Connecticut western news., 1871-10-20
Death in the Air.

Indiana, says: Should l live to be hundred years old the horrible scene witnessed by me on Saturday last will never be efaced from my memory. see it before me now, and since that day have been haunted ever since 1n
 dreams by sea of upturned faces and anguished eyes, straining to watch in its
 descent through the air the body of human being, which in few seconds
 was dashed, mangled and bleeding, upon
 the earth at my feet would have
 written of it before, but the sight so un-
 strdng my nerves that I was rendered
 utterly incapable even of collecting my
 thoughts, much less of putting on pa
 per deliberate account of the facts 1n
 the case To see 8 man whom scarcely
 a minute before had spoken to as
 friend jerked up into the clouds and
 then hurled down again, his hair stream
 ing wildly behind him like that of Luci-
 fer, hurled over the battlements of
 heaven, falling, falling, whirled, doubled
 up, and then spread out, his arms apart
 as if rushing to embrace death, might
 we'll unstring the strongest nefves, and
 when to this are added the agonized cries of the dying mans wife as she clutched by arm and shrieked: "My God My God, will he die ?" I wonder
 that even yet, with these things in my
 mind, I am able to record what I heard,
 felt, and saw. .s...t
 You have doubtless received by tele
 graph brief dispatch telling how Pro-
 lessor Wilbur, the well-known aeronaut,
 fell while attempting to climb into his
 balloon and how he was killed, but facts
 so meagre are but an aggravation. l
 will therefore state the affair simply as
 it occurred. The Agricultural Associa-
 ton of this county had been holding
 its annual fair for some days, and no
 greater interest attached to it than is com
 monly connected with such exhibitions
 of the industrial products of large and
 fourishing community. The farmers
 came in their wagons, bringing with
 them their wives and daughters, all
 dressed in @ gorgeous array as their
 circumstances would permit. The large
 pumpkins and enormous squashes, the
 new patent churn and washing machine,
 and the country boys lounging about
 and gazing in open-mouthed admiration
 of the voluble gentleman who displayed
 with all the eloquence of a Cicero his
 infallible toothache eradicator, received
 their due share of attention, and before
 long the interest 1n the fair was on the wane. But it had been announced that on Saturday, the last day of the exhibi
 tion, Professor Wilbur, the great Ameri- can aeronaut, would make an ascent iii
 his balloon, as he had done one week be- fore at Croydon. It is not often that the inhabitants of Orange County have
 an opportunity of witnessing such a
 sight, and, curiosity being on tip-toe, it
 is not to be wondered at that when
 Saturday arrived the fair ground was full almost to suffocation, while on the
 outside of the enclosure large crowd
 had assembled to witness the flight of the great ship of the air. It was the
 gayest day of the week everybody was in holiday dress, the girls looked their
 prettiest, the farmers their forid, and the country beaus were be-necktied and
 invested in colors wing not only with the rainbow but with the utmost powers
 of anollne. The center of attraction
 was, of course, the enclosed space where
 the balloon was to be inflated, about
 which gathered an eager crowd, looking
 at everything connected with the expect
 ed event, studying the ropes, peering
 about to find where the gas was to come
 from, and pestering the amiable pro
 lessor with questions as to how the gas
 was made, what made the balloon go up,
 and other things of the sort. The pro-
 lessor laughed good naturedly, explain
 ed as much as possible, and everybody
 was jolly in the anticipation of witness ing that to them most unusual of things "a balloon ascension.
 At about o'clock in the afternoon
 the imitation of the balloon was com
 menced, and as the bag swelled out al-
 most to bursting and struggled to be free, everybody was on the q,ti 0ioe,
 those remote from the spot straining
 their necks, climbing into carriages, and even upon the fences, to see the car. It had been announced that the
 editor of the Orange County Uaion
 would accompany Professor Wilbur in his ascent, and great things were expect
 ed from the report which his well-known
 ability as descriptive writer. gave every ii reason to believe would be forthcoming in the next issue of his newspaper. I was standing beside the professor, laugh , ing and holdings necessarily disjointed conversation with him, for he was busy
 with preparations for his flight. He
 had just nodded his head and said laugh ingly, "Well, good-by, old fellow. I'll , see you again soon." Then MT. Knapp } stepped into the car, and the professor, , who had hold of the rope fastened the car to the body of the balloon, shouted Let goP' But he had spoken too soon and was unable to reach the cart f but still unwisely kept the rope in his , hand and endeavored to climb to his place, succeeding only so far as to get , one arm over the rim of the basket, 5 where he hung dangling and struggling. , His motions and the fact that the bas- 2 ket came in contact with a rope which had fastened the balloon to the earth F while it was being inflated, upset the , car when it was about twenty-five feet a from the ground, and MT. Knapp fell s stunned to the ground. But there was no time for caring for him, for terror t held every body spell-bound. A shout I of admiration went up from those who e were too far distant from the scene to l know that an accident had befallen the : adventurers, and who supposed that the t ascent was being made sans cont''etenps.
 But to those in the immediate vicinity of f the car the sight was an awful one, and for !. 8 moment everybody seemed paralyzed e with terror, and stood rooted to the spot e without uttering cry or word. The
 balloon frightened by the fall of MT.
 Knapp, shot upwards with dreadfully s increased velocity, and 8 scream of n terror which chilled the blood of the t hearers came down from the upper air, k where the doomed aeronaut hung utter n ly hopeless of escaping death. At my J. side stood woman who, as l afterwards is heard, was the professors wife. Her n eyes were bursting from their sockets, if and her face pallid and ehastly with