The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1870-04-12


chronicled in the Register of the 9th
ult Many Of our citizens will remember
his first balloon ascension which took place
from the old Fair Ground on Washington
Street, and from that portion of it nearest
where Vice President Colfax's residence
now is. This was in the fall of 1857.
The balloon was a small one, not very well
constructed, and his friends were under
the greatest apprehensions least the ascent
should be fatal to him, and tried to induce
him not to make the trial. But La
Mountain never knew what fear was, and
jumping into his car, he gave orders to
release the ropes. and in less time than it
takes to write it, was looking down upon
South Bend from a height of nearly two
miles, The trip was successful, and from
that time forward La Mountain devoted
his attention entirely to acronautics. His
reputation became national, and, as the
New York Tribnne truly says, his life
was full of daring adventures and incl
dents, which were frequently more inter-
esting than agreeable. He was among
the most fearless aeronauts in this or any
other country, and pursued his chosen
profession with higher object than to
merely make money, by exhibiting him
self. He was compelled to make balloon
ascensons for the public amusement as Il
means of support, but he hoped to make
his experiments useful in the advance
mcnt of science and the development of
meteorological theories. A pet theory
Of Mr.. La Mountain was that there was
current in the atmosphere correspond
ing with the Gulf Stream in the ocean,
and flowing steadily from east to west
He was ambitious to be the first acronaut
to cross the Atlantic, taking advantage
Of this current lie built the famous
balloon " Atlantic " for this purpose, one
Of the largest, strongest and most beauti-
fiji! balloons ever made. The acronaut
determined to test his theory by land
voyage first, and started from st. Louis
for the Fast, accompanied by John Wise,
Mr. Hyde. an editor of the Missouri Re
pnblicdn and Mr.. eager scientific man
of Boston. The party were in the air
over nine hours. passing over Lake Erie,
and into New York State. Up to this
point they had enjoyed what seemed to
them calm, though their motions must
have been very rapid. While crossing
Lake Ontario, tornado seized the balloon
and it was left wreck in the woods of
Jefferson county. New York. The /" At
lantic had Travelled | $50 miles in less
than ten hours. This disaster ruined LA
Mountains plan for crossing the ocean
for the time. He was saddencd but felt
that the trip had important results in
showing the velocity of aerial motions,
and demonstrating the fact that baloon
might cross large bodies of water. \
small balloon was made from the remnants
Of the " Atlantic" and he started on a
trip from Waterfowl. y. T., with John
\ IIaddock. editor of the Retormcr. The
trip wa, remarkable one. The yova-
gers who expected to return in few
hours, were not heard from for many davs.
Public excitement became intense. The
mystery was ut last explained. Having
no compass, the acronauts had lost their
hearings, and were carried FAR into the
dense wood, of the Ottawa reservation,
in Canada. After wandering for many
days subsisting upon leave, and berries,
they were accdcntly discovered, IN the
last stages of starvation, by >ome Indian
scouts in the employ Of Imbcrman.
Their story was widely published and il
lustrated by the newspapers. When the
war began. La Mountain turned his at.
tention to military balloons, and was the
first aeronaut engaged in the service The
advantages gained by baloonlng was very
uncertain, however, and the entire sys-
TEN was very soon given up. The last
serious adventure of LA Mountain occur
red in Michigan, Il full account of which
was given in the Register at the time,
and probably hastcned his death. An
inpatient crowd cast him off before he
was ready, without an ovcrcoat or instru-
ments, and the valve rope tied several
feet above the basket He shot like a
rocket up into hea>y cloud of mist and
slcet, which irozc the valve board fast,
He climbed, with trost-bitten fingers, upon
the network, and tore the balloon with his
teeth. The opening extended so far that
the balloon collapsed, discharged its gas,
and fell with great velocity from height
of nearly two miles. The aeronaut was
picked up benumhcd and insensible,
though not dangerously injured.
CArrrniNG SEA TrgrLEs.-A curious