The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-01-07
Five Miles Above tho Earth.

One dull day in August, just after noon,
balloon roae In the air Mt the foot of Cloet
Hills, on the Western edge of the central
plain of England. 1t was inflated with the
llghtest Of gases which chemical skill could
produce, and it rose with amp-ing velocity.
A mile up and it entered IL STRAIT, n of cloud
more than 900 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 cloudaud- an
lmmeasurablc expanse Of cloud whose sur
face looked rs solid ns that G: t!i0 earth moi
wholly lost to view. Lofty mountains ana
deep, dark ravines, appeared below the
peaks, and the sides of those cloud-moun-
tains, next the sun. glittered like snow, but
casting shadows as If they were solid rock
UP rose the balloon with tremendous velo-
city. -Four miles above earth Il pigeon was
let loose; it dropped down through the air
as II 1T had been II stone. The air was too
thin to enable it to fly. II was as if n bark
laden to the deck were to pass from the
heavy waters of the sea into an inland unsa-
line lake; the bark would sink nt once in
the thinner water. Up, up, still higher!
What silence profound! The heights of
the sky were as still as the deepest depths
OF the 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 which imperceptibly gathers on
the furniture OF n deserted house. No
sound, no life, only the bright sun shine
falling through n sky which it coud not
warm.
Up-fve miles above the earth higher
than the inaccessible summit of Chimbora-
20 OF Dawangiri. Despite the sunshine.
everything freezes. The air grows too thin
to support life. even fora few minutes. Two
mon only are in that adventurous balloon
the one steering the air-ship, the other
watching the scientific instruments, and re-
cordlng them with II rapidity bred of long
practice. Suddenly. rs the latter looks mt
his instruments. his sight grows dim; he
takes lens to help his sight, and only marks
from the falling barometer that tEey are
testing rapidly. a flask of brandy lies within
foot of him; he tried to reach it, but his
arm refused to obey his will. He tries to
call op his comrade, who has gone up into
the ring above; whisper in that deep ST.
lence would sutiice-but no sound comes
from his lips-he is voiceless The steers
man comes down into the car; he secs his
comradein n swoon, and feels his own senses
failing him.
He saw ut once that life and death hung
upon few moments He seized or tried
to seize. the valve. in order to open it and
let out the gas. His hands are purple with
intense cold--they are paralyzed, they will
not respond to his will He seized the
valve with his teeth, it opened little
once, twice, thrice. The balloon began to
descend. Then the swooned mnrksman
returned to consciousness, and saw the
steersman standing before him. He looked
ut his instrument; but now the barometer
was rising rapidly; the balloon was descend
ing: Brandy was used. They had been
higher above the earth than mortal man OF
any living thing had ever been before. One
minute more of action-of compulsor,
inaction-on the part of the steersman,
whose senses were failing him, and the air
ship, with its intensely rarefied gas, would
have been floating unattended, with two
corpscs, i'll the wide realms of space