The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1869-01-06
lFrom oa6sa week.
gcintiAc Daring.
.na dnIlld

One dull day in Anghest, Just after
noon, a balloon rose in the air at the :
foot of ClOet Hills, On the western
edge on the central plain of England.
1t was inflated with the Iightest oft
gasses winch chemical skill could 1
produce, and it rose with amazing We e
.Scity. a mile up and 1t entered are
stratum of cloud more than thousand q
feet thick. Emerging from this, thee
sun shone brightly on the air-ship 30
the sky overhead was of the clearest z
and deepest blue, and below lay cloud Z
land-an immeasurable expanse OFF,
cloud whose surface looked as solid
as that of the earth not wholly lost tOAS
view. Lofty mountains and deep,
dark, ravines appeared below thelii
peaks and sides Of those eloud-moun-l
! tains next the sun, glittered like snow
but casting shadows as if they Werelc
solid rock. Up rose the baloon withE-
tremendousvelocity. Four miles above
| earth pigeon was left loose; it drop 20
ped down through the air as if it hadn
been a stone. The air. was too thinle
| to enable it to fly. 1t was as ifa bark1
laden to the deck were to pass fromn
the heavy waters of the sea into AMI
! inland unsRline lake; the bark would
sink at once in, the thinner water-s
Up, up still higher. Whata silence'
were as still as the deepest depths OF
| the ocean, where, as was found during
the search for the lost Atlantic Cables
| the fine mud lies as unstirred from
year to year, as the dust which imP
| perceptibly gathers on the furniture o.
deserted house. Nosound, no life
only the bright sunshine falling thro'
a sky Which it could not warm
I Up-five miles above earth!--highef
than the inaccessible summit of chin,
borazo or Dawangiri. Despite the
sunshine, every thing freezes. The
| air grows too thin to support life,
even for few minutes. Two meI
only are in that adventurous balloon f
the one steering the air-ship, the I
other watching the scientific instru
ments, and recording them with { ,
rapidity bred ofIOng practice. Suddenly
as the latter looks at his instruments
his sight grows dim; he takes len.
to help his sight, and only markes
from the falling barmoter that. theS j
are testing rapidly. A flask of brand! 6
les within foot of him; he tried t'la
reach it, but his arms refused to ODE.
his will. Hetries to call on his conrad 7
| who has gone up into the ring above Z
1 q whisper in that deep silence WOulC s
suHce-but no sound comes from hi b
Iips--he is voiceless. The steersmai
comes down into the car; he sees hi 4
comrade in a swoon, and feels his owl +
senses failingt him. .r, ~.
He saw at once that life and dealt
hung upon a few moments, He seize
or tried to seize the valve to let Ou :
the gas. Ills hands are purple wit
intense cold--they are paralyzea, the I
wilt not respond to his Will. He seiz
ed, the valve with his teeth, 1t oper
ed a Httle-once, twice. The baloo
began TO descend. Then the swoone
marksman returned to consciousness.
and saw the steersman standing be
fore him. He looked at his instrument
e. but now the barometer rising rapidly
the balloon was deeending. Brand
s was used. They had been highe
, above the earth than mortal man Oil
! any living thing had ever been 5efort
One minute more of aetion-Of con
pulsOry inactiOn--on the part of th l.
steersman, whose senses were fallin i
t him, and the air-ship, with its inten .
: sely rarified gas, would have bee.
floating unattended with two corpse /,
in the wide realms of space. "