Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-02-11
ABOVE THE CLOUDS.

A EeWsbOy's PeriIOus AscensiOn-The
Greatest Aerial Adventure Of the
Age-HiracuIOus Escape of a Young
8erOnaut.
Readers will recollect the frightfill mis-
haps which attended a couple Of unfortu-
nate men who were recently carried up by
a balloon in Indiana. 1t seems they were
standing by the aerial car, holding to it
with their hands, when suddenly the ropes
were cut, and the balloon shot into the air
with wonderful velocity. One Of the par
ties let loose at hight of thirty feet, the fall
breaking both his legs. The other chung to
the car with death-ike grip, holding on
until it was supposed he was upward Of a
mile from terra frmd. At that dizzy hight
he finally let 60, and was. dashed to pieces
on the earth, being a mere mass Of pulp
when found. What his agony must have
been, while soaring high above the earth,
and with the certainty of death before bis
eyes, no tongue can tell nor pen describe.
This case brings fresh to memory, says a
San Francisco writer, the most remarkable
balloon adventure which ever came under
our notice. We allude to the ascent made
by freddy, the newshOy,". at Oakland, in
1858. 1t was customary, in those days, to
have some excitement every Sunday across
the bay. Thither would flock great num-
bers of San Franciscans, to see the fun,
whatever it might be. Sometimes it was a
bull ight-at others, a bull-Snd-bear fight;
and again, balloon ascension. This time
the latter amusement was the attraction. A
Prof. Wilson had advertised to ego up" at
Oakland, andlong before the hour for start
ing an immense concourse Of people had as
sembled to witness the performance. Great
difficulty was experienced in initiating the
serial monster, which rolled from side to side
like huge whale. At the appointed time.
however, in stepped the Professor, and the
fastenings were cast lOOSe-but the balloon
didn't 90. 1t stubbornly refused to rise.
Then the car was taken of, and a plain
board made fast to the ropes. The Profess
or seated himself on this, but with no better
luck. At this stage Of the proceedings,
some one called out for a boy to 90 up.
"Five dollars for any boy who will 90 up in
the ballOon!" was shouted ont by some
reckless individuals, aud several youngsters
were importuned to accept the offer.
In few minutes one was found in the
person of Freddy" a newsbOy or orange
peddler, who was unluckily on the ground.
As soon as he announced his willingness to
make the foOlhardy attempt no time was
given for 'sOber, second thought" Instant
ly he was rushed to the spot and seated on
one end ofthe board. The wind, which had
strengthened by this time, now caught the
balloon, and it began slowly to ascend.
When about two hundred feet from the
ground the boy was observed to give a sud
den jerk at the valve rope, which evidently
broke, as one end fell over and tTailed down.
What a horrible situation for an inexperi-
encad youth, who probably never had seen
z ba..Non before! Upward, upward, steadi-
ly upward, floating out across the bright
waters of the bay in the direction of Sacra-
mento. Gradually the huge air ship and the
young aerOnaut "grew small by degrees and
beautifully less" until they were but mere
gpeck on the horizon, soon to be lost en-
tirely to the naked eye.
There were many heavy hearts among
the returning eXcursiOnists that day, for the
boy had been favOrite, and it was terrible
TO think of him sailing helplessly through
the clouds, at the mercy of the winds of
b aaven, with the prospect of being finally
dashed 10 pieces on the earth below. But,
strange to say, no such fate was in store for
the adventurous Freddy" The balloon,
after crossing the Straits near Benicia,
descended a short distance from the little
town of Martinez, Contra Costa county.
"Reddy" jumped off as soon as it was close
TO the ground; and then, freed from his
weight, up it went again. Parties noticed
the balloon pass over Sacramento City,
but after that il was never heard of.
The youthful ballOonist was for a time
quite a hero on returning to the city. Ex-
tras were issued giving an account Of his
adventure, from the sale of which lie made
considerable money, as high as five dollars
being given for single copy. But this
was aot enough. The people were not sat
ssfied. They wanted to look at him, and
hear the story from his own lips. So the
Young news-yender gave an exhibition at
one Of the theaters. The house was crowd
ed, and when he appeared great enthusiasm
prevailed. His narrative, in brief, was that
he became alarmed when the valve-rOpe
broke, but did not give up all hope. While
crossing the Bay, he resolved on making 2
desperate effort fer his life. Taking his
pocket knife in his teeth, he climbed the
ropes up to the balloon, and managed to
cut it in several places. This, however, did
not appear to do any good. as it continued
90 sail as before. Finally, he said, it seemed
TO him that two opposing currents of air
caught the balloon and pressed the gas out
of it. The operation, fortunately for the
lad, was a gradual one, else the rapid and
violent descent would have been fatal to
him. As it was, he got off with only his
hands cut by the cords in his periIous and
daring ascent to puncture the balloon, and
a few slight bruises received in jumping OF
when it was once more near to Mother
Earth.