Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1861-05-10

.atiHiir III us waters, II must 20 across to
Texas. nor stop till it floats in every State
and Territory.
Adventures Of an Aeronaut.
FROM CINCINNATI TO SOUTH CAROLINA IN SIX
" HOURS. "
Prof" 7. s. G. Lowe made balloon as
censon from Cincinnati on the Goth or April
starting about five o'clock in the morning
About sunrise he was over Falmouth. XIV.
from th'ncc his course was cnsword His
trip is thus described by himself in one Of
tn Cincinnati papers:
The rays Of the sun upon the balloon
| caused me gradually to ascend, and at 7
o'clock the barometer indicated an elevation
of Ii 900 feet At this height. my appetite
being rather sharp. | partook Of a hearty
| breakfast. after which took my glass, for
the purpose of hunting out objects of inter
| est. and by the aid Of which | could discern
high peaks OF mountains on the cast rn hori.
ZOn, also to the northeast and southeast
At quarter past 8 o'clock was passing over
hllly section of country, and fast approach.
ing tall mountains. ] was now south Of the
Ohio river, and could not discern it even
with "a telescope. ! now concluded that the
| cours'. was then pursuing would take mc to
M Chesapeake Bay, considerably south Of
ashinHton, as that city was due east from
cincinnati. and was moving east north beast.
Al O'Clock ! was passing over the north, rn
range OF the Cumberland Mountains, and
here my course changed to the south east -
u low, and for miles around, was barren
wilderness, but at some distance ahead
could see occasionally Farm house. Being
dcsironS OF asccrtaining with more certainty
my exact whereabouts. let Off gas, and
gradually descended to within a short dis.
lance OF earth, with the hope of seeing some
one to inquire Of AS I passed along here.
found strong current blowing directly to
the south. Seeing some persons at work in
hnld, descended near to them, and asked
" What State is this ~ The men. without
answering, looked in all directions but ,,p
wards, and fearing that | should miss them.
again sang out at the top Of my voice, when
the reply came, 9 Virginia, they still look
Ing to a cluster of bushes, from whence prob
ably came the echo. then asked what
county, and threw out scmc sand to clear
! the tops OF some tall trees. This struck the
ground with a spattcI and caused them to
look up, and instead Of answering the u,lcs-
tion a yell Of horror arose from them, and
it the fetncss Of foot is any Indication Of
fright, they must have been terribly fright.
cnrd.
was now mounting upwards but .till in
the influence OF the soathcrly current. and hv
the course | had taken concluded I was
near the township OF Jtffcrsonvllc. j At
fifteen minutes to 10 o'clock crossed the
Alleghanics, going but tritlc east of south
VII mi u, Il II ISs
Ridge mountains, extending both north and
south as far as the eye could see, and seem.
ed to obstrlct my passage in that direction
When about half way between these tro
ranges Of mountains, found very deem
current moving south. Here could have
discharged ballast, and arisen ont of the in.
fiucncc OF the mountains, but knew the
country was rough and there was but little
communication for hundreds of miles around
and to ascend high enough to reach the cas.
tern current would require nearly all tho hal.
last had, and by so doing might he
Obliged to descend on the other side. far from
ralroad-sO thought it hest to sail down
thc s.dc OF the mountains and come out over
the lowest points. Looking to the south
southeast J could distinctly see the highest
peaks OF the Blue Ridge mountains. which
""S" u''uSu ANoiti anu Iootltu NarOl1na.
Feeling uneasy. lest should get into South
Carolina before could get out ofthe current
formed by the mountains. l discharged
quantity OF ballast and again assembled, with
the hope OF clearing them to the north: hut
rs ] ntareI them ! again glanced off to the
South, until near the highest peaks. when be-
ing determined to test the reliability Of the
upper current. in that nnfavoralle spot. |
immediately discharged 80 pounds OF ballast.
and IN ten minutes my elevation was $4,000
tect, with gas rapidly discharging from the
upper and lower valves, and then contin.
ucd to discharge weight and let of gas until
! attained an elevation OF 1900 feet above
the sea. Here, the thermometer fcll to 1O-
below zero the water, fruit, and other things
irozc, and it required all the clothing and
blankets had to keep me warm. But had
gained one victory-I had cleared the noun
tains, whose tops were covered with snow.
and was rapidly moving to the east. was
now IL O'Clock, and could distinguish the
blue ocean IN the eastern horizon. Not hay-
ing sufficient ballast to remain at that great
altitude, the balloon gradually sank down to
within 10000 feet Of the earth. Here. the
current was little south Of east again. and
knowing that the coast in that direction was
an uninhabitcd swamp, and being desirous Of
landing near railroad, concluded to de.
cend aud look out good place. Ihcard the
firing Of cannon, and concluded was ncar
sonc village; and on nearing the earth, over
a plantation, caused great CONSERVATION
among the inhabitants, who seemed 10 be
entirely unacquaintcd with such a scene. and
It was some minutes before any one could be
persuaded to approach; and when thcy did