The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-10-10
lhGrtethgHtea::
rp IN A BALLOON.

Up IN A BALLOON.
thrilling Voyage Over thu
White Mountains.
Oh. Of SEQ in t taS Darkness and
The balloon voyage made BY Mr.. ia sam n,
ii 'l' King and the writer, September ~ a. =; y
ao a ), W." which had Plymouth, N. FL, fol
,'I ,,, ,S Of beginning, and tho little, n OBJ
u I,I .s,,Iemeat Of sayabec in the Pro
sue s,' osebec, on the line Of the now
,I..oasS.s, u Railway, for Its terminal
Ia :. v,,,,t certainly be regarded as one
2 NJ. T most thrilling and remarkable GriaI
o. ' wv r., which has ever taken place ID
,,,a,is. In fact, few Of the balloon voy'
Ans' ,".Jslp France or England, ofwhich
AS' o.. L' "a, been made, equal it either in
'' ''on, n duration or distance. The wild
Sl !, .rS most desolatc regions Of New
u. Maine, and the extreme lower
, ,l,t Of The Province of Quebec were
i,,,sned, TO the very shores of the Gull
~, lawrence, the voyage even extend
, =, o,,t over that vast desert Of waters, .
. NY rg current Of air fortunately bring
1.-The y, lbo balloon TO land again. The whole
r,,'nce travelled must surely have been
o,,",i5erably In excess Of 900 miles, mas.
H US "a the distance in an air line from
pT,smorth 10 our final landing place Is
a!:r5 10 be about 400 miles. Our general
, "-Is probably varied very little from q
I ,.,"c, Inc until tho waters Of the Cult OF
!, tswreDcC wero reached, when We dc.
,csnGel into a contrary current which
Sss blowing inland. Had we continued
"'c aver T the Gulf in our original course, We
V ,SorIi have reached in u few hours either
,I Island Of Anticosti or the northern
c "a, Of The Gulf contiguous to the bound.
Nv line between the Province Of Quebec
Nv. ~, Is Labrador, 500 or 600 miles below
1 I'M a region sparsely populated by
I.jisrs and lew French. Nearly the
,da,j,, Iouney-in fact every inch of 1t
,tSr me White Mountains were passed
20 travelled In the darkness of
+, stormy night, and most of it
AVER A trsckIess wilderness. Tho balloon
N,s,eI over not only nearly the highest
naEs Of The White Mountains,and within
,lmOst stones throw Of the summit Of
Mount Washington itself, but over scores
nnon scores Of other mountains in Maine
,pd Canada, besides lakes and rivers IN.
Vulnerable The time occupied in the
voyage was from eighteen minutes past
four O'clock gu the afternoon Of Thurs
.ay the goth, until five o'clock on the
ncrDlpC Of the 27th-twelve hours and
n,,y.two minutCs-and two additional
hours were spent in securing the balloon
10 The tree.tOp s and in making our way
atey to terra irma, US our descent was
made in o dense forest. The ascension
Vsnsde in connection with the Grafton
county IN. H.) Fair, and was the main
feature Of the closing days proceedings.
TheballOOn used ON the occasion had q
capacity Of 10000 cubic feet, and was in.
fsled with pure hydrogen gas, manufac-
tured on the grounds, to the extent Of 49,
OOO or 1900 cubic feet. Alter the bal
loon had been filed with the requisite
smOunt Of gas, the preparations for our
departure were soon effected, although
they were slightly delayed by rains We
provided ourselves, as a matter OF course,
with warm ovCrCOats, for the balloon was
quite sure to reach q chilly region amid
the clouds, The remainder Of our outfit
may be quickly enumerated: First in i'm
pOrtauCc was i small basket of provisions;
our next important item 81 personal
baggage was gallon can filled with
water. An AncrOid barometer, dry and
vet bulb thermometers, Colton's Railroad,
Township and Distance Map Of New
England, relief map Of the White Noun.
taiHS, two pocket compases, two pairs OF
opera glasses, note book, Il small flask oil
brandy and an umbrella made up the rest.
The people who had gathered 10 see us
of doubtless marvelled0t our selection Of
The later article, but they would have
deemed our choice u wise one could they
have seen want good service it rendered q
few hours later. We were enabled to
take three bags Of sand ballast, which, in
is moist condition, probably weighed
Sbout 995 pounds. Strange as 1t may
seem, July Onc.hOlf this amount was lett
In the bags when we descended, showing
that the balloon had expended coUsidera-
BY less Of its buOyancy than 1000 cubic
teetof hydrogen gas would furnish, not
outstanding the lapse Of nearly thirteen
hours, while the actual weight the bal.
loon had 10 carry was from time to time
Increased by the rain. A thousand cubic
iett Of pure hydrogen is supposed to be
capable Of lifting sixty pounds, and this
ss'lnste would give the whole machine q
lifting power OF from 900 to 1,020 pounds.
Allowing 800 for the weight OF the bal.
loon itself (gaS envelope, netting and bas-
keq and 92j Tor the ballast, the remaining
weight was divided about as follows: Pas.
Sngers, 2!j; anchor, 50 pounds, anchor
rope and guide, so pounds; barometer,
nc, % pounds At eighteen minutes
past lOnr O'clock We bid Plymouth adieu
and assembled, not swiftly, but moderately
toward the murky looking clouds. The
surface current was apparently from the
north, or northwest, but some OF the
clouds had been drifting northeastsrly in
Iae direction Of the mountains. The bal.
loon probably remained in sight of the
.opIe upon the Fair Grounds fifteen or
INEenty minutes, or at least. we thought
aey might catch occasional glimpses Of
Is through tho interstices Of the clouds
ot that length Of time, since Plymouth
.seli was plainlyin our sight for the most
part until after five o'clock. The lower
stratum Of clouds was made up of fleecy
masses which Obscured the earth only in
'ps, and some OF the vapor We could
'~ through, though dimly,
FORTY MILES IN FIFTY.sEvEN MINUTES.
They found that as they assembled the
thermometer sank from GS degrees at the