Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-04-02

M8AAAA AAA8 AAAaAa
One duh Day IN August, inst aE-
ternOOn, e balloon rose in the air
at the foot Of Cleed Hills on the
Western edge ofthe Central plain
Of England. 10 was Inflated with
the lightest gases which chemical
skill could produce, and It rose with
surprising velocity. A mile up and
it entered 3 strata Of clouds more
than a thousand feet thick. Emery
ing from this, the sun shone bright.
ly on the afr ship the sky overhead
was Of the e~leaFestand deepest blne,
and below lay an immeasurable
expanse of clouds, whose surface
looked as solid as that Of the earth,
now wholly lost to view. Lofty
mountains and deep dark raVines,
appear below : the peak and sides
of those cloud mountains next the
sun glittered like snow, but casting
shadows as black as II they were
solid rock. Up rose the balloon
with tremendous velocity. Four
miles above earth q pigeon was let
loose il dropped down through
the air as If II had been o stone. The
air vas too thin 10 enable II to fly.
1t was as II a ship, laden to the deck,
was to pass from the heavy waters
of the sea into an island unalkaline
lake ; the bark would sink at once
In the thinner water. Up, up, still
higherl What q silence Profound
The nights Of the sky were as still
as the deepest depth Of the ocean,
where, as was found during the
search for the lost Atlantic cable,
the fine mud lies az unstiFred from
year to year, as the dust which i'm.
perceptibly gathers on the furni.
ture of n deserted house. No sound
nor life-only the bright sunshine
falling through q sky which il could
not warm.
Up-fve miles above earth!--
higher than the inaccessible summit
of Chimborazo or Dawngiri. Des.
pite the sunshine, everything freez-
es. The air grows too thin to sup.
port life, even for q few minutes.
Two men only are in that adV0n-
turous balloOn-the one steering
the air ship, the other watching the
scientific instruments, aud record.
ing them with o rapidly bred BY
practice. Suddenly as the latter
looks at his Instruments, bis sight.
grows dim, he takes a lens 70 help
his sight, and only remarks from
the falling barometer that they are
rapidly. A flask Of brandy
lies withina foot Of him: be tries
to reach IL but his arms refuse to
obey HE will. He tries to call on
bis comrade, who has gone up to
the ring above; Q whisper in that
deep silence would snflce-but no
sound comes from his lips-he is
voiceless. The sherman comes
into the car he finds his comrade
In q swoon, and feels his own
senses failing him.
He saw at once that life and death
hung upon a few moments. He
seized the valve, in order to open
It aud let out some of the gas. His
hands are purple with intense cold
are paralyzed, they will not
respond to his will. He seized the
valve with his teeth, 1t opened a
Iittle---Once, twice, thFice--.the bal
loon began to decend. Then the
SwOoned marksman returned to
consciousness aud saw the steersman
standing before him. He looked
1t his instrument---they must have
been nearly eight miles up; but
now the barometer was rising
rapidly---lhe balloon was decend-
ing, brandy was used. They had
been higher above earth than NOR
.al man or living thing had been
before. One minute more Of mac
compulsory inaction..On
he part of the steersman, whose
senses were failing him, and the
lir ship, with two Corpses, would
loat in the wide realms Of space
- Once-a- Week.