Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1863-10-30
From tAe Bangor papers.
Prof. Kings Account Of the
Balloon Excursion.

y six dours' passage from Bangor to
the centre OF the British Provinces IN a
balloon, is, perhaps, trip worth talking
about, although it is very seldom indeed
that so lengthy a voyage is made by the
way of the clouds To US it was especl-
ally interesting and no part OF 1t was
more 50, perhaps, than the great wilder
ness over which we passed on our way.
The Balloon with which the ascension
@as made is the largest now In use IN
America. having surface Of one thous-
and square yards and capacity of up
wards Of fifty thousand cu5ic feet. The
gas was furnished by the Bangor Gas
Light Company through their mains.
1t was generally understood, that ii
possible, few asceusions would be mad2
by means of rope aud winlIass, aud
with the view Of gratifying some who
desired it, three short trips We're maIe
previous to the grand ascension, which
seemed to greatly enjoyed by all the
passengers.
About enc o'clock preparations were
made for the final ascent, and, accordmg
to previous arrangement, Captain Caas.
b. Sanford, Timothy Field, Esq, Mr., Il,
u. Cary and myself stepped into and oc-
cupiel the car. Provision was made
for long voyage, camping out in the
woods, getting becalmed over the forest,
Or any other unforeseen necessity that
might oceur. We had variety Of good
things. but the most notable was certain
cold owl that we tried to make a lunch
on sometime while in the air, and which
some of the party insisted was the idcn-
teal one that crowed when Peter denied
his master.
Our excursion was not for scientific
purposes and therefore, the instruments
we carried were simply number Of
green glass generators, for the purpose
of obtaining little extra gas and keep
ing the party high when the balloon
showed a tendency to dcccnd,
At about quarter past enc o'clock
we cut the rope and started on our airy
flight. Could we have been weighed at
tbs time, it would have been found
perhaps, that the balloon, sand, and pas
sengers weighed about 10 pounds less
thln nothing The first move was to
see that the meetin.-house steeple didn't
run into US and smash up things, then a
grand " hip, hip, hurra,' at the top OF
our voices then to mount into the
hoop and uufurl the streamers OF E" tell
tales, " by which we can discover in a
moment whether the balloon was rising
or falling. What are the boys saying
down in the basket ? Make room and
let me down amongst you. | find them en-
deayorng to ascertain the state oil each
other feelings. One says, L don't feel
any dizziness, do you ?" and he answers
" No there dent seem to be anything
to be afraid Of" Not at all We fee
lust as comfortable as at home, " only
more So"
But isn't this grand! What an inn
mensc view VIC get Sec where We start
ed from The people can only be seen
where they stand in crowds. What
village is this ahead ? That's Neazie
and there is Orono and Oldtown ; and
look there's Mount katahdin ; and see
the ponds, lakes, and rivers Mind that
one Did you ever see anything SC
crooked in all your life To say its as
crooked as a snakes winlinss, gives bat
feeble idea of it That must be Pas
sadumkeag river.
Now we are right over Oldtown,-
exactly two O'Clock. At that rate we
must be travelling sixteen miles an hour
And now, boys. lets give them song
/ We got up one for the occasion, and sing
1 The g Star Spangled Banner is watteC
through the air, as We go sailing along