The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-07-16

ing with interest the progress Of Mr.. Brood
balloon, the "Comet," which had proceed
US from Washington Square. Every yesti
lr- OF st Louis had now vanished from our siei
he and we were drifting at a wonderful rate
ed speed towards our far off destination. 4,
RIO not think ever before experienced such O
- liberation of spirlt-snch real ioy. O,
- motion was perfectly steady. There ",
:" no rocking of the boat or car. no rustling
. the silk, nothing, indeed, but the recedin
q. forests and fields beneath, to tell US we wei
In not poised between earth and sky in dea
be calm To have been apprehensive of DANCE
Ae would have been next to impOssible-to hav
ielt fear would have been, mot cowardic,
: butspusillanimity. My feelings were ths
~ bailooning, besides being the most pleasan
W and swift was the safest mode OF traye
8, known. Steaming down a rapid current il
g ooat ON lovely evening, with sublim
a bluffs, romantic caverns and green foliage OF
/. either side, glistening waves below and
mid SKY above, is grand and delightful
sailing on an unruffled lake, parting the MA
, cid waters, and skimming like a gull will
a gentle aeetness, is inefably glorious. Bu
It these enjoyable methods of travel, felt
It ym'oed IN point Of dainty pleasurableness t.
It the Ord like grace and impressive surround
i lngs OF aerial navigation With US no breath
; OF breeze was stirring. The boyant down
OF thistle, released from the willow car,
: would have fallen to the boat by its own
specific gravity. In all this calmness our
monster bubble aoated through the clouds.
D twilight was on the earth, and gave to the
: color OF the soil the appearance Of frozen
! akes. by this time the sun had set to the
inhaoitants OF the earth, though to Us it was
iour or hve degrees above the horizon. At
thirty two minutes after seven We saw our
escort the Comet which looked like mere
bladder, effecting landing far to the North
west 'Too much credit cannot be ciycn" tn
the extensive range Of more than telescopic
vision possessed by the inhabitants of Pana,
Illinois, and the citizens of Fort WAYNE In
diana, whose delighted ewes were blessed
with special sight of Mr. Brooks balloon,
at one place at o'clock, a. m., and at the
other three hours later.
at thirty six minutes after clock, we
were favored with view of sunset, such as
no painter could depict nor any enthusiast
describe. We were passing over the masni.
hcent prairies of illinois-those oceans of
agricultural wealth-St. Louis ly ing South,
hall West, behind u.s. and the brightness Of
| the western sky was in fine contrast with
the on-coming darkness of the Mississippi
and tributary streams
Above it mas been mentioned that at half
past o'clock, the barometer indicated II
inches. ltmay be necessary to refresh the
reader recollection here by stating that the
use OF the barometer is to measure the differ
| ent degrees of atmospheric weight or ,,res-
sure, bv the rise and fall of mercury in a |
tube The pressure of the air varies as we
ascend from the earth, the medium altitude |
OF the mercury at the surface being from |
twenty nine to thirty inches. The ,liminution |
ot the density of the atmospt ere is percepti- |
ole on lofty hill and is proportionablv |!
greater, OF course, Mt more decided heights. |
At ten minutes past clock, the finger of |
the barometer had pointed to "A, showing an
altitude ofOne mile. Thus it will be observed |
that IN twenty minutes we had descended |
rapidly to the earth, and the explanation is |
apparent that this depression was the result
OF OF the discharge OF gas the buoyant power
10 atone for the descent it was in turn re-
qalslte to throw off ballast and lessen the
weight which the balloon had to carry, which
was done byorening a bag ofsand and drop.
pins a few handsulls At 8 o'clock, the
mercury in the barometrical tube told 26
inches, and five minutes subsequently 23I,
which showed that Our gallant ship had lifted
A.SioSH op 0puNclAu3iy- y 1HS rising OF tie
fluid was not the only way by which we knew
we had been attaining greater altitude, for
we now enjoyed the rather unusual occur
renee of beholding the sun rise in the West
apparently rise, for the glorious luminary
had only disappeared 40 our craft sank, aud
again came in sight as the mysterious inAu.
ence Of the sani-box increased the distance
between US and the earth. A quarter of an
honr elapsed and it became dark. The bar
ometer then stood at twenty three inches,
and the weather was bitter cold Our shawls
and overcoats and gloves came into reauisi-
ton, but in spite of these artificial aids to
comfort, our limbs were numb and our teeth
chattered after the manner of an American
Bottom ague
1t was, think, about this time, that an in {
cldent occurred, both exciting and alarming
Prof Wise crouched himself down in tha.l a
wicker car, covered his body with shawls and {
other articles of warmth, and was paying his
ievoirs to the drowsy god of sleep. The bal
loon had again become inflated to it's fullest
tension, end the Professor lay Immediately
under its mouth. Mr. eager had occasion '
to address some remark to the veteran aero. G
naut, but received no answer 1t was Deem :
ed impossible that he had fallen asleep so
soon, and Mr.. q. again accosted him, this !
time in louder tone Still there was no !.
response. A third and fourth time did he call, :
but heavy, Deep and convulsive breatbings
were thef only result Mr. eager, almost
pale with apprehension lest something fear In
Iul had occurred to Prof. w., akoncc bound. b
ed to one of the upright irons ofthe fan wheel !
and, with assistance from one of \
his fellow voyagers clam5ered into the car I'd
1t was lucky circumstance for Prof Wise Q
that he did, for Mr.. eager found that the Q
tube at the mouth Of the balloon was directly b
under the formers nose, and that thesex-
pansion of the gas had driven some OF the !,
~ drogen directly into his face. He was at =
that time insensible, though as soon as tx
lube had been removed by Mr.. eager from
It's proximity to the Professors olfactories,
snd few hearty shakes given him, the !,
,omatose man revive rubbed hia eyes. NUT. .
;sreda few incoherens sylIables and INQUIRED =
what brought his friend in.o the car. and : :
what was the matter The proficisns bal !
oonist, VIII" boasts.of his two hundred and I
thirty nine asccnsions, had been taught
Valuable lesson, and took good care thereaf, a
Ter to keep the slower end Of the gas bag out
)f the way of his smellers, : q
Whilsshis was going on, The noble Atlantic =
1ad found the cnrrens that the aeronauts had p
iecared vas always blowing in the upper re- b
ylons from the occident to the orient, and vas h
low travelling toward the vssy star which they u
iad picked out in the 6rmament Ae the hcacon
If the course they wished 70 take. Tn. dis =
'overy was ons web cslcuiIted to perfect. the n
restoration Of aenses 10 Beet Wise. SO happily 81
,egun in 9r 0ager. There broke from his lips l
little coagh and sayshs, = Bsys let's sing" he o
truck up the stifring naainlnal anthem Z Hail B
Joiumbia," in which ~ ~ 3sined and carried a
through with = great deal e6l vigor al1d very Il
title tune, as the irideidify Of the atmosphere v
,ass quite damper on patriotism and melody. e
We kept along in .Lis West-eass current only b
lttle while, howeser, IS from experiments made, Ii
! is importansto cav here, at the sacrifice Of g
10Th gas and sand. it seemed that the lower T +,
aTrents were blowing nearly East lit turned out 7
has their course was . good deal North Of Il
Iast) and il was determined that the in IN
-eass OF our comfort would more than COM Al
ensAte foe the loss Of time in making the coast, o
y lowering the vessel considerable distance.
{ was sometime before il was ascertained what ~