New-York daily tribune., 1859-07-07
THE BALLOON VOYAGE.
MR.. GAGER's STATEMENT.

The Troy Times Of July contains statement
from Mr.. o. 4. eager, one Of toe seronauts of the
"Atlan,c," from which We extract two paragraphs
which contain facts additional 20 those embraced in
Mr.. Wises account published yesterday:
The princ pal feature which the voyagers observed
durn the nig h; the prevalence absut above AMI
under them, of remarkable phosphorescent light,
which seen ed To invest everything, and give i pecu
liar appearance. l. made the balloon look ike globe
OF 6re through oiled paper, as lSe described IT,
IL was easy tell the woods from the open country by
the belts Of black lines which they indicated and on
crossing body Of wafer It seemed 50 though the voy-
agers were passing between two sheets OF hame OF
mellow color which lighted them up, aad gave 20 their
couItensnces and 70 tae objects immediately suTound-
Ing them pfclliar hue. Icis phen9menon was as
agreeable 70 th VINO witnessed it as It was renafka-
bic.
In a few seconds more, the balloon went down with
full swCop upon tp lake Ontario, notwithstanding
Wise had throsn ont heavy vaise, en- express mall
suigiDg ami DO bg asfuly, the waves running from
twelve to ii feen feet high, and moaning as if for the
ending doom Of the aeronalts. The shock was
dreadful one. IL stove in side of the boat and
ierked La Mountain so tina, his nat fell the water
- For Gods sake, John, you out ~ shouted WISE
over the basket. Don't trouble yourselves about
me- gentlemen" was the response I'm all right, and
I'm going to take yon across safe yet Aud over
went the propeller fan, lifting the balloon lew feet
above the water.
The voyagers now began toquestion how they would
be Killed. Wise -ald he @ds Tt-gbed Gager Has VII
Ing 10 70 but fr bis poor wife Hyde was prepared,
but wonld rather die on land than on water Ls Mount
am insisted tha. nobody going 10 be killed, as he
would land them all safe. A moment after, the pro-
peler Young America signaled and asked TO lie 10,
but before she could DO she mile aserp. Wise
now proposed descend swamp the boat and trust To
the chance OF bepg picked up. This La Mountain
peremptoTily refused TO do, declaring that such
movement would be certain death for al. By turning
up the blanks from the bottom Of the boat and throw
Ing off lis heaviest clothing he kept the balloon aOa
util at about 80 the shore was struck in piece of
woods in the town Of Henderson Instantly the anchor
was thrown out. |, rst caught tree an inch in diam
eter but broke il off Ike a pipe stem-the balloon
sursng on with power equal to that of two or three
locomotives. Next the anchor caught in larger tree,
AID the prongs which of an inch and Gu arter
ron, were broken squarely of. Mr.. La Mountain
might at this moment have loose the boat landing
himself and le avipg hs companions 10 their fate but
pse ad of doing So be clambered into the basket de-
termined TO share with them their perls. Overcome
by admiration Mr. Wise sprsng up, exclaimiDg, By
God John, you are hero. If can come out alive,
you shall have gold medal aud the credit OF saving
us all" Al this moment the balloon, which was
whirlipg over the treesthe voyagers cnging TO the
basket and sometimes hangirg head dowaward-struck
a msn branch Of a moDstroOs oak, head on. Awiy
vent balloon car aud llnb hundred feet in the air,
and down aga with fearful plunge, leaving all sus
pended in the air alive and safe, the balloon torn ffOm
TOP 10 bottom but the only passenger injured being the
hero Of the voyage, Mr.. La Mountain who was badly
bruised in the side.