The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1859-07-16
VOL HI-NO. 12. WHOLE NO. 1l6. s"~~~--~5 z~-~~~~~.
THE GREAT BALLOON KxPERIMExr.
Defail- and Incidents OF the Trip

Defail- and Incidents OF the Trip. .4
| The ST. Louis Republican, ssh inst, con-
tanned a lengthy, and highly graphic and
/! interesting account of the recent voyage OF
4 the great balloon Atlantic. which left Sain.
: Louis on the evening of Friday, JulyD l. ST,
/ and landed near the eastern shore of Lake
/ Ontario early in the afternoon of the next
day. We give the pish of the narrative in
the following extracts:
| THE CARGO.
| The cargo consisted OF nine hundred lbs.
Of sand in bags, large quantity of cold
| chickens, tongue, potted meats, sandwiches,
ETC.: numerous dark colored, long necked
vessels, containing champagne, sparkling
! eatawba, sherry, claret, madeira, brandy
and porter; plentiful supply of ovsrcoats,
! shawls, blankets and fur gloves, a couple
or three carpet bags, choek-ful of what is
! expressed in that convertible phrase 6: a
change" a pail of iced lemonade and a
! bucket OF water: compass, barometer,
thermometer and chart; bundles Of the
! principle ST. Louis newspapers an express
! package 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 es-
capped me.
THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS.
The city Of ST. Louis was an imposing and
, magnificent spectacle, showing that, large
as knew her exten. of territory to be, fill
ed up with the most substantial evidences Of
commercial power and wealth, had not,
from passing through her streets and view
ing the mighty arteries throbbing with all
the elements of busy life and trade, formed
any adequate conception Of her real great
ness. As it would not be easy to sketch on
canvas a correct view of a city, as seen from
above. similarly difficult must be the under
taking when essayed on paper. From a
general appearance of fsquattiness--the word
may no, be very elegant, but is the only one
suggesting itself which conveys the idea
objects gradually became less clearly de-
fined; the smokelfrom the foundries disap-
peared in the sky; streets grew narrower
and finally the city faded into II spot. By
this time the barometer had fallen four
inches, and the balloon commanded an e1-
tended view of the Mississippi, Missouri and
Illinois rivers. Leaving the noblest of riv
ers to the left, had an opportunity 70 re-
alize, as much as is possible to a practical
person, the meaning of poetic dreamers
when attempting to portray the sivery glit-
| tering sheen of the waters, produced by the
ruys Of the declining sun. Nothing could
| be imagined more gorseously beautiful.
RARE EXPERIENCES IN THE UPPER AIR.
AT. ten minutes past seven O'Clock the ba-
rometer stood at 24' and the thermometer
indicated 50 deg. had now the singular
sensation about the ears which has been de-
scribed as the experience of all ;eronauts on
their first voyage. 1t was unpleasant and
annoying, hut by no means painful; very
much such feeling as one has when, While
bathing, these organs become stopped up
with water, making the tympanum crate
rather harshly at any sound. The monster
vessel had expanded good deal since the
ascension, and had acquired a more rotund
and symmetrical appearance than that cx-
hibited upon starting. 10 few minutes
gas was blown off from the tube at the
mouth of the balloon, the signal that it had
become inflated to its fullest capacity. Pro-
fessor Wise. who had charge of the rope
connecting with the valve at the top, prompt
" gave it pull. and Immediately thereaf
ter quantity of blush vapor tloated oifand
circled upwards. This was at fifteen min
utes after seven O'Clock. A quarter Of an
hour later. the air-ship had descended very
considerably, the barometer indicating %
inch and the thermometer Gj deg. All
this time the hnnpy quartette had been con-
versing about the magnlticence of the scene
~, relating anecdotes, and watching with
interest the progress Of Mr.. Brooks balloon
the ''Comet," which had preceded US from
Washington Square. Every vestigc Of st.
Louis had now vanished from our sight.
and we were drifting at a wonderful rate of
sreod towards our far of destination. | do
aot think ever before experienced such
exhiIe7ation of sprit--such real joy. Our
motion was perfectly steady. There was no
rocking Of the boat or car. no rustlng of
/ the silk, nothing, indeed. but the rccedng
forests and fields beneath. to tell us we were
not poised between earth and sky in dead
calm. TO have been apprehenslvc OF dan
ger would have been next to impossible
| to have felt fear would have been, not cow
ardice. but rusilianimlty. My feeling was
that bailooning, besides being the most p ca
SAINT and swift. was the safes, mode of tray
! Ell known. With us no breath of breeze was
stirring. The buoyant down OF thistle,
released from the willow car. would have
! fallen to the boat by its own specific gravl-
tv. In all this calmness our monster bub-
7 BE f0atei through the clouds. Twilight
was on the earth, and gave to the soil the
appearance of frozen lakes. by this time
/ the sun had set to the inhabitants of the
earth, though to US it was four or tve de-
grees above the horizon. At thlrty-two
minutes after seven we saw our escort. the
Comet. which looked like a mere bladder,
efIecting a landing far to the north vest
q" Too much credit cannot be given " to the
extensive range of moro than telescope Wis
ion possessed by the inhabitants Of Pana.
Illinois, and the citizens of Fort Wayne.
/ Ip,iiana. whose delighted eyes were blessed
with a srccial and exclusive sight Of Mr..
Brooks baiou. at one place at one O'Clock.
4. NJ. and at the other some three hours
later.
! At thjrtv-six minutes after seven o'clock,
we were favored with view Of sunset, such
as no painter could depict, nor any euthu-
asst describe.
Above. it has been mentioned that, at
half-past1 o'clock, the barometer Indicated
- inches. /, NAV be necessary 10 refresh
the readers recollection here BY stating that
the use pf the barometer is to measure the
difTersn, degrees Of atmospheric weight or
pressure. bv the rise and fall Of mercury IN
/ tune. Inc EEtseute va '"S va
. We ascend from the earth, the medium alti-
,ude of the mercury at the surface beng
from twenrv-nine to thirty inches. The dt-
intuition Of the density Of the atmosphere
i. perceptIbIe on lofty hill, and is proper.
tionablr greater, Of course, at more decided
/ heights. 4; ten minutes past seven o'c1ock,
the finger Of the barometer had pointed to
~, showing an altitude of l mile. Thus,
it will be observed, tha. in twenty minutes
we bad descended rapidly to the earth, and
the explanation is apparent that this dspres-
SION was the result Of the discharge OF gas,
the buoyans powe:. To atone for the De.
SCENT it vas in turn requisite to ihrov on
ballast and lessen the weight the balloon
had to carry, which Was done By opening
{ bag Of sand and dropping few handtu!is'
/ At : O'Clock. the mercury IN the baVometTi-
cal tube told Is inches, and five minutes
subsequent. - IL. which showed that our
gallant ship had lifted herself up wonder
fuIlv. The RISING of the fluid was not the
oniv way bv which we knew We had been ai-
tanning greater altitude, for we now en-
loved the rather unusual occurrence of be-
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