The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-08-26
Rifbmonb qispatfb.
FRIDAY MORNING AUG. 2s. 1859
A Pleasant Summer Excnrsion...Thr Three
Miles Up In the Air.

-
Miles Up In the Air.
The aronaut Wise made an excursion from
Lafayette, Ind,-on the Eth inst, in his bal
loon Jupiter There were 2e,uo0 persons
present, and the ascent was honored by sa-
lutte from an artillery company present From
the log of the voyage kept by the aeronant. we
take the following:
When reached the clouds and passed mp
above them a short distance, smelt what
inferred was ozone. The barometer STOOD AT
- and as the thermometer hung in the sun,
/ omitted it's notipgs. though il ranged Irolh
~ degrees at starting, TO 65 degrees 1or the
first two hours. After scanning the country
round as well rs could through the vast ue,
files in the clouds below. and remaining poised
--Gasd in space, for more than an hour. al;
the while over the city OF Lafayette. hele l
rose until the bar. told 2t3 "fIes are puI
around me. They are sharp-cllpper ioohiht
animals more than the common mousse ny.
Here noticed that the rattling sound Oh the
railroad trains in motion came IN fiDfauons,
like the vibratory sounds OF Mill aaii,, anu anu !.
would circulate like the rolling peais OF heaSy
thunder and with reyerberatlons that resehi-
biec thunder so much that looked around 10
see the storm. but there was none. ne beau-
tifuI nilnbus clouds stood TO their places Ike
marble statues-like majestic sentinels around
the portals of heaven" hear iocomoi'e
whistle just now plain as though IT was ps
my side and yet cant discern the vestlges oi
u w.
of these huge piles OF nimbus clouds, ielt oc-
casiCnalyan agitation of the aimosphere'-
The flag would ftutter, and Jupiter wouio
sway back and forth upon its vertical axls.3
They We're slight whirlpoois, seemingly caused
by focal refiec ction of conjunctive clouds.
could account for it in no other way.
"3 O'Clock IS minutes.-J ustg got through one
of those acrostatic freaks that put all expert
ence a: defiance after shoTelIng ofefDoaru
nearly fifty pounds of sand the balloon,
from a completed filled distcntion OF q lew
minutes previous, is now. quite fiaccid III hei
lower hemisphere and is brought TO stilnd
~ bar of 259. Shouts of people dlscefniole-
ozone paper tinged brown-breeZe hutIerlns
around rne-coW-bells jingiing beloW-Wood
chopping plainly heard-my ears begin TO acne
most violently, and shouts upon shouts pro
ceed from below-moving slightly west Oh
south--I will descend to see what the people
are shouting so for"
Here | came down, sixteen miles below La
fayette, in the midst of Grand Prairle lhe
people soon nocked together-men, WolneH
and children. l gave them each slice OF
bread and distribu ted to them newspapers
and pamphlets descriptive OF the mineral ana
medical properties OF the Lafayette artesan
water After resting here about twenty min
utes. l put the air ship in balanced trim, so
that it lust giided over the top OF the prairie
grass and the people all followed II as IL
slowly drifted along at Il common pace, untli
| tipped outa little sack of sand to make IL
surinount u fence, and then the upsoarng Ju-
piter made most wonder-stricke,i upturned
faces As the air-ship assembled, L waved the
American flag, and my prairie audience, oI
about thirty strong gave q hearty hurrah.
The balloon had now been emptied OF half
it's capacity, which left remaining about one
hundred pounds of sand ballast, and with TINS
| was determined TO feel for the great eastern
current above. made very little headway, as
the balloon gradually rose. In twenty min
utes after l left the prairie the barometer
stood at nineteen. Nothing could surpass the
landscape prairie scenery below. A smoothly
followed plain, interspersed with little patch
es of woods, and full of habitations, and
meandering creeks and rivers, and painfully
straight lines OF raiiroad track. 1t was
fruitful and glorious looking circle. The
clouds soon involved me.
The thermometer stood at 1ifty-fiye degrees.
and yet the reflected rays of the sun would
strike me like hot tin. Brilliant bands OF
IN hread- like beams We're darling from a portion
of this vast circular group OF clouds toward
the earth. The world below was obscured by
a gossaner-like mist between the Clouds
There was profound silence. L could hear
distinctly the arterial pulsation OF my sys-
tenn. 1t went much like the vibrations OF Il
milldam. The Jupiter appeared 10 stand still
III the midst of this grand heaTen-clad Council.
l was glad of it, The tympans OF my ears were
tapping like topsails of a ship i'll a squali
l discovered that my vision had become
keen. l could read the figured yernlers of my
instruments without eyeglasses. Having a
pamphlet with me-"Poullet Muller's Lehr-
hach der Physic und Meteorologie'-which
had on the cover very fine print, and which
could not read with the naked eye on the sur
face of the earth, could here without glasses,
with facility. My ears were for while just
the reverse but they, too, became more steady
in the course of half an hour; the base of my
brain suffered a little pain all The while. 1t
mus have been caused by the removal of at
Tospheric pressure. My eyes would thus be-
come more convex. l can account for it in no
other way.
The persistent Clouds standing, apparently,
in circular form, without motion or aitera-
ton, puzzles my comprehension. Neither i'll
crease nor diminution accompanied them
Nature mad taken a rest over the Grand Prai-
rie and payilioned it with 4 garment of the
most brilliant costume that reflected ard re-
frac.ed light could invest it with. Behind this
greSt belt Of cloud pyramids there appeared
an ashen-colored ring or outer belt, seen be-
tween the pyramidical pillars; and to the eas
| only, there appeared sheet of inclined stratus
| clouds. Could the great prairie have any thing
| to do with this never saw its like before in
so striking and characteristic form. have
seen the nlmbuS often IN groups, but they
| were always changing, both in place and
| shape, as we'll as in dissolution and compost
| ton i; hut in this, as stated above, the whole
mass was stationary.
| Above here there was not the slightest mani.
| festation OF ozone. The paper kept its unal-
| tered white color. My nose suffered very much
| from membranes becoming parched, and al
| though the atmosphere was cold, being at s.
| deg Ia the shade and the bar at le, there ap-
| peared to be something, present or absent, tina
| produced i'll my system the phenomenon OF
| fever My lips were swollen and parched, my
| flesh was all unwrinkled, smooth and filled
| out under the skin like youth. There ap
| peared to be stagnaton in the atmosphere
| and the impression was inevitably forced upon
| me that nature had an atmospheric circula.
| ton necessary to its proper order, the ami.
/ mai system had of blood necessary TO its health
| fulness. Withal, felt intensely happy-some
| what like under the influence ofadose ofuitrous
| oxide gas. My companions, the flies, wer.
| ing become hungry. They flew in very short
spasmodic flights, buZzing rather loudly, and
evidently felt disconnected for the want OF
atmospheric stability. Finding the Jupiter
now intensely distended, by warning thai
always draws the attention of the iRronaut IL
an observation of his balloon-that is, the net
work suddenly slipping a little from where il
is too taut 10 where ii is too loose This ction
at so great a height, where all is silence mos;
profound, causes IA noise like distant thunder
Looking Down to the earth through the vas,
chasms of the clouds, discovered, by the aid
Of my compass, that was sailing due east
Thus the upper eastern current was attained
at a barometrical height, being my last bar
observation, of i7.6-being nearly three miles
altitude.
Having only about fifty pounds of sand bal.
last left, and knowing that this would not
suffice for Il whole nights sail, as the GOODNESS
Of the air upon the setting of the sun would
alone require nearly all to compensate the
condensation of the gas in consequence, / con
cluded to make a landing. In looking down
through the clouds, noticed town little 10
the east OF me. BY reference to my chart ii
proved to be Charlottesville. knowing that
Ii there were no currents below could easily
and safely land i'll the town, and In order to
make the arrival more interesting, lconcluded
TO send my letter mail ahead, and to effect this
in a systematic form, the following expedient
was adopted: Having with lnea muslin sheet
nine feet square, / attached to each of its cor
ners strings of about five yards in length.
These were tied together in q knot at their
lower extremities, and TO this knot was attach
ed the bag, and then ] dropped it over