The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-07-16
tSrom the No. Republscan.l y
Inc Great Balloon Experiment,
DETAILS AND INCIDENTS or
THE TRIP
MR. IfYDE,s ACCOUNT.

Z uE lH1[.
o MR. IfYDE's ACCOUNT.
!, The writer was passenger ia the
. ship Atlantic, which left st. Louis on
! evening Of Friday, Jaly LIST, and land
near the eastern shore of Lake Onta
early in the afternoon Of the. next d,
: The public are already acquainted vi
e the particulars Of the departure. AT
llttles after six o'clock, Prof. John
!, Wise, OF Lancaster, Pa, took his place
! a large wicker basket suspended to I
. demonstrating hoop" Of the balloon. d
t top Of which basket or car was about q;
teen feet from the boat. The balbo
then being restrained from darting in
. space BY hundred or more stout hand
was suffered to rise sufficiently to bril-
the boat in trim, whereupon, Mr.. Jof
Lamountain, Of Troy, N. Y, Mr.. O. !
eager, OF Bennington, VT, and the write
stepped in. The aeronauts had We,
kindly allowed me to accompany them, q
condition that if at any time my weigl
should prove an obstacle to the success
the voyage, l vas to be landed-n,
thrown off as ballast, of course. br
brought safely to the ground, and the a,
oirdupois thus put OF exchanged for sui
stances Of lesser gravitation-while tn
others were to go on. To this arrange
ment there could have been no ohiectio
on my part, and there was none, as 1 yer
we'll knew that once aloft the yoyaper
would not be likely to come down, unies
for extraordinary cause, until they ha,
accomplished as much as possible Of thei
journey. [ felt, and still feel, earnestl,
gratifed for the unusual privilege grantee
me by Messrs. Wise, Lamountain ane
eager, aud although | have several time.
told them that, it is due to their generos
lty to make this public acknowledgment
More clever and kind-hearted men / new
er knew.
But am keeping the balloon from
going up, as did also the crowd who press.
ed about us in such manner that, TO ad-
just the fan wheels Of the machinery in
tended for raising and depressing the ship
without the discharge OF ballast and gas,
was found to be imprac,icable. Thus, the
good people, anxious to perform any kind
office. except to step little one side, de-
layed the ascension somewhat and COM
PEELED the aeronauts to relinquish any
purpose the wheels might have served, as
they could not be arranged in mid air
without risking life. The cargo consisted
OF nine hundred pounds of sand in bags,
large quantity of cold chickens, tongue,
p'tted meats, sandWiches, ETC.; numerous
dark colo,ed, long-necked vessels, con-
talning champagne, sherry, sparkling ca
tawba, claret, madeira, brandy and porter;
a splendid supply Of overcoats, shawls,
blankets and fur gloves, a couple or three
carpet bags, chuck full of what is express
ed in that convertible phrase "a changes"
a pail Of iced lemonade and a bucket of
water; compass, barometer, thermome
ter and chart bundles of the principal
st. Louis newspapers an express pack
age directed to New York city; cards of
candidates for clerkships in several of the
courts; tumblers, cups and knives, and
perhaps other articles which have escaped
ne. ..
At the word, those. who were holding
'n TO the SIDES OF the boat simultaneously
ct go, and the Atlantic rose slowly and
above the many thousands
Who were gathered in The vicinity and
allied off a direction a little north of north
'as'.s | have seen many large assem-
'iages, but never anyto compare in num-
,ers with the throngs" who occupied
Washington Square, inside and outside
he enclosure, who blackened the roofs of
'ouses andsthe tops of lumber piles and
tho filed the streets. The applauding
houts of the people reached our ears for |
ONE time after We left the earth, growing
ainter and fainter as we receded When
'eno longer heard their voices, We ceased
'aving our hats, took seats, and prepared
urselvcs to enjoy the sublimity of the va
led scenery that presented itself for
upon hundred Of miles around,
nd MIR. Lamountain announced that it
'as twenty minutes before seven O. clock.
The city of st. Louis was an imposing
nd magnificent spectacle, showing that,
8 large as l knew her extent of territory
} be, filled up with the most substantial
sidences of commercial power and wealth,
had not, from passing through her
reefs and viewing the mighty arteries
with all the clements of busy
fe and trade, formed any adequate con-
sption Of her real greatness. As it
ould not beseasy to sketch on canvas a
orrect view Of city, as seen from above,
milarly difficult must be the undertak-
lg when essayed on paper. From gen
raj appearance of squdttiness-the word
lay not be very elegant, but it is the only
ne suggesting itself which CONVEYS, the
lea-objects became less clearly defined:
'e smoke from the boundaries disappear
in the sky; streets grew narrower and
arker, until they seemed like thin lines
nd finally the city faded into spot. By
lis time the barometer had fallen four
'ches, and the Balloon commanded an
xtensive view Of the Mississippi, the
Iissouri and Illinois rivers. Leaving the
oblest of streams to the left, / had. m |
pportuuity 70 realize, as much as is pos-
bls t6 practical person, the meaning
poetic dreamers when attempting to
oftray the silvcry, glittering sheen of the
aters, produced By the. rays of the de.
ing sun. Nothing could be Imagined
ore gorseously beautiful We cracked
bottle of Heidsick on behalf Of the
livery, slittering sheen.
The strips Of timber land and fields of
sxly harvested grain Of that portionsof
hnois oves. which cur silken globe was
iding, were not gsstesquely mingled as
icy might be supposed to be when. view
from the distance, but, lay Ike Hoor
mosaic masonry, regular and square.
. our vision there were no hills nor val I,
ys, object appearing set upon q f
vel surface.
At4ten minutes past seven o'clock the ba.
meter stood at twenty four, ana the G1er
ometer indicated s. deg. | had now the
lgular sensation about the ears which has
en- described ~ the experience of all aero
uts on their first voyage. II was unpleas.
a cw.Ovsuu k,.k ~ -. -