Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-02-25


we noticed the ascent of the well known ocro-
Irsr. aNls s. A, King, from Augusta. That
ssa,uoo ,oasAas written the following. spiy,tsa
seq. y. .I,s 20 Incidents and tcrqinntleon Of his
int and bill IS aSrial e' aliisht:
xtent thsraet minutes M's e.- t'e ere.,"ss,
.ions being Of, cnmplcte, the balloon was al-
lowed to swing by single rope, the ballast
was adjusted, and, rising clcar above the
reach Of those below, the cable was loosed.
aud the voyage began. The Wind was Ligh,
and moved off rapidly in northcasterly d.
rcction. knew by the shouts Of the pc 'ple,
which were given with will, that my balloon
ascension thus far had proved satisfactory, and
began to look around on the grand sccYc
presented to my view. The atmosphere wns
very clear, giving me prospect bounded only
by the horizon, which was sharply defined,
and which presented a line unbroken by any
mountainous prof ctions around its entire cir
cumference. The whole face of the country
appeared exceedingly level, though OCCASION
ally saw SOME hills, but the general appear
ance was that of vast plain. had fine
view of the city just at the start, but in con
sequence of moving sway so fast, could but
notice its general appearance of regularity and
neancss Hearing train Of cars beneath,
looked down and found that had overtakcn
the Charleston train, and wus having lively
raoo with them. They tried hard, as | have
since learned, to keep up with me, but in vain
crossed the road diasonally, and left them them
away behind. At halfpast4 I had req reached r'
the height of one mile, and feeling a little
chilly, put on my oyercoat To the left Of my
course, ] saw three yillagcs-they wore Gran,
iteyille, Aiken and Blackville. The general
appearance Of the country was as if the whole
face of It had been once complete forest, and
spaces made here and there by clearing of
the timber, thus leaving The great mass 'oi
Woods, md adottihg tho country over with
plantations. Occasionally I'camc low enough
to hear voices of persons below, bit though
tried repeatedly to get some inforniation o
nv whereabouts I failed to elieitany response
| to my questions. AS I passed over ono house
I felt a,ite sure that the dwcllers therein hae
teceiyed a terrible soaro, fol, the women were
screaming in a tarrible manner, aided BY
single male voice. the wind bore mo rapid.
by the place, and ! had NIX quiet laugh q
! their expeuse, when / saw a fash near tn
door of the house, followed by tho report.of
Gun. have no doubt the shot wa4 iptonde
for the balloon, but was out Of the re' \
any ordinary gun, and 50 had another @llaan'g
to myself. + hoard q number Of shpsts fire
duripg the trip, but supposed they were clthe 1.-THE
!. fred bby hpntsmen, OF else sirsply to attrae
my ny" "atteptiiop.. At, precisely, five o'clock,
crossed tho South Carolina Railroad abor
eight or ten miles southeast Of Blaokville'
: saw no Villages after this; the conotl
hadta sau,cnessof character, varying only
a showing a greater number Of plantations an
. a'lafget arss Of woodlands. As a aail on Il
. wateK isi apgood appetizer, SO 10 a VOYAGE
N tho air, and this was no exception. 'iBe't
well prpSisi0qeb PfFsq0ks ksIam & 3, hearty s ~
PER- stopping o9Sasl9nally oS e obseryel n gel
Engagements of tho balloon, and e put out