The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1870-01-21

not the inconvenience Of getting wet,
determined me to discharge the ballast |
my destruction might, and probably |
would, have been the consequence. |
Such perils, although little considered,
are perhaps the greatest which must be |
encountered in balloons. had by this
time, however, attained too great an |
elevation to be any longer uneasy on
this head.
| was now rising rapidly. and by
seven O'Clock the barometer indicated
an altitude of no less than nine miles
and half. began to find great diff.
Guilty in drawing my breath. My head,
too, was excessively painful; and, hay
ing felt some time moisture about my
cheeks, l at length discovered it to be
blood, which was oozing quite fast from
the drums of my ears. My eyes, also,
gave me great uneasiness. Upon pass
ing the hand over them they seemed to
have. prOtruded from their sockets in
no inconsiderable degree;and all objects
in the car. and even the balloon itself,
appeared distorted to my vision. These
| symptoms were more than l had ex-
| pected, and occasioned nae some alarm.
AT this juncture, very imprudently,
and without consideration, threw out
from the car three five-pound pieces of
ballast. The accelerated rate of ascent
thus obtained, carried me too rapidly,
and without sufficient graduation, into
highly rarefiCd stratum of the atmos-
phere, and the result had nearly proved
fatal TO my expedition and to myself.
l was suddenly seized with a spasm
| which lasted for more than five minutes
and even when this, in q measure,
ceased, could catch my breath only at
long intervals, and in gasping man.
ner, - bleeding all the while copiously
at the nose and ears, and even slightly
at the eyes. The pigeons appeared dis.
tressedin the extreme, and struggled to
escape; while the cat mewed piteously,
and, with her tongue hanging out Of
her mouth, staggered to and fro in the
car as if under the influence of poison.
/ now too late discovered the great
rashness of which l had been guilty in
discharging the ballast, and my agita-
tion was excessive. l anticipated moth
ing less than death, and death in few
minutes. The physical suffering / un-
derwent contributed also to render me
nearly incapable of making any exer-
tion for the preservation of my life. /
had, indeed little power of reflection
left, and the violence of the pain in my
head seemed to be greatly on the in.
crease. Thus found that my senses
would shortly give way altogether, and
/ had already clutched one of the valve
ropes with the view of attempting de.
scent, when the recollection of the trick
l had played the three creditors, and
the possible consequences to myself
should | return, operated to deter mt
for the moment. l lay down in the
bottom of the car, and endeavored tC
collect my faculties. In this l so fai
succee ded as to determine upon the ex.
peri ment of losing blood. Having nc
lancet, however, was constrained to
perform the operation in the best man.
ner | was able, and finally succeeded in
opening a vein in my left arm, with the
blade Of my penknife. The blood had
hardly commenced flowing when 1 ex-
perienced sensible relief, and by the
time had lost about half q moderate
basin-f full, most of the worst symptoms
had abandoned me entirely. | never
theless did not think it eXpedent to
atte mpt getting on my feet Immediate
~; but, having tied up my arm as well
as l could, lay still for about q quar-
ter OF an hour. AT the end of this time
l arose, and found myselffree from alb
solute pain of any kind than had been
during the last hour and quarter of
my ascension. The difficulty of breath
ing, however, was diminished in very
slight degree, and found that it would
soon be positively necessary to make
use of my condenser. In the meantime
looking towards the cat, who was again
snugly slowed away upon my coat,
discovered, to my infinite surprise, that
she had taken the opportunity ofmy in
disposition to bring into lights litter of
three little kittens. This was an addi-
tion TO the number of passengers on my
part altogether unexpected; but | was
pleased at the occurrence. 1t would
afford me chance of bringing to kind
of test the truth of surmise, which,
more than anything else, had influenced
me in attempting this ascension. had
imagined that the hdGitudt endurance
of the atmospheric pressure at the sur
face of the earth was the cause, or near
ly 70, of the pain attending animal eX-
istence at a distance above the surface.
Should the kittens be found to suffer
uneasiness in an equal degree With their
mother, must consider my theory in
fault, but failure to do so / should
look upon as strong confirmation OF
my idea.
By eight o'clock / had actually at
tanned an elevation of seventeen miles
above the surface ofthe earth. Thus it
seemed to me evident that my rate of
ascent was not only on the increase, but
that the progression would have been
apparent in slight degree even had /
not discharged the ballast which did.
The pains in my head and ears return.
ed, at intervals, with violence, and ]
still continued to bleed occasionally at
the nose; but, upon the whole, suffer.
ed much less than might have been ex.
pected. | breathed, however, at every
moment, with more and more difficulty
and each inhalation was attended with
troublesome spasmodic action of the
,, chest. now unpacked the condensing
apparatus, and got 1t ready for imme.
diate use.
, The view of the earth, at this period
of my ascen sion, was beautiful indeed