The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-07-09
RALIOONING.
The Boy who was Caught and Carried
mn I'm the Air.

The Boy who was Caught and Carried
mn In the Air.
In some respects the most remarkable
ascension that ever took place was one
-made by an apprentice boy Of twelve years
old named Gnerin, Who was taken up by
the action Of the balloon itself, without
his consent, and without any intention
that he should 90 on the part Of any other
person. II was a rareied air balloon
The car was In the form ola boat and was
to be suspended from the balloon by cords
attached TO each end Of it when he balloon
was filed.
There was also an anchor suspended by
q cord from the bottom Of the boat, which
was intended 10 catch upon the ground
and hold the balloon when II Should come
down.
After the balloon was filed and was
ready TO 70 up some Of the assistants held
IL by cords, while others went TO work 10
attach The, car TO il. They had secured
one end, and were then going TO secure
the other, when, by some means or other,
the balloon broke away from those who
were holding il and began slowly TO rise,
and at the same time TO drift along with
the wind, dragging the car and the anchor
over the ground. IL happened that, as the
anchor wa thus drawn along, and was be-
ginning TO rise, IL passed so closely over
this boy-who was sitting quietly near by
with his companions, not dreaming OF
being anything but q spectator OF the pro-
ceedings os 10 catch The fuke in the
waistband Of his p%antaloOns, and as It con
tinued TO ascend il took him up with II.
The boy uttered piercing screams and
cries for help; and there was perhaps no
harm in this so long as he held on bravely.
Of course no help was possible except calls
| 10 him from below TO hold on. He found
| that the Wristbands beganto give way, and
he instinctively grasped the rope above his
head with both hands, and so sustaining
himself. The strength of his hands, with
out the aid of the hook in his waistband,
would not have been sufficient to sustain
his weight many minutes; and the waist.
band was not strong enough without the
hands. Both together, however, answered
the purpose.
It was very fortunate for Guerin that il
was a Montgofer, that is, n rareied oil
balloon, and not one filed with hydrogen,
that was running away with him for in the
latter case the gas within would have con
tinued as the outside pressure upon II di.
minished by tho increasing elevation; and
as they would have been no possibility o.
opening Ilt NAlNNt rs IL uhllhllNH uOIts u
relieve il, the balloon would have burstand
collapsed, and the poor boy would have
fallen n thousand feet or more to the
ground with full force, But being n Mont.
! golfer, the ascending power gradually di
minished asthe air grew cool, until at length
floating a moment in equilibrium il began
slowly to descend. As the balloon descen.
ded, the rope which had begun TO untwisi
under the influence of the boys weight,
turned more and more rapidly; and mas
much rs a person suspended from n balloon
is never conscious OF his wi motion the
| illusion which makes the molten seem "a
be in the earth and not in the ballon, being
perfect-a as IL is indeed on a smaller scale
to a person going up in the elevator Of O
hotel-it appeared TO Guerin that the earth
was spinning round beneath him in a vast
and most irigltful gyration. Guerin was
more terrified than ever. As he drew neal
the ground, or rather, rs II
appeared to him, as the ground and
the concourse Of spectators upon
it came whirliug up TO him, he cried out tc
the people 10 save him. They called TO him
In reply not TO DO afraid, that he was all
right; and, receiving him in their arms az
soon as he came within reach, they Mt the
same moment stopped the spinning of the
earth and unlocked him from the anchor.
The incident of course created a great
sensation at the time; and, as the account
of it became a part of the history of pros.
%tation, the story will be repeated in al
coming time. Guerin found himself very
suddenly famous. As he was only in the
air about fifteen minutes, il is very proba.
BILE that this boy acquired historical INF,
mortality at au earlier age, and in a shorter
time, than any other human boing.-Harp
er's Magazine for July.