The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1859-07-14

swamped, the balloon would still have mo.
mentum and power sufficient to drag US to
shore, which happily had by this time sp.
peared in the dim distance. A propeller
called "YouDg Americs," shortly afterwards
bore down upon US to come to our relief,
hut we scudded some hundreds Of feet before
her bows, and so that hope failed.
Finally, after skimming within forty feet
of the dark waves for distance OF not less
than fifty miles, and perhaps more, we had
the Joy to know that we were out OF danger
of drowning but new peril was before US.
Prof. Wise had been quite right in bis pre-
diction. The hurricane blew US immediate
Iy into o dense forest, which skirted the lake,
and threatened to tear US limb from limb.
Mr.. eager had thrown out the anchor,
heavy iron one with three hooks, each an
inch and q quarter in thickness. So rapid
was our fight that this stood out nearly
straight from the car. As the grapple
swung against tree OF moderate size, the
velocity of the balloon and its terrible
strength would tear it down and fling it 10
the ground. One by one the hooks broke
off, and we were again at the mercy oil the
all sweeping wind. Mr.. La Mountain and
discharge the gas, but we were quickly COM
PEELED TO release our grasp, and cling to the
concentrating hoop" to avoid being thrown
out. 1t has been before stated that the
meshes enveloping the silk of the Atlantic
had an aggregate strength of one hundred
and twenty tons.
1t is not strange that it was sometime be-
fore these strong cords were broken. The
balloon actually went through mile of for.
est, and, tearing down trees and breaking
branches, pursued its resistless course, dash
ing our party in the willow car, to and fro
against trunks and limbs, until the stout
netting had broken little by little and the
balloon itself had no longer any protection,
when striking tall tree the silk was punc-
tured in dCzen. places and rent into ribbons,
leaving the car suspended by the net work
twenty feet above the ground.
The course of the balloon through the
woods left path similar to that of lorna
do. Trees half the size of a mans body
were snapped in twain as though they were
pipe stems, and huge limbs were scattered
like leaves. 1t is difficult to see how any
one of the quartette escaped with his life.-
1t happened that the landing was made
within one hundred and fifty yards of set
tlement, and the crash was SO great that the
people run to the spot to see what had hap.
pened Singular as it would appear, there
was only one of the four injured in the least
Mr.. La Mountain received some slight con
tusons about one Of his hips-the remainde
escaping without a scratch.
When we got down, which was done part
ly by means of ropes and partly by means o
a broken tree, several persons were stand
Ing around with open eyes nnd mouths star
ing out wonder. We then learned that w
had landed on the farm OF Truman y
Whitney, near Sackett's Harbor. in th'
township of Henderson, Jefferson county
New York. By Mr.. La Mountain's watct
the time was two O'Clock twenty minutes
We had been nineteen hours and forty min
utes travelling distance which cannot bt
computed at less than nine hundred miles
and is said to reach as much as twelve hun
dred.