Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-09-13

The PeriIs of Balloon Ascension
and AerieI observation.
once a Week.

One Qull uaJ III du1unh; JuSt 1lVOl NUM-
a balloon rose in the air at the foot Of
elect Hills. on the western edge of the
great central plain of England. 1t was
inflated with the lightest of gases which
chemical skill could produce 1t arose
with amazing velocity. A mile up and
il entered a stratum of cloud more than
a thousand feet thick. Emerging from
this. the sun shone brightly on the air
ship the sky overhead was the c%learest
and deepest blue and below lay cloud
landau Unreasonable expanse Of cloud,
whose surface looked as solid as that of
the earth, now wholly lost to view. Lofty
mountains and deep, dark %ravines ap-
peared below the peaks and sides OF
those cloud mountains next the sun gilt
tered like snow, but casting shadows as
black as if they were solid rock. Up
rose the balloonwith tremendous velocity.
Four miles above the earth A pigeon
was let loose it dropped through the
air as if it had been a stone. The air
was too thin to enable it to fly. 1t was
as if a bark laden to the deck was to pass
from the heavy waters of the open sea
into an inland unsaline lake the bark
would sink at once in the thinner water.
Up, up, still higher The prism, when
opposed to the sun, showed maryelously
clear lines appeared which are invlsi-
bic in the denser atmosphere OF the
earth's surface; but as the car swung
round in its gyrating upward flight the
moment the direct rays Of the sun passed
off the prism, there was no spectrum at
all. The air was so pure, so free from
comparatively solid aqueous matter, that
there was no reflected light the air was
too thin to retain or rfeet any portion
of the rays which fell upon it. And
what a silence profound The heights
of sky were still as the deepest depth of
ocean, where, as was found during the
| search for the lost Atlantic cable, the
fine mud lies as unstirred from year to
year as the dust imporeeptibly gathers
on the furniture of a deserted house. No
sound, no life-only the bright sunshine
falling through a sky which it could not
warm.
Up-fve miles abovethe earth-higher
than the inaccessible summit Of Chimbo-
razo or Dewangiri. Despite the sunshine,
every thing freezes. The air grows too
thin to support life even for a few min
utes. Two men only are in the adgentu-
rous ballOon-the one steering the air
shipt, he other watching the scientific
instrument and recording the changes
with a rapidity bred of long practice.
Suddenly, as the latter looks at his in
strument his sight grows dim, he takes a
lens to help his sight, and can only
mark, from the falling barometer, that
they are still rising rapidly. A flask OF
brandy lies within a foot of him he
tries to reach it, but his arms refuse to
obev his will. He tries to call his COM
rade, who has gone into the ring above
a whisper in that deep stiffness would
sufice-but no sound comes from his
lips-he is voieeless. His head drops
on his shoulder with an effort he raises
tit falls on the other shoulder once
more, with a ~resolute effort, he raises
tit falls backward. For a moment he
sees dimly the figure of his comrade in
the ring above then sensation fails him
and he lies back unconscious. Some
minutes pass-the balloon rising upward.
Seven miles from the earth The steers
man IN down into the car; he sees
his comrade in a swOon, and feels his
own senses falling him. He saw at once
that life or death hung upon a few mo.
ments. The balloon was still rising
rapidly it must be made to descend al
once or they were both dead men. He
seized or tried to seize the valve, in order
to open it and let out a portion of the
initiating gas. His hands were purple
with intense cold-they are paralyzed
they will not respond to his will. 1t
was a fearful moment In another min
ute in their upward flight he would be as
s~ensless as his comrade. But he was q
bold. self-possessed man, trained in a
hundred balloon ascents and ready for
every emergency. He seized the valve
with his teeth it opened a little once
twice. thrice. The balloon began to de-
scend. Then the swooned marksman
heard a voice calling him. "Come take
an Internationally" He heard as in
a dream, but could neither see nor move.
Again he heard, in frmer and command
ing tones, "Take an observation-now
do try." He returned to consciousness,
and saw the steersman stand before him.
He looked at his instruments they must
have been nearly eight miles up but
now the barometer was rising rapidly
the balloon was descending. Brandy
was used. The erOnauts were revived.
They had been much higher than mortal
man, or any living thing had been before
But now they are safe.
Such are the perils which science de-
mands of her v%otaries and which they
encounter bravely and c%heerfully. Such
was the memorable balloon ascent OF
Messrs. Coxwell and Glaisher, from
Wolverhampton, on the 9th of September,
1862. A madness, thousands will say,
a perilous absurdity, a tempting of Provi-
dence. a risking of life for no adequate
purpose. One minute more of lnactlon
on the part of the man whose senses were
failing him, and the air ship, with in
~tensely rarifed gas, would have foated
INTENDED, with two corpses, in the wide
realms of space. What would have be-
come of them? How far it would have
assembled with its lifeless freight how long
it would have Aoated all unseen in the
empyrean, who shall say2
Lockout Mountain CrImbIing 20 Pieces.
Saws the Nashville Press and Times,
of August IS:
We received intelligence last night
from a gentleman running on the Chatta-
nooga Railroad, that an immense seq
ment of Lookout Mountain was detached
from near the top and rolled down
towards the Tennessee with terrific noise.
He assures us that one solid piece alone
must have weighed five hundred tons
1t is thought that some internal forces
are at work disintegrating the mountain.
The people in the n%eighborhoOd aye APP
rrebensive of some impending disaster,