The Portland daily press., 1871-04-10
PH 81 PR E 81 .


Professor s. A. King, the @ronaut, advertis-
ei1 that he would make an ascension from At
,snta On the LIST of January, 1870. Eight
thousand persons assembled to witness it, but
\ elect storm was coming up, and professor
King would not risk an ascent. He offered
to return the money and acted fairly in every
way. DR.. Albert Hope, who had already
N ade one ascent, stepped up to Professor
King and said: "1he people are terribly dis
appointed have been up with you once
and you know whether you can trust me. lf
you'll lend me the old chebang I'll take her
u,o storm or no Storm" VERY well, replied
King, 81 know your GOODNESS and presence oi
mind. You may 60 il you want to-"
"You bad better Ike in some more pal
l1st," said King, as DR.. Hope stepped into tue
basket. Instead OF taking more ballast, Inc
doctor threw out two bags OF sana Already 10
f.. and cut the ropes. He made the hrst mile
inward in two minutes and half. The de-
tcent was accomplished in one minute
Round trip of two miles, three minutes and a
Lalf here is the doctors own account oil
the journey:
The small quantity of ballast carried gave
such great ascensive power that it required
hut two minutes and half to reach an alti
tude OF one mile. The cheers from the crowd
below could no longer be heard. all was 81
lent except the spiteiul driving sound OF the
rapidity with which was travelling, but as
the neck of the balloon was twenty-five
inches in diameter, and entirely open, no
danger was apprehended. The sides gave no
evidence of being tense and the possibility oil
an explosion was not thought OF.
A heavy sest and snow commenced iainng,
and it was so intensely cold that l was anx-
ious to get through the clouds and into the
bright sunshine beyond. Already imagina.
ton pictured the little craft as sailing smooth.
above the bad weather, and my heart swelle6
with enthusiasm as fancylpainted the beauties
of winter sunset sunset above the clouds
had decided to remain up all night, and t.
prelong the voyage as far as possible.
was awakened from my revery by sharl
explosion. The balloon had burst near tn
point OF its great diameter, and had COLLAPSED
1t began to descend with great rapidity, It
peculiar shape gave it a rotary motion tina
was rather unpleasant. fully realized tn
danger of my situation. Death was inevita
bic, unless l could succeed in forming tn
wreck into parachute, and to do this requir
ed much physical strength and perfect cool
ness. The loss OF selfpossession or a neglec
to preserve the oscillating motion of my Graf
would be attended with loss of life. How
ever, II knew the ropes" and determined t.
pull them.
1t was necessary that the rotten cloth should
be not only retained in the netting, but KEEP
in such position as to offer the greatest pos
sible resistance to the atmosphere. Ny Graf
proved to be unruly- 1t soon plunged VIC
lently, with the peculiar motion Of kite tina
has lost its ballast. At each lunge 1t sweep
through the air like great pendulum.
soon attained terrible velocity, being fire.
duently thrown higher than any futterin
portion OF the wreck, and was several time
thrown entirely out of the basket. t41
Like Micawber, confidently expecte
something to turn up"-in fact there wa
great danger of the basket turning up" O
the top of the canvas, which would result il
instant death. "By a strict attention to bust
ness" these mad lunges were modified, and th
velocity was more uniform, though still yer
apid.
I now decided to throw out portion OF th
ballast and lifted a bag to the edge of the has
ket for that purpose, when tie thought occur
ed that it would be less dangerous to keep
IL the basket. l threw out letter, and b
watching it as it f1uttered in the air, was en-
abled to tell with considerable accuracy, as I
where the wreck would strike. To throw on
ballast at this time would prolong the vos az
to the woods beyond, even if it did not caus
the basket and contents to be thrown on to
OF the wreck. Taking this view, it was declt
ed to retain all the weight in the basket tn,
possibly could.
When within three hundred feet of til
ground, cut the cord attached to the apchC
rope, and, watching the "rise and descent
managed to throw at the proper moment.
struck in time to lessen the force with whic
! would have otherwise struck the ground.
It was, the shock produced unconsciousnes
On awakening there was no sensation
pain save the numhness that always attends
heavy TALL. The cold rain was falling 10 m
face, and I could not lit my head for the Ion
briers that encircled me with perfect ne
work. Near by stood lady. After gazing
her moment, bowed my compliments, an
wished her "a happy new year," 81
smiled and enquired whether was hurt. "N
ma'am." To convince her Of the fact / aros
and auer securing peculiar black bottle
stepped forth,
Inc lily rerion" presented a sorry specta
Gle. Ropes, netting and fragments of rotte
cloth. il ~ among the bushes and briars al
utter wreck. Win the exception OF te,
slight scratches had received no lnjur
The loss OF paper collar and few 'incider
tails" was al that needed attention. a
wants We're supplied aud in few minutes
AGAIN with m frinnrc Hl