The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-07-07
THE GREAT
BALLOON VOYAGE!

rren, ~. Louis to Jefferson county ~ -
8i N - Hours Thrilling Ad'"h'nfes--A
e -. 80 I,Lr nntario-Dcscept into
trrr the .fronants Narrative
iAo .,,.cessful tflp Of the balloon "Atlan-
... containing four persons, from s.. Ionis
I r., y !. ll5n Iat!cs. in Is hours. has been
II ....,sf Below We publish narrative Of this
.,.-sa~t,naYv event. by John Wise, one of The
III ,.er,.,r, and ericinators of the trip. The
Nl ,..-,,u lrC 81 I.ouis on Friday, the lst inst
si Th- narrative says
III THE START.
II i;yGo'cIock 7 NJ. the air-ship Atlantic was
s..,.taHsicd. and while We were putting her
4 r.r, with ballast and provisions, Mr..
II ~. lessee of The ~. LOUIS Museum who
II 81 kindly volunteered to escort us over the
Misses. .Dpl III his balloon Comet, got ready for
II 1. OCCASION. and Upon signal agreed, as
-.-a,i from the ground. Al T:2u Z, NJ, the
At}.,,.ic VA, ready 10 sail Nessrs. la Noun
Tan and tiagcr thinking some difficulty mi ight
.~,sc "a, the start ii ;hey should attach the tam
n ,,ar.l- 90 .ht shafts and wheel gearing deter
,0.n"S ID uu'it hat unill We should be iairiy
III ..,.!rv Wa, neat morning. Having had much
n experience Iu hard winds. and The perils Of
II rsrdug 4 balloon under them, we had con-
s.-.r'.d at 81 1oulS good Wlckcr-work car,
III .Vn5,A. with a good and strong concentric
III o.. arc iiic- pre>trNcrs IN these peris,) which
II wa ia, pcudcd b-i,yren the boat and balloon,
IL and about eight feet above the former and
II within SIX Of the hoop, that the neck of the
II l.t..snu hang in she hI>ket-c ear whenever the
L balloon was full distended. The boat con-
L famed q pounds OF ballast, one bucket ol wa
II Yer. one bucket ut lemonade, with al ahuil-
Il dance ul bread aud wine poultry and sand
Il ,ttcHe~. beside d"liCactes too numerous TO
i e,u.asrate. furnished by kind friends Mr.
l. Mountain took command of the boat and
4 Ia .ast. aud look has p,a,e On one cud; Mr.
Gas..Y .uok the other end and took charge OF
N. charts and compass Mr. HYDE local editor
.t T.. ;. LpRis Rrya5hcgH, took has seat in the
--.- ptAfp .inE am non Isl
ran Although Mr.. Hyde was not in the
ORIGINAL programme, We unanimot,sly agreed
! 10 ie! him accompany us provided 1t would
4 Ha- lAfrTlYfr Ellh our ultimate design: ana as
i- EyaS arranged that. under any circunls ianceS
d when the balloon should fail, the boat and lis
occupants should be disposed Of, and myself
ar Nr la Mountain should proceed with the
Naytgr alone.
IN, basket contained $50 pounds of ballast
/ barometer. Wet and dry bulb. thermometer, be-
side. a quantity of wines and provisions and
look nv place in the basket and charge OF The
valve rope. and. as dIreC tOr Of the general plan
of lhe voyage by the unanimous consent of
! tie party engaged in this long-deyised enter
| PRISE. must say here that Mr.. La MCun tain
took ii charge part of tire programme. that
none but a cool head aud most accomp he'd
aronsut could te trusted with and eS pecjaiiy
me HbGhi sailing At 52G Z. n, we sail from
,Ar Washington Square OF 81 Louis. and our
course AT starting WAS north of e,.st. When
wc got mp and over the Mississippi and we'll
under way. we saw Mr.. Brooks land in a clear
place about sunset.
TIE FIRST NIGHT OUT.
Al --3u L. NJ. the shades of the evening shut
from view The noble city of ST. Louis and
the theT OF waters. though II continued light
until aitcr9. Mr.. La Mountain having suffered
from sickness on Thursday and being too un-
well TO work hard under a UurIiug sun at the
imitation. left much hard labcr for me At that
work. ] submitted the whole thing 10 his
charge for ghe night, with the understanding
Il have me walked whenever he wanted the
valve worked and he look il with alacritv.-
2 4Ela had -
helght az " hich the balloon had become COM
plr1r!y distended, and where W. found The cur
Tcat due east. Here IL became chilly. and Mr..
Ia Mountain. As well aS all of uS. suffered from
The change OF air; and with all the clothing we
could put on us 1t was still uncomfor table
JhOuEh the thermometer stood at IL, and the
barometer at %, and this was the lowest OF
both The instruments during (he whole vow
age, except the crossing of Lake Ontari-.
Mr. IL Mountain proposed 10 take the lower
CurTtnt a, long IT would take lis but few
points north OF east. and told hm 10 do As he
deemed best aud report his reckoning in the
morning After bidding the party III the boat
a good night and God speed coied myself up
IN blankets ana !dld down a. best could, and
Ia a lew moments was sound asleep. and knew
oi nothing but repose until l!:30 D. M
At this time Mr. La Mountain again mount
ed for the upper-Culrcnt, being desIruus OF
making a little moro casting, he hailed me to
open the valve, as the balloon had become so
tense, and the gas WAS gushing from the neck
wiki a noise. but finding no answer from me
:
tle "a. and he admonis ed Mr.. eager To
mount 10 my car Jy Il rope provided tor that
puipOse. and Mr.. eager found ME breathing
spasmJdlCally, bat q good shaking and the re-
moyHl Of the neck OF the bailon from my Iace
with plenty OF pure cold air around me- soon
hruugnl ue back TO a knowledge of what was
goiu- oil. and | resolved 10 sleep no more du.
rag the night
= SCENE AT MIpNIGHT.
A. midnight trlt quite well, with an in Wig.
cIattl spirit ~ OBSERVATION ana III tereSt IN OUl
experiment. Ihe Whole dome of heaven was
1T up with mellow, phosphorescent light, The
stars shohe WltA crystalline brllliancy, and
the milkyway looked like an lllumlna ted
stratum OF cumulu> clouds Whenever we
crossed water, The heaVeu-iI; dome was as Wis
lble below by rejection aS above. So remark
able was Tins phos phOrcScent light of the 1.
lnosphere that the balloon looked trans iuceu l.
and looked like light shining through oiled
paper We could also tell prairie from forest
aud by keeping the eye for a moment down.
ward We could the roads, fences fields
and even houses, quite distinctly at any ele
vauon not over "A mile, ana even III the great
est elevation could discern prairie IRON
woodland and from water
Whenever We halloed, IL was followed by
distinct echo, and even this served a differ
eniial index IL height. We always found
response In numerous bow -woWs-WoWs, ant
these, too Were always indicative of the full
ness and sparseness OF the habitatluns below
as We could hear them for many miles aroun
US. Mr.. Ia Mountain remarked that nobod
lived in that country but dogs, or else the pee
pie barked like dogs, be haNlng got little on
OF humyr, because nobody would tell him i
what State were sailing. and he gave u
the inquiry with the remark that IL must b
over some other country than America, as W
had been moving along at n rapid pace.
PASSING q EE LAKE ERIE.
Ats a. IN. Saturday, came 10 a genera
conclusion that were somewhere over III
STATE of Indiana or ONO AT l II. IN, We pass
ed u city but could not make il OUT, but al ) I:
m. we discovered Lake Erie ahead OF US, ant
then concluded that the city We left a iitti
south OF our track must have been Fort wayne
AT a. m we passed Toledo, ana about al
hour afterward We lowered On the margin o
the lake little north of Sandusky. After
few moments consultation, ana u review o
Uur ballast. we determined 10 FISK The length
of Lake Erie and TO test the notion that bal
looms cannot be kept up long over wafer, be
cause OF some peculiar affinity OF the TWO;
nJstun that never had any belief with me-
Just merged upon the lake, Il little steam
screw that was prUpeIing up river or bay
headed igr our track. aud some one aboard u
hrs very quantity cFIeG aloud 10 AIS : "lhat Il
The Lake ahead of YOU" MIR. La MOuntali
Grid back 4" Is il Lake Erie =" and the an
swer was Yes. it is and you had better lool
ouI." Our good friend the propeller, finding
mat we discarded his kindness, rounded on
AGAIN sounded us goodbye with his steam
whistle, and went ms way up the river.
here we mounted up until the balloon got
!dIl. and the barometer fell to %. i'll order 10
make along near the southern shore OF the
lake, but at Mr.. La Mountain s suggestion,
thdl We could make the city of buffalo by SAIL
IAg but Il few hundred feet above the surface
oi the water, opened the valve until we grad
9ally sank 10 within five hundred feet OF the
water. Here we found a gentle gale OF about
" speed OF a mile per minute, and we resolved
~ ~ neat on 10 until we should heaSe in sight OF
boAaio, ana then rise and sail over H. Ihls
was most interesting part Of our voyage
"t overlook seven steamboats,, passed mutual