The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1871-07-29

Thrilling Voyage of Prof. Coe In til,
New WorId-Fhe Balloon Wrecked
He Encounters Three Snow storms
Landing i'm a Tornado.
From the Oswego Press.
Prof c. G. Coe arrived here at moor
to-day by propeller from Brockvine
which place he left last evening, havins
arrived there night before last. Brock
vile Is about As miles from the place
where he landed, which is IS miles bach
OF irish creek, a station on the Brock
vile and Ottawa railroad. His trip wa.
one of the most exciting on record
and the following is, briefly, an account
of it Prof. Coe, with his companion
Mr.. Y. G. Stone, of Syracuse, started
from Oswego In the balloon New World
at 2:10 P. NJ, July 4th. The crewd, the
city, the steamer Rochester, looking
no larger than skiff, disappeared il
panoramic order, and in about ten rain
utes the cloud curtain dropped between
the yoyagers and the earth, shutting out
everything but the glowing halo o.
the clouds, which was beyond all de
script1On. Soon their breaths grew
frosty, steaming ont at every exhalatio1
as In winter The sun grew brighter
fire, till we shot up through the misty
surroundings into the pure ether. Or
one side were walked up dark clouds
with minor ones in gorgeous relief
bound with irridescent hues, too daz-
Zhng to gaze upon. 4 roar of intense
depth came up-a signal gun from the
contending elements below 'sWhatn
says Stone, lis that thunder r.
cit is, beyond question, was the reply.
On the right, and within stone S
throw was the gigantic home of a
storm-bold thunder heads, collonades
OF cloud, and frowning portals, that
threatened to enclose us. On the left
was seemingly endless cloud Of spot
less purity, which came marching right
up and laid it's feathery folds about the
travellers, and in two minutes they were
covered in snow. By throwing over a
sand bag they made an exit from the
storm at an altitude of three miles, ac-
cording to the barometer, though not
yet wholly clear of the clouds. Again
there came up peal after peal from be-
low, sounding nearer and nearer,
though bat single faint flash was
seen. 1t was accompanied by the roar
of tornado raging below. Again the
snowfall thicker and faster than before,
and before an escape was made above it
there was two inches of snow in the car
The balloon then rose to an altitude of
three and half miles.
There was a short interval of quiet,
after which the furies were suddenly
let loose below. The roaring heard so
long below, approached, and in mo-
ment the tourists were IN the midst of
the tremendous force. The balloon,
which had been plump as an egg, be-
came fearfully agitated: the neck was
thrown up in concave shape within a
few feet of the valve, the fabric rustled
and snapped, and the snow and sleet
assailed the balloon fercely. The
New World reeled and topped over
to an angle of 80 degs., and Coe and his
companion were toppled about like pup
pets. They were fairly enclosed in a
vortex between two colliding storms, out
of which the balloon spun like a top.
coming out plump as a peach. This
lasted but moment, when they were
in the midst of the rain, but no wind
from below. For some minutes their
contention could be heard. The rain
fell thicker and faster, coming down in
torrents, as Prof. Coe says, loading
them down so that they were obliged to
throw out four heavy bags in order to
pOlse, and IN moment they were in a
dim twilight, the rain streaming from
the netting in showers.
The thunder ceased, though the storm
still ragged below. At 3 30 there was
ra,.nory, frDr, IN irD,, 1,,1,,-
tive to the north at 3:25 another from
the South; at 3 :27 another from the
East, and soon there was an answer from
West. At this time Prof. c.. thinks he
was over Kingston. In about twenty
minutes they ventured to descend to a
point where could see the earth. The
storm was so dense, the clouds were not
over 800 to 500 feet above the earth.
Prof-C. says: /" We saw woods bristling
like weeds; then came zig lines of
log and rail fence; a fair field with cat
tie grazing; two or three log houses
spinning by, and then the valve was
thrown wide open, and the anchor cast
out. 1t took a log fence, and ripped IL
from the bottom. 4 log a foot through
and twenty feet long was thrown like a
toy over forty feet. 1t then grappled
about the fangs of stump; We swung
to the ground with a crash, and were
flung into the rugged embrace of the
roots of an upturned stump, two of
which drove through the car, bruising
Mr. Stones leg above the knee, though
not seriously, Thence in a horizontal
position we were dragged about 30 feet
over brush, stumps and logs, and came
to a sudden stand still IN a windfall and
cedar swamps, and within 10 rods of an
oatfield. The balloon gave but one
bound, when the sweeping blast riddleI
it into ribbons, that hung about the
scraggy arms OF the trees In a very mel.
ancholy way, whipping the gale like
tattered sails. "
1t was raining furiously when they
landed, and after lying down under the
balloon couple Of hours they made
their way to a house about three-quar-
tersof mile of, where they stopped over
night The next day the wreck of the
9 New World" was got together, and
Thursday morning at ) o'clock the trav-
elers reached Irish Creek Station, hav-
ing got farmer to carry them down.