The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1865-08-10
4 Balloon Adventure.

A great balloon ascension rccentl,
took place in Iceland. in which 4 nun
her It ;,ersans wen ~, under he charge
"f NJ. Coxw ~, who il distinguished
rs All aeronaat One ef,hc party thus
narra'es the sequel # the affair:
When Mr s.,xwell prorcsci to dc
scend he gave "a us b. .,r;ctrsi in>trnc.
'ions how - behave. H" told ns 70 81
down at the bottom OF tho basket, with
our backs towards the willow wo, k
and I" leave unr limbs in an easy I'M
constrained position. He forewarncd
us Of the heavy knocks and bumps VI
should get, and trld us not to mind
them. On landing lie told us to &c,
out one by one, and not 10 LEI go on,
hold of the car on any account, as The
gas in the balloon was now compare
lively exhausted and i, had bu, little
bu"yancy left. In spite Of Mr.. Cox
wells injnnctions, some Of the passen
gers could not be induced 10 sit down
When the car struck the ground and
was carried along with great violence
knocking us about severely, the excite
ment got intense. Some prayed aloud
) others shouted 10 ''lel cff The gas"
others cried ont 1--WE are all los,'-iu
short, they behaved in the widest man
ner, losing completely their self control.
Several of them now pulled at The valve
cord Violently, and there appeared "a
''e Il general panic. We who sat down
chewing Mr.. Cnxweli's commands
were 'ramp'cd upon by others, as ii i,
we're Struggle fer life. A, last the
| grapncl caught and lhc car settled
down fqaalely on Tie ground
when Mr.. C"xw,ll gave the or0er to
gel "nt hut repeated his IL functions
70 leave the car one by one, and by all
means 10 bold ,u tn The basket until Al
were ,nt Tns,raa of that it was =
s.fam'..e, each man for limsrlf-,h,
ni1rc powerful men ihrEsting back the
acsk.r; hose getting ont first aban
.,'sa,.:: l:"t. al, al The car a, soon 4.
| t'ey feac.l.,! s.,l,l ground; Others
.nt#a-s s'A.ts = - Mr. C.xwcil. he'll ],
sa't $ ef# s. ;s.'.f e let ge, wh.n tho
aai asa tef4,ts g e wei.l fS"ver.l
sst'F .ts fss 8esa WI received hua
igts> 4 t4.a .tisn.n,a in In; a yer,
s. mf'Heha la ti.sf alon climbed
ttaa t#ta sses'. he balloon was al
s"s1f Al 'ea.t Il 81; fee high, an,l
- ...i{ ~i''l eir#ia conn ,nion. Mr.
Hafsa. ". .',x~vi and some Il
th. 7 i'l>>sn1,as ':,nl 10 hold on To / &
cahie. but their strength Was not ale
gua'e to the task the anc'.a, broke
ln"s", and OF W. v ent. rising to height
If ahnn, one thousand feet. Nv com
panlon saii calmly, "The Lord hav.
mercy upon Us; our lives are lost. We
had better be resigncd.' l was look. !.
ing out for the valve cord 10 pull he
valve, but could not find it. A, length
| discovered It. en,ang!.d in The netting
| ,nllcd i, but alas il had no longer
any connection with the valve. Nv
comp anion, who saw me occupied with
The cotdagc, asked me whether under
stood the management Of balloon.
No." | replied bnt if | did, it would
he Of little avail, since the valve cord 10
broken About the same time dis
covered that We wee agsin falling. SO
| called out to my comral ion 10 cheer
up that VIC might sc. he saved. W.
were gradually coming nea,er to the
ear'b, and the anchor .as then striking
the ground from time IL time looked
out tor assistance, but cnnll discover
none in the mountain wilderness We
were then careering over. Al length !
saw several met, to whom | Shouted
ON fr htlr. They however, sta,irg
with vacant gaze, stood motionlcss Ike
80 many statues EDWARDS We swept.
saw another batch Of men, to whom
made the appeal hut with similar re
>nt S.m- remained mn,iunlcss a
man and waman ran away 81 full
/ speed aud one .all fellow actually
fltaNpsa ,iu"n on his tace. struck down
lstt ,f,r, orwa,d We swrp.-,hrn i
i2af!tl eaneps s,on ot the car-'hc
ia inss' Ha,' git 'pf,pa,c for =
hstalps shau5ca a. M c,mran,on
a'Hasf inua9iafe';. he .luen snrgcd
si4Rn, H.s. at;e,we,'s Ne ear struck
f.F a6 Mr. Usi.tai, was pitched
iatie 5ai bs lhe .hleaea Il" shock
W6i-t 4as lfawa he netting,
.and 81 back assa anta t.a ear |
'.3sai ~ scramble Iltangh. hv4ynes.
ba' l was in an ins,art again house.