The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1866-08-18
CHICAGO, AUGUST IS, 1866

| approached him This time fortune seemed
! to favor us. We succeeded in placing hand
upon his shoulder, when with loud horrid
yell AMI q convulsive start, he sprang Up
right In doing so he dropped his revolver,
but retained his knife
}, Quick as thought | seized the precious
weapon and presented il full at his head
He Immediately comprehended his danger,
and uttered another shrill cry, which, how
ever, seemed full OF sorrowful pathos. He
seemed to realize that the odds was against
him, and hais.ly placing his knife in its
former resting place, he seiz4d the strong
netting, swung himself out Of the car, and
commenced climbing up on the outside Of
the balloon. An involentary cry of horror
escaped our lips simultaneously at this un
expected act Of daring, and we watched his
form IN its assent, until it was hid from vie "
by the buiging side Of the balloon. We
fully expected to see him loose his dangerous
hold and fall to the distant earth.
Suddenly an idea seemed to strike De
Lacy-a fearful one it vas, too.
i my God u he exclaimed, as his face
paled like the winter snow, "he may cut the
balloon with his knife and then we are
lost y
/ Twas a sickening thought, and for = few
\ seconds, it seemed ike hours to US, 4 gazed
speechless at each other. 1t suddenly
seemed to me as If we had already COM
menced to descend, instead of going up, and
completely overcome by my fears sank to
the bottom Of the car unconscious
/ How long remained in that state never
exactly knew, but finally my scattered senses
returned, and raising on my elbow | looked
about me.
Good God De Lacy was gone from the
car
He had also lost consciousness and fell
from the balloon : Ii must be so This
terrifying thought well nigh drove the breath
from me as contemplated it; but struggled
against my emotion and managed to rise to
1 to my feet.
| The first thing that met my eye was my
friends coat and hat laying near my feet
Surely TINS meant something De Lacy
might yet be safe was suddenly startled
in these thoughts by the violent careering
of the balloon from side to side, as though
heavy weight was being brought to bear
upon the top, and almost Immediately after
stifed cry. Then dark body shot past
me, down, down, to the world below 1t
went BY with the velocity of thought, and
could make nothing out of it. Was it the
maniac @ronaut?
| looked up and asked myself the question,
and beheld the form Of man coming down
the netting ] recognized with incontroIl-
able JOY the striped pantaloons Of De Lacy,
and when he arrived safe in the car, we fell
into each others arms, and wept, yes wept,
but they were tears Of thankfulness and joy
at our final escape from fearful death.
then comprehended all !
! When that terrifying thought of the
maniac cutting hole into the CONVEYANCE
occurred to my friend, he saw one course Of
action necessary to prevent the catastrophe,
and that was to follow VI. Canon and the
brave man did
When he reached the top OF the balloon
he beheld the madman with his back to-
wards him in the very act. He had not sue
ceeded in his intent as yet but with one
hand clutched in the netting and the knife
in the other he was about to give q fierce
blow upon the expanded silk With his
usual forethought, De Lacy had taken care
to place the revolver in his pocket, 50 that
in case he should need It the weapon would
be handy He now drew it from its resting
place with one hand and struck the maniac
heavy blow upon the back with it. NJ
Canon had not seen him coming up the side,
and the rap" was the first iDtimation he
had received Of his foes presence With D
start, he partially turned around and made
. furious thrust at De Lacy with his knife.
But he miscslculated the really short dis
tance, and the force Of the blow caused him
to lose his equilibrium, and he rolled from
the top of the balloon against the fearless
De Lacy. The combined weight of the two
causedsthe ropes TO strain fearfully, and the
balloon to careen rather uncomfortably, es-
pecially as the madman kept struggling to
regain his position.
There was only one way about il, either
De Lacy or his foe must 90 to the earth be-
low, and naturally wishing it to be the ma
MAC, he bent suddenly, and NJ Canon rolled
from him into the air with one long despair
/ ing cry. How terrible was his fatei
Having the management of the Comet en-
tireiy left to himself now, my daring friend
opened the valve gradually, and in q short
time We were within half mile of Paris.
Never shall forget the pIeasurable emo
tions that filled my bosom, as. | finally
stepped from the car to the solid earth once
more. No pen can do justice to them. But
the fearful peril Of that balloon ride so far
above the "unconscious world" had turned
my black hairs IS gray rs the frost Of win
ter, and in q manner affected the natural
buoyancy Of my spirits.
i At Paris took painful leave Of the dsr-
ing, noble De Lacy. never saw him again
He died within year after our extraordi-
nary adventure, and while was journeYing
in my own land-bright America.
4 The body Of NJ. Canon was subsequently
found--a shapeless mass--and buried in Z
lonely grave near the spot where he had
fahen.. He had long been crazy upon the
widely different subjects OF oallooning and
riches, though ut times be had rational
periods. | am old now, very old, but
shall never forget my fearful balloon ride
with maniac. a4
4 The Daty OF Government 60 the
Il 9 Industrial Glasses.
In the course Of long and brilliant ora
ton before the House Of Representatives, on
the 9th Of July, the Hon. Samuel S. Mar
shall, Of this State, spoke ~ follows:
4 Mr.. Chairman, it 10 difficult to speak with
patience or decorum Of the Measure now be
lA~.ftA u...eo 4, III -. t-.Al