Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-10-24
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Balloon Voyage Across Lake Erie.

An Rr0naut named thompson, VINO
recently ascended at Toronto, Canada,
and descended near Cleveland, gives the
following account Of his apparently per-
ilous trip: 14
"The balloon ascended at 4:4O, and
from the velocity the balloon was travel
ing at, / soon perceived it was foolish to
try to descend. 1t soon became evident
to me that landing in Canada WAS out
of the question, and that all arrange
ments must be made to be driven across
the lakes The first thing that struck
me was to drop the grapnel to the full
extent, 120 feet. This acted as guide
to the distance the balloon might be kept
above the surface Of the water; it being
now dark, and, by placing one hand on
the rope, the effect of the grapnel strik-
ing the water was distinctly felt. With
an open bag of ballast on my knee, every
time the grapnel struck the water, a
couple of handfuls of sand were thrown
out-and to this plan alone owe my
own preservation and success.
"The ballast taken was about three
hundred and fifty pounds. For three
hours that plan was carried out, and
then came on one of the most drenching
and merciless rains l have ever felt. /
could not see fifteen feet before me, and
the noise of the rain on the balloon and
the water was such as to entirely unnervs
me. MY hands became numb, and l was
drenched to the skin. l now began to
perceive my position more accurately,
though determined not to give up until
all the ballast and movables were gone.
The rain wasmaking the balloon heavier
every moment, and the ballast was
thrown out more freely, until about 10
o'clock, when the fatigue overcame me.
I fell into q stupor for u few moments
BY this time the balloon had descended
to within ak feet OF the water, and in
stantly out went twenty-eight pounds
of ballast. The effect of this was that
the balloon rose to an altitude of mile,
entirely through the rain-clouds, and
then the moon shone brilliantly, and in
this position II remained about u quarter
of an, hour. The effect of the moon
shining on the cloud beneath was such
rs any artist might be proud of. The
shadow OF the balloon was distinctly to
be seen travelling over the rough and un-
even clouds, giving the idea Of a balloon
race. Every thing now became calm
No longer the hum of the lake or the
rain. All was still, but whether the
storm still ragged beneath was unknown.
As the balloon descended, II was evident
o change had come over the scene. The
rain had ceased, and the appearance of
every thing was OF the darkest hue /;
whether 1t was an under stratum of dark
| clouds could not be known. Suddenly q
glimmer Of light was seen for moment;
then, with anxious eyes cast down to
perceive any object, at last small squares
with darker margins We're clearly visible.
These proved to be the fields and hedges,
and they appeared TO vanish as quickly
as objects passed when In an express
train. A town was ut last seen, and
heard the sound of musical instruments.
1 then called out to know where was,
but the reply was unintelligible. They
however, saw II was balloon. About
two miles further on the grapnel caught
In large oak tree, and held fast. This
afterwards proved to be q little village
near Cleveland. Then l called out lust
ily; the sounds of persons singing ant
playing music were heard. These proved
TO be four young men who had been to I
ball. They were natives of CLEVELAND
and as they advanced nearer my vote
was heard. They at once act to work b
pull the balloon out Of the woods ant
conveyed 1t TO field, where II could b
folded up. 1t was then 8 o'clock In til
morning."