New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-10-13
UP IN 4 BALLOON
Thrilling Voyage Over the White HOun
tains-Out at Sea- in she Darkness an'

tatns-Out at Sea- in she Darkness and
Fog.
The balloon voyage made by Mr.. Samuel
A. King and the writer, September 70 and
q, which had Plymouth, New Hampshire,
for its place of beginning, and the little,
obscure settlement of Sayabec, in the
province of Quebec, on the line of the new
fnterc0Iolonial railway, for its terminal
point, must certainly be regarded as one of
the most thrilling and remarkable aerial
Journeys which has ever taken place In
America In fact, few of the balloon yOy-
ages made in France or England, of which
record has been made, equal it either in ex-
tent of duration or distance. The widest
and most desolate regions Of New Hamp-
shire Maine and the extreme lower portion
at the 0yince of Quebec were trayersed,
to the very shores Of the Cult of st. Law
renee, the voyage even extending out over
that vast desert of waters, a contrary cur
rent of air fortunately bringing the balloon
to land again.
The whole distance travelled must surely
have been considerably in excess of 500
miles, inasmuch as the distance in an air
line from Plymouth to our final landing
place is found to be about $50 miles. Our
general course probably varied very little
| from direct line until the waters OF the
Gulf of st. Lawrence were reached, when
we descended into a contrary current which
was blowing inland. Had we continued on
over the gulf in our original course, We
should have reached in few hours either
the island of AnticOsti or the northern
| coast of the gulf contiguous to the boundary
| line between the province of Quebec and
Labrador, 500 or 600 miles below Quebec,
region sparse1y populated by Indians and
| few French. Nearly the whole iourney-in
fact, every inch Of it after the White Noun
| tains were passed-Was Travelled in the
darkness of q stormy night, and most of it
L L.,
| passed over not only nearly all the highest
! peaks of the White Mountains, and within
almost a stones throw of the summit of
| Mount Washington itself, but over scores
| upon scores OF other mountains in Maine
| and Canada, besides lakes and rivers in
| Vulnerable.
The time occupied in the voyage was
| from eighteen minutes past four o'clock on
the afternoon of Thursday, the twenty
sixth, until five o'clock on the morning of
| the twenty -seventh-tWelVe hours and forty
| two minutes-and two additional hours
| were spent in securing the balloon to the
tree tops and in making our way safely to
terra JiInlu, as our descent was made in a
| dense forest. The ascension was made in
| connection with the Grafton county New
| Hampshirc) fair, and was the main feature
of the closing days proceedings. The bal
| loon used on the occasion had capacity of
| 10000 cubic feet, and was inflated with
| pure hydrogen gas, manufactured on the
! grounds, to the extent of $4,000 to 1900
| cubic feet. After the balloon had been
| filed with the requisite amount of gas, the
preparations for our departure were soon
| effected, although they were slightly de-
| layed by rain.
We provided ourselves, as matter of
course, with warm Overcoats, for the bal
| loon was quite sure to reach chilly region
| amid the clouds. The remainder of our out
tit may be quickly enumerated. First in
| importance was small basket of provisions;
our next important item of personal bag
I gage was gallon can filed with water
! An Aneroid barometer, dry and wet bulb
| thermometers, ColtOn's railroad, township
and distance map of New England, relief
map of the White Mountains, two pocket
| compasses, two pairs Of opera glasses, note
| book, a small flask Of brandy and an UNI
| brella made up the rest. The people who
had gathered to see us off doubtless mar
veled at our selection of the latter article,
| but they would have deemed our choice
wise one could they have seen what good
service it rendered few hours later. We
| were enabled to take three bags Of sand
| ballast, which, in its moist condition, prob
| ably weighed about 225 pounds. Strange
! as it may seem, fully One-half of this amount
was left in the bags when we descended,
| showing that the balloon had expended
| considerably less of Its buOyancy than 1000
| cubic feet of hydrogen gas would fur
nish, notwithstanding the lapse of nearly
thirteen hours, while the actual weight the
| balloon had to carry was from time to time
| increased by the rain. A thousand cubic
| feet of pure hydrogen is supposed to be ca
| pable of lifting sixty pounds, and this esti-
mate would give the whole machine lift
! ing power of frOmo960 to 1920 pounds. AL
| lowing 300 tor the weight of the balloon it.
| self (gas envelope, netting and basket and
| 225 pounds for the ballast, the remaining
weight was divided about as follows: Pas
| sengers 325, anchor thirty-fve pounds, an
Choir rope and guide rope fifty pounds; ba-
rometer, etc, twenty-five pounds. At
| eighteen minutes past four o'clock we bid
| Plymouth adieu and assembled, not swiftly
! but moderately, toward the murky looking
| clouds. The surface current was appa-
rently from the north or northwest, but
| some of the clouds had been drifting north
| easterly in the direction of the mountains
The balloon probably remained in sight
| Of the people upon the fair grounds fifteen
| or twenty minutes, or at least we thought
| they might catch occasional glimpses of US
| through the interstices of the clouds tor
| that length of time, since Plymouth itself
was plainly in our signt for the most part
| until after four o'clock. The lower stratum
| of clouds was made up of feecy masses
which obscured the earth only in spots, and
| some of the vapor we could see through,
though dimly.
| FORTY MILES IN FIFTY-sEVEE MINUTES.
They found that as they assembled the
thermometer sank from ESQ at the ground
to 47o below the lower stratum of clouds
and 40 in it. The report proceeds:
| We have been sailing through the clouds
at varying height of from a mile and
| quarter to mile and half and two miles,
| entirely unconscious of our course or the
| velocity with which we were travelling
for even the compass could only indicate
| the different points while we seemed to be
| moving not at all-When we emerged from
| the clouds and found ourselves IN close
! proximity to bare mountain peak. We
were not more than three or four hundred
! feet above it, and as we continued to des-
cend slowly we soon found one or two
neighboring peaks towering above our
heads. Near us was a deep chasm, IN the
recesses of which We could hear the gentle
| music of q cascade. The bleak mountain
tops, overspread by black, inky pail, tow
cred up in awful grandeur. 1t was only a
| quarter past five o'clock but the dense and
murky clouds threw an almost midnight
blackness over the scene. 4 few hand
| fuls Of sand were thrown out-the first
that had been expended-aud the balloon
| turned and rose again above the peaks.
Our progress at this time was very rapid
and we had passed over several submits in
| a briefer space of time than it takes to re-
cord the facto The strange and unfamiliar