St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-10-25
Up in a Balloon.
\ Remarkable Aerial Voyage.

NIGHT RIDE OVER THE WILD> OE
MAINE AND CANADA. AND OFT AT >TA.
Ranger III the Boston Journal
The balloon voyage made 10y Nh.
samuel \. King and the writer. Sep
tembcI u and y. which had Plymouth.
y. H.. for its place of beginning. and
the little obscure settlement of the Say
ahec. in the province ol Quebec, on the
line of the new International railway.
for its terminal point. must certainly h,
regarded a> one OF the most thrilling
and remarkable aerial journeys wmcl
has ever taken place III America. The
widest and most dc>olatc regions ot
New Hampshire. Maine and the cN-
trcme lower portion of the province al
| Quebec We're traNcrSed. to the very
| shores of the gulf of It. Law renee, til,
voyage even extending ont over that
! vast desert of waters, Il contrary cur
rent of air fortunately bringing the bal
| loon to land again. The whole dis
tanre travelled must have been conSid
! erahlN i'll excess OF 5tm miles. inaSurIri
a. the distance III an air lliIc from Ply
mouth to our final landing place Is
found to bc about 100 miles. cur gen
cral course probably Varied very littl,
from il direct line until the waters u
the gulf of It Lawrence were reached
when We descended into Il contrary
current which wa> blowing inland
Nearly the whole journey in fact eve
nv inch of 1t after the White Mountain,
were passed d-wa> travelled in the darl
of a stormy night. and most OF II over ;
tr;IcklcSS wilderness. The balloon
passed over not only nearly all the high
est peaks of the White Mountains. an,
| within almost Il stones throw of tn,
summit of Mount Washington itself
but over scores upon scores of othc
mountains in Maine and Canada. he
sides lakes and rivers imnumcrahlc
The time occupied III the VOYAGE Wa
from l. minutes past / o'clock on til,
afternoon of Thursday. the 2ith. unit
, o'clock on the morning of the 21th
II hours and T. minutes and tW" ad
litional hours We're spent III S"Curln:
the balloon To the tree tops and IN max
ing our way safely To terra tirma. Il
Our descent Wa> made in Il dense forest
TIE pErNRTIEE Fi:nM PLYM"UTn.
The ascension WIS made in conncc
ton with the Grafton county (\. H..
fair. and was the main feature of th
closing day proceedings. The balloon
used on the occasion had Il capacity "
2O.Wm cubic feet. and waS Inflated witt
pure hydrogen gas. manufactured %
. the grounds. to the extent of l6.OOO -
Il 900 cubic feet. The weather ha
been lowering. with showers of rain
through the day. but at the time we lct
there were slight indicationS of cleariu
weather. which. however. were not re
aliZcd After the balloon had been till
ed with the requisite amount of ga
preparations for our departure wcl
soon effected. We provided ourSclNc'
as Il matter of course. with warm oven
coats. for the balloon was quite sure t
rea h chilly region among the clouds
The remainder of our outfit may h
quickly enumerated. FIRST in import
= ancc was il small basket of provisions
the supply WAS ample tul orIr supper /
case We were unable to reach ii hahita
tion the same night. but it would hav
been made much larger had we enter
. tanned even the most distant idea tn;
we were to take night ride over tn
interminable wildS of Maine and Cana
da. with chance ot dropping into thei
lnnellnO>I ana llOSl lIldCttSslblt ltttSs
es. our next important item persol
}, al baggage was gallon can filled wit
. water An Ancroid barometer, dl
and wet bulb thermometers. Cotton
railway township and distance map
New England, IL relief map of the Whit
Mountains. two pocket cOmpasseS, tW
pairs of opera glasses. note book,
:. small flask of brandy and an umhrell
made up the rest. The people who ha
gathered to see us off doubtless marVe
eel ut our selection of the latter articl
but they would have deemed our choi'
il wise one could they have seen VIII;
good service it rendered few hou
later. All the rain which fell upon II
top of the balloon soon found its Wa
down the sides of the globe into II
basket. and the umbrella spread in Il
hoop above our heads gave us shelf
ut least to some extent. At II miuut
t past ! o'clock We bade Plymouth adic
and ascended. not swiftly but mode
atelv, toward the murky looking cloud
As we rose from the earth il shout we
up from the great crowd of people vi
had hraved the rain to witness the spc
taclr, while the band played the high
appropriate air. up iii Il Balloon
which they afterwards changed t" I
cheering notes of Yankee Doodle
The balloon probably remained i'll sig
q, of the people upon the fair ground,
teen OF twenty minutes, or at least