The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1870-01-07
SMisftuellalaatSo,ulss.s S,ls +
UNPARALLELED ADVENTURE
or ONE ''3 '-'"
q HANS PFAALL.. II, ~
LcnNTINlrRn

|, Matters being thus arranged, con- :
trived, by the aid Of my wife, aud witt,
4 the greatest secrecy and caution, to dis.
pose Of what property / bad remaining,
and to borrow, in small sums, under
various pretences, and without giving
any attention I am ashamed to say) to
my future means ofrepayment, no, IN.
considerable quantity ofready money
With the means thus accruing 1 pro.
ceeded to procure at intervals, cambric
muslin, very fine, In pieces of twelve
yards each; twine; a lot of the yarnish
OF caoutchouc; a large and deep basket OF
wicker.work made to order; and several
other articles necessary In the construc:
ton and equipment Of a balloon of .ex-
traordinary dimensions. This direct.
ed my wife to make UP as soon as pos.
sible, and gave her all requisite infor.
nation as to the particular method OF
proceeding, In the meantime worked
| up the twine into network OF sufficient
dimensions; rigged 1t with a hoop and
the necessary cords; and made purchase
OF numerous Instruments and materials
for experiment in the upper regions OF
the upper atmosphere. then took op-
portunities of conveying by night, TO a
retired situation east of Ro tterdam, five
| outbound casks, to contain about fifty
gallons each, and one of larger size:
six tin tubes, three incnes in diameter.
properly shaped, and ten feet in length;
quantity of a pdrticular meta Tic SUD.
stance or sentimental which shall not
name, and dozen demijohns Of uery
co n'mon acid. The gas to be formed
rom these latter materials is gas new
er yet generated by any other person
than mysef-or at least never applied
to any similar purpose. can only ven.
ture to say here. that it is a constituent
Of dzote, SO, long considered irreducible,
and that its density is about 37.4
times less than that of hydrogen.
tbs tasteless, but not odorless; burns,
when pure, with a greenish flame, and
is instantaneously fatal to animal life,
Its full secret would make no Difficult
ty in disclosing, but that it Of right be.
longs las I have before hinted) to citi.
zen of Nantz, in France, by whom it
was conditionally communicated to
myself The same Individual submit.
ted to me. without being at all aware of
my intentions,a method of constructing
balloons from the membrane Of Ger.
tain animal, through which substance
any escape Of gas was nearly an impos.
sibility. found it, however, altogeth-
er too expensive, and was not sure, up.
on the whole, whether cambric muslin
with coating OF gum caoutchouc, was
not equally as good, I mention this
circumstance, because L think it proba-
BILE that hereafter the individual in
question may attempt a balloon ascen.
sion with the novel gas and material i
have spoken Of, and / do not wish to de.
prive him Of the honor ofa very singu-
lar invention. '' "''- '-'.' i'''''.''' .ss
On the spot which I'intended each of
the smaller casks to occupy respectively
during the imitation OF. the balloon, /
l'privately dug small hole; the holes
forming in this manner a circle twenty
five feet In diameter. In the centre OF
this circle, being the station designed
for the large cask, also dug a hole of
greater depth. In each Of the five
smaller holes, i deposited canister con.
tanning fifty pounds, and in the larger
one q keg holding one hundred and fif-i 4
ty pounds of cannon powder. These
the keg and the canisters-I connected
in 81 proper manner with covered trains;
and having let into one of the canisters
the end ofabout four feet OF slow match,
] covered up the hole, and placed the
cask over it, leaving the other end of
the match procuding about an inch,
aud barely visible beyond the cask. !
then filed up the remaining holes, and !
placed the barrels over them in their
d estined situation! .' -''..-''' ''-''
Besides the articles bove enumerat.
ed, l conveyed to the depot, and then
secreted, one of NJ Grimm's improve
ments upon the apparatus for conden-
'sation of the atmospheric air. found |
this machine, however, to require con-
siderable alteration before it could be |
adapted to the purpose to which
L intended making it applicable.
But, with severe labor and unremitting
perseverance, l at length met with er-
tire success in all my preparations. My |
balloon was soon completed. 1t would |
contain more than forty thousand cubic
feet of gas; would take me'up easily, I
calculated, with all my implements, and |
If | ma naged rightly, with one hundred |
and seventy-five pounds of ballast into |
the bargain. 1t had received three coats |
of varnish, and 1 found the cambric |
muslin to answer all the purposes of |
silk itself, being quite as strong and a
good deal less expensive. --~ q, ~
Everything being now ready, ex.
acted from my wife an oath of secrecy
in relation to all my actions from the
day of my first visit to the booksellers |
stall; and promising, ON my part, to re-
turn as soon as circumstances would |
permit, gave her what little money / |
had left, and bade her farewell. Indeed |
had no fear on her account. She was |
What people caii notable woman, and |
could manage matters ia the world
without my assistance. / believe to
tell the truth, she always looked upon
me as an idlebody--a inere make. weight |
good for nothing but building castles
in the air--and was rather glad" TO get |
rid of me. 1t WAS dark night when j |
bade her good bye, and taking with me,
as aides de'cdmp, the three creditors |
who had given me so much trouble, we
carried the balloon, with the car and.
accoutrements, by a roundabout way,
to the station where the other articles
were deposited. Wetbere found them
all unmoltsted, and proceeded imme-
diateiy to business. 49,, ''- - ''''
II was the first OF April. The night,