Litchfield enquirer., 1859-07-14
THE GREAT BALLOON VOYAGE.

THE GREAT BALLOON VOYAGE.
 If as generally conceded, every new science and theory must meet with bitter opposition before it's truth or efficiency be acknowledged, the disciples of aeronatics> may congratulate themselves on having received at least that mark of attention. Whatever may be the ul
 timate result of the ballooning experiments that have taken place during the last fifty years, it must be acknowledged that the experimenters have manifested an uuAinching courage aud perseverance,; they have rsked their fortunes and their lives, if not their sacred honors," 1 in the pursuit of their favorite theory. To be sure, so far, they have only been called vision. ary and fanatical, but it is ciffcuit to say how many great inventors or dscoverers have been assaiIed by similar epithets and would have retained them to this day had not their efforts been finally crowned with success. This suc- cess is the great alchymist, turning the baser metal of fanaticism into the sterling gold of fame.
 Balloons were unheard of before 1766 Cav | endish then discovered the extraordinary light ness of hydrogen gas, and in l782 the first suc- cessful balloon ascent was made from Lyons, ill France. This balloon was one hundred and l drcd pounds. ScoE after balloons were sent up at Paris, and again at Lyons, with animals at- tached; but it was not till November of the | same year that any experimenter was bold enough to risk himself in balloon. On the l 2lst of November 1782 the Marquis d'Arlan- des and M. Pilatrc de Rozier made an ascent l of about three thousand feet, but returned to the earth in about half an hour. Immediately | a number of adventurous Frenehmen went into amateur ballooning, among them the Duke of Orleans, and in l784 two Americans, Dr John Jeffries and MT. Blanchard, of Boston, cross ed the Channel at Dover, and landed in the forest of Guiennes In l7S5 the ballooning mania received check. Nj. Rozier, wko first made balloon ascension was making, in June 1785, balloon excursion from England to France, when, by some accident, the balloon | caught on fire, and the unfortunate voyagers were precpitated on the rocks below. During the French revolution of l790 balloons were used to inspect the moveme nts of the hostile troops, and in 1904 an ascent was made for purely scientific objects by Messrs Lussac and Blot. In l796, M. Blanchard made the first balloon ascension on record in this city. Since that time various experimenters have essayed to mount the air, some meeting the fate of lcarus, others enjoying greater or less success. ln this country the most famous of the intre- ! pid "aeronauts" is what they are usually called in the newspapers-have been Mir. Blan chard, who died in 1909, after having made sixty-sx ascents; Mrs. Blanchard, his wife, who made her last ascension from Paris, in 1911, when her balloon took fire from some fireworks she foolishly took up with her, and she was dashed to the earth and killed; M. Petin, M. Goddard, and Messrs. Wise, Green, La Mountain, Gager, Carlincourt, and Thurs ton, the latter of whom met with sad fate, on his last voyage, but few months since.- There have also been, from time to time, vari- ous aeronautic experiments, developing them selves in purachutes, flying ships, &c. Perhaps the most remarkable of these was the Flying Ship, invented and made by Mir. Thomas Rob- john, now successful organ builder of this city This curious vessel exhibited great ingenuity in its construction, and excited considerable pub lie attention some ten years ago; it however failed to prove practically successful, and the ingenious inventor added another to the list of aerial martyrs-they who risked and lost their fortunes for the airy theory ;. ge, In another column will be found full histo- ry of the great balloon voyage recently under. taken and completed by Messrs. Wise, Ginger and La Mountain, who left St. Louis, Missou- ri, at six o'clock and forty minutes on Friday, and landed at Henderson, Jefferson county, New York, on Saturday, at two o'clock, mak ing in eighteen hours voyage which, by unil,- terrupted railway travelling by express trains, takes 3S hours. This is the greatest balloon trip on record. In 1886 three Englishmen Messrs. Holland, Mason and Green. sailed | ion1 lad WailI ;,, the Duchy of Nassau, having made the distance of five hundred miles in eighteen hours. The American aeronauts, however made eleven hun. drcd aud fifty miles in nineteen hours and half.
 Mir. Wise, now man over fifty years of age, has been engaged in aeronautic experiments for some twenty-four years. He is native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and his manner, quiet and thoughtful, seems 10 accord but little with the general idea of visionary enthusiast, as many honest persons believe every aeronaut to be. He has recently made what he claims to be great discovery-the existence of a wes- tern aerial trade wind, which he proposes to turn to account in his projected transatlantic balloon voyage. He has memorazed Congress in vain, and for lack of funds has until recently been unable to build balloon sufficiently large to undertake such extensive journeys At convention of aeronauts in this city, held last May, however, the preliminaries were arranged and Mir. o. A. Gager, of Vermont, agreed to furnish the capital, Mir. La Mountain to super intend the construction of the balloon, and Mir. Wise to conduct the experimental voyages. The first of these voyages has been success, as far as can be judged at present, and will probably be followed by daring attempt to cross the ocean literally on the wings of the wind.-N. Y Ereniag Post.
 Call lady chicken" and ten to one she is angry with you. Tell her she is "no chick