The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1868-06-17
Miscellany.


One dull day in autumn, just after noon,
balloon rose into the air at the foot OF elect
Hills, on the western edge OF the great cen
trail plain OF England. 1t was inflated with
the lightest of gases which chemical skill
could produce; it rose with amazing velocity.
A mile up, and it entered a stratum of cloud
more than thousand feet thick. Emerging
from this, the sun shone brightly on the air.
ship; the sky overhead was OF the clearest
and deepest blue; and below lay cloudland-
an 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 appeared below; the
peaks and sides OF those cloud mountains
next the sun glttering like snow, but casting
shadows as black as if they were solid rock.
UP rose the balloon with tremendous veloci-
ty. -Four miles above earth A pigeon was
let loose; it dropped down through the air as
if it had been stone. The air was too thin
to enable it 10 fly. 1t was as if bark
laden to the deck were 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 higherl The spectrum, when opposed
to the sun, showed marvelously clear; lines
appeared which are invisible in the denser
atmosphere on the earths surface; bnt as the
car swung round in its gyrating upward
flight, the moment the direct rays of the sun
passed Oft the prism, there was no spectrum
at all. The air was so pure, so free from the
comparatively solid aqueous matter, that
there was no reflected light; the air was too
thin to retain or reflect any portion of the
rays which fell upon it, And what silence
profound! The heights of sky were as still
as the deepest deptn of the ocean, where, as
was found during the search for the lost At
lantic cable, the fine mud lies as unstirred
from year to year as the dust which imper-
ceptably gathers on the furniture in desert
ed house. No sound no life-onIy the bright
sunshine fall ing through sky which it could
not warm.
Up-five miles above earth higher than
the inaccessible summit of Chimborazo or
Dawangiri. Despite the sunshine, every
thing freezes. The air grows too thin to
support life, even for a few minutes
Two men only are in that adventurous bal
loon-the one steering the air-ship, the other
watching the scientific instruments, and re-
cording them with rapidity bred of long
practice. Suddenly, as the latter looks at his
instruments, his sight grows dim; he takes
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
foot of him; he tries TO reach it, but his
arms refuse to obey his will. He tries TO call
to his comrade, who has gone into the ring
above; whisper in that deep stiffness would
suftice-but no sound comes from his lips
he is voiceless. His head droops on his
shoulder; with an effort he raises tit falls
on the other shoulder; once more, with a
resolute effort, he raises tit falls back
ward. For moment he sees dimly the
figure of his comrade in the ring above
then sensation fails him-he lies back, un-
conscious. Some minutes pass the bal
loon still rising upwards Semen miles
above earth! The steersman comes down
into the car; he sees his comrade in swoon
and feels his own senses falling him.
He saw at once that life or death hung up
on few moments. The balloon was still
rising rapidly; it must be made to descend at
once, or they were both dead men, He
seized or tried to seize the valve, in order to
open it and let out portion of the initiating
gas. His hands are purple with intense cold
they are paralyzed, they will not respond
to his will. 1t was fearful moment. In an
other minute, in their upward flight, he
would be senseless as his comrade. But he
was a bold, selfpossessed man, trained in
hundred balloon ascents, and ready for every
emergency. be seized the valve with his |
teeth; it opened a little-once, twice. thrice. |
The balloon began to descend. Then the |
swooned marksman heard voice calling to |
MIN, Come, take an observation-tryp He |
heard as in dream, but could neither see
nor move. Again he heard in firmer and
more commanding tones, stake an obserya- |
tion--now then do try" He returned to |
consciousness, and saw the steersman stand
ing before him. He looked at bis instrr1- |
ments; they must have been nearly eight |
miles up; but now the barometer was rising |
rapidly-the balloon was descending. BRANDY |
was used. They had been higher above
earth than mortal man or any living thing,
had ever been before. But now they were
safe.
Such are the perils which Science demands |
OF her votaries, and which they encounter |
bravely and cheerfuliy. Such was the mem |
orable balloon ascent of Messrs. Coxwell and /
Glaisher from Northampton, on the 5th of |
September, 1862. A madness thousands will
say-a perious absurdity, a tempting of |
Providence, a risking of lie for no adequate
purpose. Ohe minute more of inaction-of
compulsory inaction-on the part of the
steersman, whose sens,s were failing him,
and :he air-ship, with its intensely rarefied gas
would have been floating INTENDED, wirh two
corpses, in the wide realms of space. What |
would have become oft? How tar would it /
have assembled with its lifeless freight: how
long it would have foated all unseen in the
empYrean, who shall saw 9-0ono n WooL