Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-12-01
From the Cincinn Ii Gazette Oct l9. A Balloon Race-Ascension of three
 AerOnauts


 and was witnessed by probably one hundred thousand people The rival aronauts were ,o start at o'clock, and long before that bour thn grounds were comfortably filled with neonle while outside, surrounding the entire inclosure there was one dense mass of human beinos,- wagons, carriages, cartS and vehicles of every description, were drawn up along the curb-stones or the streets bounding the square The streets were completely blockaded tor a considerable distance m every direction. The fences were taken poss esSlon of, and the trees were wavino with old and young America in the branches
 The picture, altogether, iu the region of the city lot, was beautiful one As far as tbe eve could get sight of a building more elevated than its fellows, the roof had been taken possession of. To have attempted count would have been like enumerating the leaves of the forest. and vet ten thousand persons in the crowd sur. rounding the lot could have spared ouarter each and been none the poorer. and in a mea. sure remunerated the daring aropauts for their trouble
 At 10 o'clooll in the forenoon the imitation of the large balloons commenced within the in- closure, and when rbout half full of gas. the small balloon, the :" Niagara" was 6rought upon the ground and filled. At 4 o'clock. T C. Belman stepped into the car and wavina the stars and stripes, was cut loose from earth and rose rapidly above the heads of the i'm. mense mass, amid the shouts of thousands.- The voyager moved off in north-easterlv di- rectlon, at an altitude of about one mile. The ascension was beautiful one and qlite excit- lng, and, as first attempt on the part of Mr. Belman to make trip uuaccompaned by an @ronaut, may be regarded as entirely snccess fnl. He went up beautifully: how he came d w ho al,i paper goes to press.
 The balloon of Prof. Steiner, which he styles "The Pride of the West" is constructed Of the finest Irish linen, Give hundred yards being re- 1 qulred) and is almost transparent Ii is shaped much like an esC, ard possesses an ascending | power, hen fully inflated, sufficient to carry one thousand pounds, including its own weight | The amount of gas consumed iniatng it. was | 3OOCO cubic feet. The car in which the ero- nant rode was large round willow basket. about four feet in night, tasty covered with rel velvet and gilt lace. Inside the car the | Professor had abont six hundred pounds of bal | last, basket Ot provisions a can uf water and a bottle of wine, the latter coutributed by a friend
 The balloon of Monsieur God,rl, "The Le | vathan," as mGch larger than it's rival. IL was constructed of brown linen, and when in ' flated made beautiful appearance, being much more ~ymm-tr.cal and eIg-like than the Pride of the Vest" It had also greatly the adyan | t.-e m thc amount If gls, t requiring 36 86O ! cHhc tert to inHate it-.iving Mons. Goddard $ S6U feet of ga> the advantage over his com | Pc,jtor in the race + the b.shet with the a. ronaut was Mr William Hoel, who male an ascension with AIr. C. some two or three wears since and came near losing hi, life in the de- scent getting two or three of his ribs broken and being otherwise injured He certainly ex- | hihited an uncommon gree of nerve to at ! ienp' se0oud @Tial voyage atter lis former cXpcyenc"
 Notwithstanding the well-airacted efforts If mayor hT"mHs chief of por. Rutin, and .he force under heir commard (l or whom de serve credjt tor rther eXerliooS) the crowd .l- most ovcwnn the baloonj>tS before they Jeff the ground. They broke down the ropes a, I surrounded thc clr1 ajd balloons. hardly afford ! ing passage way lor communication between ! the two for the committee to arrauge for +Leir departure. The utmost anxiety rrevaiIcd to see everything and hear everyth,u, connected witS this extraordinary aud novel unaprtakiro
 At 10 minutes pas 1 Prof $ eirer arnnunc. el to lhe committee that he was ready and | innping upon the hoops of his balloon called IT. red in getting Monsieur Godard's onnara,ns !, readiness, but al 21 mnutes past 4 the word was given by mayor Thomas for start and both balloons were cast loose. Pro-. s einer started off little in advance of his comnotitor the @ronaut standing erect in his ear and way. | ingthe American flag to his thouS,nd, of friond. below, who simultaneously joined in shont ] that might have been heard over half inc oitr | The thous uds upon thousands outside vera no tess enthusiastic in their admiration of the heau- ttul ascent, and joined iii the general huzza for the stars and stripes
 The balboa attained aa altitude of perhaps mile, and struck off directly in the wake of tho Niagara the Professor waving his Aar and throwing out papers and handbills as he ascended
 Monsieur Goddard followed in a second or two after, rising beautifully above the immense thrnng and starting off in the same direction. At the night of one or two hundred feet Mon sieur climbed from the basket upon the boops of the ballon, and waved farewell with his cap to his friends below. The chase then be came exciting In racing parance s einer had the " inside track, ,' f,ll,wel hard and close br his more powerful rival, who so n anpearel to lap'' him for a sharp brush Then Steiner seemed to open zap of few ID Is, and in a m'nute after the two appeared to be neck and neck. sailing along malcsticallv
 The two balloons remained in sight for pfr hapS three quarters of an hour and as far as could be determined by the eve. the general idea was, among the multitude that Professor Stenier was considerable distance ahead of his rival, while the little Niagara" had en- tirely disappeared from sight. Whether the American colors will be able to maintain the vantage. ground gained on the first few miles against the more powerful French representa- tive, remains to be determined
 Both eronauts carry with them printed dis patches to send down to terra frma whene CT they pass a town, with directions to have them fnrwarlei to the nearest telegraph station- How long they will remain ur, is a matter of conjecture Should rothing unusual occnr they can contiuue their voyage for rnrhan, 20 hours ard should they strike a ranid cnrrsnt of air, will be over or upon the borders of Lake Fire long before our paper goes to press. Both are daring and experienced eronauts and we are conffant neither will yield the race so ,or- aS his balloon has power sufficient to keo9 it above the hoase-5aps.
 be Contest uot for a wager. Monsieur foamd challenged he world of myouaus and I Prof Steiner N particular and thai gentleman accepted N promp5r. 'fha result eas thc ex- i citing race ot iav. which. as the first of it's kind upon record. may be regarded as an event worthy of all the attention it has receiv- ed from the hundred thousand people who wit messed the ascensious
 THE RETURN--Mr. Belman who started upon a little aerial voyage few minutes in advance of Messrs. Steiner aud Goddard, yesterd iv after noon, returEed to town or last evenings train over the Hamilton and Dayton road having landed on the farm of Ardrew Riddle, about one and half miles west Of Glendale. and some fifteen miles from the city.
 He reports having made very agreeable trip which he enjoyed very much. When near Carthage, and ahout half mile above the earth, the balloon struck a current of air, which gave it a rotary motion, and brought the balloon near the ground, when he threw out ballast and went up higher, where he found smooth though not rapid current When Goddard and Steiner passed Mr. Belman, there appeared