The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-02-15

Some days ago we noticed the ascent OF the
well known nronaut, Mr.. S. a. King, from
Augusta. That gentleman has written the
following spirited account Of the incidents and
termination of his extraordinary 9rial flight
At fifteen minutes past -four, the prepara-
tions being all complete, the balloon was al
lowed to swing by single rope, the Dailast
was adjusted, and, rising clear above the
reach OF those below, the cable was loosed,
and the voyage began. The wind was high,
and | moved of rapidly in northeasterly dl-
rection. I knew by the shouts of the people.
which were given with will. that my balloon
ascension thus far had proved satlslac-
tory. and / began TO look around on
the grand scene presented to my view.
The atmosphere. was very. clear, giving
me q prospcct bounded only by the hori-
Zon, which was sharply defined, and which
presented line unbroken by any noun
famous projections around its entire cir
cumtcrcnce. The whole face OF the country
appeared exceedingly level, though OCCASION
ally saw some hills, but the general appear
ancc, was that OF Il vast plain. had q llnc
view of the city just ut the start. but in con-
SEQUENCE of moving away so fast, could but
notice It's general appearance OF Regularity ana
pealncss. Hearing Il train of cars beneath,
looked down and found that had overtnKcn
the Charleston train, and was having lively
race with them. They tried hard, us have
since learned, to keep mp with me, but in vain;
] crossed the road diagorfally. and etl them
away behind. At halt-past !, had reached
the height of one mile, and feeling little emily.
nut on ms overcoat. To the left of my course,
saw three yilagcs-thcy were Granitcvilc,
Aiken and Blackvillc. The general appear
ancc of the country WAS us II the Whole lace
of il had been once complete forest. anu
snaccs made here and there by clearing OIL
the timber. rhus leaving the great mass OF
woods. and dotting the country over WIN
plantations. Occasionally came low enough
10 hear voices of persons below. oiI lhollsu
tried rcpeatedly to gct some information Oh
my whrroabollts. failed to elicit any response
to NV questions. AS passed over one house
rrli olljtc sure that the dwcllers therein hau
rrcrivrl n terrible scare. for the women were
scrrnminr IN a terrible manner. aided Dy q
sinnlc male voice. The wind bore me rapidly
by the place, and had my quiet laugh at Their
cynense. when saw flash near the door OF
the house. followed by the report OF gun. l
have no doubt the shot was Intended Tor tue
balloon. but was ont of the reach of any ortl-
nary run, and so had another laugh TO myself.
7 heard number of shots fired during the trip,
h,,t sI,nnosrd they were either fired by hlllts-
men. or else simply to attract my ATTENTION.
At urccisely five o'clock. crossed tie SoMtn
Carolina Railroad about eight OF ten mics
southeast of Blackyille. saw no more VII
lnrcs after this; the country had sameness OF
Character. VARYING only in showing greater
number of plantations and larger area OF
Woodlands. As sail on the water Is goou
onnrtiZrr SO is n voyage In tile air. ana tnls
was no execution. Being well prOvisloned,
partook of hearty supper, stopping OCCASION
ally TO observe the movements OF The balloon,
and TO nut ont little sand occasionally. lor
the sI,n was getting lower, and the gas That
had been warmed by its rays was cooling anu
condensng, thus gradually losing portion OF
lis buoyancy Night was approaching, ana,
though I felt sure that it should be moon
light. l looked in vain ior Tie sllrefy
ORB. Thinking I must be mistaken.
thought of landing withons ., n.ttner .,'II
SIMS rays had left the earth, though it was
still shining on the balloon; in passing over
some water almost directly beneath ME ilie re-
lleclion of the moon on its surface, bright as
the original, caught my eye; the balloon llla
hidden il from me. so continued OH myJolt-
nry. During the daylight had noticed smoke
rnrlin.r from the woods in many places, Dllt
now aIi over the country, near and far, tnc
fires could be seen, fairly sprinkllnS the earth
with lirhts; in some places they were so n!l-
merous and near together that they gave III
the distance the exact appearance OF large
city, with its thousands oil gas-llshts.
Thought at the time, however, that no matter
how fine TO look upon, they would be danger
nus placrs 70 come in contact with when
landing. lookcdat my compass occasionally
and sometimes found myself going north OF
east and sometimes southeast, the up
nor current carrying me in the lat
tar direction. did not know my
exact whereabouts, but hoped was near
ipu Charleston, and this caused me to con-