Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1872-10-14

Il
rate of so Miles an Hoa~-A Night
Ride over the aUilds Of Maine and
Coaaadd-O Out at Sea IN the Darkness
and Fog-Lmadsng IN the Tree Tops.
The balloon voyage made by Mr.. Sam
uel A. King and the writer, Sept. 26
and 27, which had Plymouth, N. H., for
its place Of beginning, and the little,
obscure settlement of Sayabec, in the
Province of Quebec, on the line of the
new Intercolonial Railway, for its termi-
nal point. must certainly be regarded as
one of the most thrilling and remarka-
BILE aerial journeys which has ever taken
place in America. In fact, few of the
balloon voyages made in France or Eng
land, of which record has been made,
equal it either in extent Of duration or
distance. The widest and most desolate
regions of New Hampshire, Maine and
the extreme lower portion of the Prov
ince of Quebec were traversed to the We
ry shores of the Gulf Of st. Lawrence,
the voyage even extending out over that
vast desert of waters, a contrary current
of air fortunately bringing the balloon
to land again The whole distance trav-
eled must surely have been considerably
in excess of five hundred miles, mas
much as the distance in an air line from
Plymouth to our final landing place is
found to be about four hundred and fifty
miles Our general course probably va
ried very little from a direct line until
the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
were reached, when we descended into
contrary current which was blowing in
land. 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
1lut UttWcCH CHt IIONiuCo VI QuOU0O dnu
Labrador, five or six hundred miles be-
low Quebec, a region sparsely populated
by Indians and few French. Nearly
the whole journey-in fact every inch of
it after the White Mountains were passed
was travelled in the darkness of a stor-
my night, and most of it over trackless
wilderness. The balloon passed over not
only nearly all the highest peaks Of the
White Mountains, and within almost a
stones throw of the summit or Mount
Washington itself, but over scores upon
scores of other mountains, in Maine and
Conada. besides lakes and rivers innu-
merable. The time occupied in the voy-
age was from eighteen minutes past four
o'clock on the afternoon of Thursday,
the Goth, until five o'clock on the NOR
ming of the 27th-twelve hours and for
ty two minutes-and two additional hours
were spent in securing the balloon to the
tree tops and in making our way safely
to terra frma, as our descent was made
in dense forest. An account of our ad-
venture cannot fail to be of interest.
THE DEPARTURE FROM PLYMOUTH.
The ascension was made in connection
with the Grafton County N. H. Fair,
and was the main feature of the closing
days proceedings. The balloon used on
the occasion had capacity of twenty
thousand cubic feet, and was inflated
with pure hydrogen gas, manufactured
on the grounds, to the extent of sixteen
or seventeen thousand cubic feet. The
weather had been lowering, with showers
of rain, through the day, but at the time
we left there were slight indications o.
clearing weather, which, however, were
not realized A short time before ouI
departure there. was quite severe fal
of rain. A year previous the same bal
loon had ascended from the same spo
with three passengers. and taking an E
N. E. current of air, landed at Bridgton
Me-, and in the course of the recen
summer and the month of September i
had ascended from Boston July 13
when it descended in the water off Marsh
field, Mass.,) Rochester, n Y, ant
Schenectady, N. T., the Rochester ascen
sion having been made by Mr. King 70
the purpose of afording Mr.. Schaeffer o
the United States signal office at Wash
ingtonan opportunity to make series 0
scientific observations. The writer ha
accompanied Mr.. King on his voyag
from the Plymouth Fair Grounds tn
year previous and also on the Bosto
trip This was to be his twentieth ex
curson among the clouds. while Nh
King was to make his one hundred an
sixty sixth voyage to the upper regions
The day previous, son of Mr.. King
Walter S. King, had made his first ba1
loon ascension, starting from the Eai
Grounds at Fitchburg, Mass, and lane
ing at Brookline, N. H. A telegram al
nouncing his safe landing at the la:
named place was received by his fathe
IN Plymouth. short time before our d,
parture. The young mans first aeri;
trip, it is worthy of record, was made Q
the twenty first anniversary of his f
theirs first attempt in the same line :
The news of his sons safety was matt
rally a source of intense satisfaction
both of us. and Il came like tho nresa,