and Lake .
Erie. The fatal ascension took place about
II o'clock, and ut few minutes past noon it
was seen in the towr of Blissiielyf, Lcmawcc
county, apparently full three miles high, and
about the size of star in appearance 1t /.
/ o'clock it was last dimly visible going in |
the direction of Maiden, as ascertanrd by|
compass bearings taken 10y persons obsery- .
ing it..
What is his exact fate battles conjecture |
but that it is horrible, almost beyond prcce- .
dent, there can bc no doubt There is not .
one chance in million for a successful cs-
cape. Whether the unfortunate man was
carried up so high as TO become bcnumbcd .
and scnseIess, death ensuing-or whether he
fell OIL at length Fl hom his tremendous altitude
to have his breath sucked from him in his
fearful descent and to be sunk in the lake or
dashed into n shapeless mass upon the earth,
il is doubtful il any save God will ever know.
The mind stands appalled, in contemplating
this fearful disaster and blindly gropes in
ms2es of wonder at where his place of scpul-
ture shall be. Mr.. Thurston was an expert
cnced balloonist, having built several, and
this being his thirty-seventh ascension"
1t is to be hoped that Mr.. Thurston has
reached tire earth in safety, after his perilous
adventure but such hope can have but a
slight foundation.