The Republican journal., 1871-04-27
A Fearful Situation.

NBTtlSGu lndu ne WOulu make an dSC6uSlOH
from Atlanta on the 1st Of January, 1870.
Eight thousand persons assembled to wit
ness it, but q sleet storm was coming up,
and Professor King would not risk an as
cent. He offered to return the money,
and acted fairly in every way. DIR. AL
bert Happe, who had already made one
ascent, stepped up to Professor King and
said: ''the people are terribly disappoint-
ed. l have been up with you once, and
you know whether you can trust me. If
you'll lend me the old chebang, I'll take
her up, storm or no storm" every well,"
replied King, II know your GOODNESS and
presence of mind; you may go up, if you
want to-" ''You had better take in some
ballast" said King, as DR.. Happe stepped
into the basket Instead of taking in
more ballast, the DR.. threw out two bags
of sand already in and cut the ropes. He
made the first mile upward in two min
utes and a half. The descent was accom-
plished in one minute. Round trip of two
miles, three minutes and a half. Here is
the doctors own account of the journey:
The small quantity of ballast carried,
gave such great ascentive power that it
required but two minutes and q half to
reach the altitude of one mile The cheers
from the crowd below could no longer be
heard. All was silent except the spiteful
driving sound of the winter rain | was
we'll aware of the rapidity with which 1
was travelling, but as the neck of the bal
loon was twenty-five inches in diameter
and entirely open, no danger was appre-
hended. The sides gave no evidence of
being tense, and the possibility of an ex
plosion was not thought of.
A heavy sleet and snow commenced
falling, and it was SO intensely cold that
| was anxious to get through the clouds
and into the bright sunshine beyond. AL
ready imagination pictured the little
craft rs sailing smoothly above the bad
weather, and my heart swelled with en-
thusiasm as fancy painted the beauties of
winter sunset-a sunset above the
clouds. l had decided to remain up all
night, and to prolong the voyage as long
rs possible.
| was awakened from my reverie 10y Il
sharp explosion. The balloon had burst
near the point of its greatest diameter,
and had collapsed. 1t began to descend
with great rapidity. Its peculiar shape
gave to it a rotary motion that was rather
unpleasant, | fully realized the danger of
my situation. Death was inevitable, un-
less | conld succeed in forming the wreck
into a parachute, and to do this required
much physical strength and perfect cool
ness. The loss of self possession or neg
lect to preserve oscillating motion of my
craft would lie attended with loss of life.
However, Il knew the ropes" and deter
mined to pull them.
+l,o+ +I, IL /,
should be not only retained in the netting,
but kept in such Il position as to offer the
greatest possible resistance to the atmos-
phere. My craft proved to be unruly.
1t soon plunged violently, with the pecul-
lar motion of a kite that has lost its bal
last. At each plunge it swung through
the air like a great pendulum. | soon
attained terrible velocity, being fire.
quently thrown higher than any portion
of the wreck, and was several times
thrown entirely out of the basket.
Like Micawber, | "contidently expect
ed something to turn up'-in fact there
was great danger of the basket turning
up on top of the canvas. which would
result in instant death. by u strict at
tention to business" these mad lunges
were modified, and the velocity was more
uniform, though still very rapid
| now decided to throw out a portion
OF all of the ballast, and lifted bag to
the edge of the basket for that purpose.
when the thought occurred that it would
be less dangerous to keep it in the basket.
threw out 4 letter and by watching it as
1t tluttered in the air, was enabled to tell
with considerable accuracy as to where
the wreck would strike. To throw out
ballast at this time would prolong the
voyage to the woods beyond, even if it
did NOT cause the basket and contents to
be thrown on top Of the wreck. Taking
this view, it was decided to retain all the
weight in the basket that | possibly
could.
When within three hundred feet of the
ground / cut the cord attached to the an
Choir rope, and watching the ''rise and de-
scent, managed to throw at the proper
moment. 1t struck in time to lessen the
force with which | would have otherwise
struck the ground As it was the shock
produced Inconsistencies.
On awakening there was no sensation
of pain save numbness, that always at
tends q heavy fall The cold rain was
falling in my face, and could not lift my
head for the long briers that encircled me
like network. Near by stood lady
After gazing 4 moment, bowed my COM
pliments and wished her ''a happy new
year. She smiled and inquired whether
| was hurt mo ma'am" To convince
her of the fact | arose, and after securing
apeculiar black bottle, stepped forth.
The sc Hyperion" presented Il sorry
spectacle. Ropes, netting and fragments
of rotten cloth, it lay among the bushes
and briers an utter wreck. With the ex-
ception of a few slight scratches, I had
received no injury. The loss of a paper
collar and 4 few ''incidentals'' was all
that needed attention. All wants were
supplied, and in few minutes | was
again with my friends.