The New York herald., 1863-11-05
THE BALLOON VOYAGE FROM PARIS.
Description or M. Nadar's Great Balloon, !,
the ssGiant'-The Ascent-Inctdents OF
tho Journey, and Descent,

the stGIa nt''-The Ascent-InctdentsO OF
tho Journey, and Descent.
tFrom the Paris Constitutional, Oct. 1911
The balloon was called "The Giant 1t was white.
The car carried some Legs Of
swords Lyons sausagcs, guns, Wild boars head speak
Ing trumpet dinner service in handsome porcelain,
photography. II mounted by Madame La Prncesse dc
Ia Tour dAuvergne, Jules and Louis Godard Messrs.
Tournachon, St. Felix Paiat, Thiron, anonymous in.
dividual, and myself The number thirteen had been
For far too ouS time the cipher thirteen has
iawed and banished from honest numbers was
covered with disgrace, y hid itself and dared never
subterfuge This greved Nadar, who with the philan.
thropy OF excellent heart, at adopted It, ought
TO say that we hoped to gain on the side OF our In
terests and by making towards 1t tho most generous
advances wo counted on Its not playing unkind
trick 1t presented itself TO under the form Of grace.
full woman, tho Princess do la Tour dAuvergne. last
TO the fe and who, on hearing there every
chance Of her breaking neck could not resist being
sthe party. Hcr last orders to her domestic semi
heroc"You will tell them at homo that shall
turn TO night, nor % to morrow nor perhaps will ever
yond saying was happy compromise between an ou
nibus and a champagne basket.
At five minutes TO Ave we quilted tho earth, or rather
the earth must have Quilted u.s. judging from my i'm
presNious OF the moment In one second we were five
never forgotten by those who witnessed IT, Every
object WAS diminished simultaneously. Paris was re.
duced to birds eye view one would have said that The
base Of a cone, OF which We were the summit. The
monuments became ravshng miniatures; the vendome
Column, skittle the Iuileres, playthng; the Made
leine Noahs Ark of Nuremburg manufacture and the
"Arc de Triomphe," dice box.
We directed our movements towards the northwest,
and, II the wind aided us, counted upon reaching St.
Petersburg the next evening Nadar had brought some
a Sad ne maze % US an ssm dca
Poland or the dis United States butwe descended at
Meang Still, we exclaimed with legitimate PRIDE 'we
did not descend there, we fe But let me not antci
the voyage was a very joyous one What had wo to
we not with us the Brothers GODDARD, the most mar.
veous aerial themsevess The Messrs GODDARD are only
Of sAs coua S they apologize When 'D '' VSSt sod
they make their salon in the ether. they look
SOSt am not quite sure that in case Of sn
wreck they would not know how 10 swim-they say no.
but then they are 50 modest AZ six O'Clock n Deessert
appeared the PLATFORM charged with all the neces.
sares for making good meal which assisted at with
expedition, without casting thought that scratch
the silk would terminate IL moro rapidly than do.
parture and the arrival tho interval Of he voyage Itself
Is nothing There is story told Of who. falling
from fifth story addressed the following ferven prayer
during the rapid c0urse-"0hl Lord, do let this
continued"
Night came Ut an early hour; II was sombre and
thick clouds intercepted what still remained 10 OF day
light; still We ascended higher and higher We began TO
traverse some dense vapors that wet to the skin
but assembled the obscurty less intense some
fragments OF clouds carried 70 us the reflection OF dim
light and at last at the distance Of 700 metres the bal
loon came out Of these black masses the light became al
most bright and tho most superb sight offered TO our
view. The heavens above luminous with stars, below
real ocean Of clouds with ts waves Its empesis and
disorders. The Illusion was so complete that for
instant could have sworn saw q vessel the
horizon. The most splendid sights generally
the shortest In traversng clouds our balloon cords
became wet, and consequently heavier, and being
thus overchaged redescended We passed through the
same bath as before but on issuing from the humidity
the cords dried up, and again commenced ascent
rewettng redrying and so on, with the varieties OF
rising and falling for some little time. From this
for the night when an accident occurred 10 arrest
little excursion at the very onset. We descending
Msssrs GODDARD could do was, by miracle Of skill and
attention, TO avoid tumbng on the trees and houses We
Then we heard she S heen
aud we felt a shake that threw us one on
the other. The force Of the balloon such
that the anchor was broken In cutting o poplar by
its trunk. The second anchor cast stuck in the
earth. We moored but the real danger began We
only touched land sufficiently TO 10 rebound OIL
some distance and recommence there the thing.
Ono would have said that some gigantic child mad taken
conseoncnce A. ast ibe ~Gian,n Vas s,d low hos hv
overthrowing the car. How we were not smashed 10
atoms don't know For a.cmax OF misfortune the one
who held the valve cord let In the confusion. Tho
brothers GODDARD and Nadar sprang TO the ground and
tried TO make themselves masters Of the balloon which
dragged its anchor with rghtfl force II the cord had
broken II would have been all with "Let
STIR" cried Nadar on jumping out zone man only should
state we renamed many hours listening with creeping
horror the cord was breaking We were LETT tensn the
car, and woman; she was burt by our fail aud
yet during the whole Of danger had borne herself with
q sang foid and tranquil abnegation that would have
aroused my admiration IN man; but In woman seemed
perfectly natural Some peasants came 10 our aid the
valve opened. the balloon collapsed, and ~ .
we prepared the tsbebut this time on t<vu frrraand
proceeded 10 second rspast aud passed cloth to the
Princess dc Ia Tour dAuvern begging her 10 exert her
talents IN cleaning the glasses. Nadar then procured
vehicle and accompanied fair travelling companion TO
the town. leaving myself and others 70 take care OF
the balloon. In the morning packed up aud sent
On 10 Paris, while we started In the railway
IN terminating, beg 70 thank Nadar for the pleasant
voyagc made IN hts company We had an accident; but
the experience has been conclusive the balloon splen
did, solid and safe, and with less weight could foa;
for The second experiment will be as little DANCE
rous as the first adventurous. Fer my own part.
with the brothers GODDARD would risk traversing the
ocean.
The only emotion, real and anxious. that felt, was at
the moment Of stepping into the railway carriage for
Paris. When saw tho locomotive that was 10 carry
said 10 self, "Now suppose overthrow should take
placc--f some dreadful rencontfe should occur De-
cidedly have longer any confidence 10 such mode
| OF travelling. prefer Nadar.
Account BY a Passenger.