The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-12-27
Balloon AscensiOn- Tn,
Greatest Height Ever Attained.

Greatest Height Ever Attained.
We find in the Scientific American an
exceedingly interesting account Of = sue
cesslul balloon ascension, made at VOL
verhampton, England, on the 9Th Of Sep
tember, by Mr.. GlaiSher, Of the Green.
wich Observatory, and Mr.. Coxwell, a
distinguished @ronaut, Cr"UN ~'';"'> ~
make the following extracts
Mr.. COxwell was the manager Of the
@rial machine, and the attention of Mr..
Glaisher was devoted to the reading and
the registering Of his instruments. These
consisted Of hygrometers, barOmeters and
thermometers q three.feet barometer
which had been specially constructed for
the voyage, . stereoscopic camera and a
set Of extremely dry plates for the pur-
pose OF SakeOg% PuOrOgrapn On tine ap.
pearance Of the clouds; and with a view
to watch eHS SiistS vi tne upper ar on the
winged life, Mr. Glaisher likewise provi-
'ded himself with balf-a dozen pigeons, the
experiments upon which proved of a most
interesting character.
The balloon was capable of containing
10000 cubic feet of coal gas, but only
JU, 0c0 ieet' .-Dre~ lt Gas set "a lib
erty at P. NJ, and rose majestically, ta-
king course almost southwest. During
the ten minutes or quarter of an hour that
it remained in sight, the balloon was seen
by hundreds of people but suddenly, at
an altitude of about mile, it became lost
in belt of dark.grey clouds that en-
shrouded the earth from the fiercer rays
of the sun. Immediately on passing
through the clouds, the scene which pre-
sented itself was grand beyond descrip-
tion. The beginning Of their journey had
been performed in an atmosphere that
was darkened and humid but now they
suddenly shot up into an expanse Of
cloudlesS, ethereal blue. Below them was
the earth resembling a planet. 1t was
like looking on country whose frozen
surface extended as far as the eye could
reach; deep creviSe and dark ravine con.
trasted boldly with the lighter and more
ficecy clouds that tow erred aloft and caught
the streaming sunshine. Some were as
white as snow others black, dark grey,
and of shapes fantastic. One would rear
its lofty head upon baseless stem, and
throw its neighborS into a shade as black
as night; another like bald bluff crag,
would sail with a majesty becoming It's
immensity, through minor clouds sur
rounding it; and u third, more light and
delicate, would change its place and hue
as often as the voyagers could observe it,
Added to this was strong sunlight,
which for few moments became 50 in
tense that Mr.. Glaisher had to shade his
instruments. When favorable opnn-.;, .
ni;y presented itself - ...e camera was
brought ~ ~ reQuisitioc, out the balloon
was asce.uIng with such velocity--owing
to the expansion of the gas, and the light
er character of the atmoSphere-thatM Mr..
Glaisher failed to obtain single picture.
AT three miles high the machine was RI.
sing at fearful pace the 10000 feet of
gas had expanded to 10000, and was
oozing out Of the safety valve at the bot
tom of the balloon. Mr.. Coxwell, how
ever, threw out more ballast, and higher
and higher rose the voyagcrs, attaining
an altitude where the cold became intense,
and where Mr.. Coxwell found the power
Of breathing extremely difficult and op-
preSSive. BY Mr.. Glaishcr, however, no
such unpleasant sensation was expert
enced-not even the intense cold; he re.
maincd in a state Of perfect quiet.
When the 2rouautS were at height of
three miles they threw out the first pi-
geon, and it fell earthward like lump of
ead. y few minutes afterward second
pigeon was thrown out, but, after gallant
ly attempting to keep itself on the wing,
it, too, fell far below the car and out O{
sight of the voyageTs; the same results
were observable in the case of third Ii.
gcon but fourth, which was set at lib.
erty at height of four miles, alighted on
the top of the balloon and was lost sight
Of; what became of it afterward the vOy-
ayers are unable to say. On examining
them one was found to be dead: the 9th.
er, carrier, was greatly exhausted, but
able to perch on Mr.. GlaiSher's finger.
When the voyagcrs had attained an al.
titude Of about five miles, Mr.. Glaishcr
began to feel those symptoms that had
well nigh proved dangerous to him, but,
in spite of which he perscvered, making
observations Of importance to science and
meterology. The temperature was below
zero, and gradually descending in an at.
moSphere so thin that the least exertion
caused breathing to be matter of extreme
pain and difficulty. Mr.. Glaisher subse.
quently became unconscious without be-
traying the slightest symptoms of uneasi-
ness, or producing any such effect upon
his companion. MIR. Coxwell's power of
endurance seemed almost wonderful, for,
Notwithstanding his oxertion, climbing in
and out of the rigging, lifting the sand
bags and discharging nearly 1900 pounds
of ballast, he was able to Withstand the
effects of the atmosphere, and save him
self and his companion from being swept
into eternity. At the height of about five
miles, Mr.. Glaisher entered his last as
cending register, recording the tempera-
ture at minus 5 deg, being temperature
about 97 deg below that at the earth's
surface. Mr.. Glaisher then found that his
eycsight began to fail, and he asked Mr..
CoXwell to assist him in reading the in.
strumcntS. Mr.. Coxwcll, however, was
wanted in the rigging to arrange some
Of the cordage, and seeing that their lives
were more important than the discoveries
of science, he at once got into the rigging
Of the balloon to attend to his own par
tcular duties. Mr.. Glaisher in the mean
time was using his spectacles and magni-
flying glasses, but he could ascertain no.
thing except that the barometer stood at
about ten inches. which would indicate a
height Of five and quarter miles. He
had previously felt himself gradually be-
coming unconscious, and had made an
entry to that effect in his minute book
but when he attempted to enter the regis.
tcring Of the barometer, he found that he
could not write. Thinking little stimu.
liant would revive him, he reached out his
hand to brandy.hask that was not more
than foot from where he set; but he
discovered that he was powerlcSs, and
gradually he became unconscious; the
last object he saw was the dim outline of
Mr.. Coxwcll'S figure in the rigging of the
balloon. Directly after this Mr.. Coxwetl