The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1872-11-05
A Night Ride in n Balloon Over the
Wilds of Maine and Canada.

INV c"'iooh ''J"SS pi"No W 4hi
Samuel A. King and the writer, Septem.
ber 26 to 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 Inter-colonial Railway, for its
terminal point, must certainly be regard
ed as one of the most thrilling and re-
markable aerial journeys which has ever
taken place in America. In fact, few
Of the balloon voyages made in France
or England, of which record has been
made, equal it either in extent or dura.
tion or distance. The widest and most
desolate regions Of New Hampshire,
Maine, and the extreme lower portion of
the Province of Quebec were traversed,
to the very shores of the Gulf of St. Law
renee, the voyage even extending out
over that vast desert of waters, a contra.
ry current of air fortunately bridging the
balloon to land again. The whole dis
tance Travelled must surely have been in
excess of 500 miles, inasmuch as the dis.
tance in an air line from Plymouth to
our final landing place is found to be 45O
miles. Our general course probably va
ried very little from direct line, until
the waters of the Gulf of St, Lawrence
were reached when we descended into
contrary current which was blowing iu-
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
line between the Province OF Quebec and
Labrador, 500 or 600 miles below Que.
bee, a region sparsely populated by In.
dians and few French Nearly the
whole journey-in fact every inch of i,
after the White Mountains we're passed
was Travelled in the darkness OF a
stormy night, and most OF it over track
less wilderness.
The balloon passed over not only near.
ly all the highest peaks Of the White
Mountains, and within almost stones
throw of Mount Washington itself, but
over scores upon scores Of other noun.
tains in Maine and Canada, besides lakes
and rivers innumcrable. The time occu-
pied in the voyage was from AIS on the
afternoon of Thursday the 26th, until
o'clock on the morning Of the 9th
twelve hours and forty-two mnutes-and
two additional hours were spent in secur-
ing the balloon to the trce-tops and in
making our way to terra frma, as our
descent was made in dense forest. The
ascension was made in connection with
the Grafton County IN. II Fair, and
was the main feature of the closing day 5
proceedings. The balloon 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 10000 1900 cubic feet. Al
ter the balloon had been filled with the
requisite amount of gas, the preparations
for our departure were soon effected, al
though they were slightly delayed by
rain. We provided ourselves, as mat.
ter Of course, with warm overcoats, for
the balloon was quite sure to reach a
chilly region amid the clouds. The re-
mainder of our outfit may be briefly emu.
merated. First in Importance was a
small basket of provisions our next i'm
portant item of personal baggage was a
gallon can filed with water an Aneroid
barometer, dry and wet bulb thermome.
Ter, 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, small flask of brandy and
an umbrella made up the rest. The peo.
pie who gathered to see us off doubtless
marveled at our selection Of the latter
article, but they would have deemed oul
choice wise one could they have seer
what good service it rendered a few hours
later. We were enabled to take three
bags Of sand ballast, which, in its moist
condition, probably weighed 225 pounds
Strange as it may seem, fully one-hali
this amount was left in the bags when VT
descended, showing that the balloon had
expended considerably less Of its buoy
ancy than 1000 cubic feet of hydrogen
gas would furnish, 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 pura hy-
drogen is supposed to be capable of lift
ing sixty pounds, and this estimate would
give the whole machine a lifting power
of from 600 to l.O2O pounds. Allowing
300 for the weight Of the balloon itself
(gas envelope, netting and basket, aud
225 pounds for the ballast, the remaining
weight was divided about as follows
Passengers, 325 anchor, thirty-6ve
pounds; anchor rope and guide-rope, fifty
pounds; barometer, etc, twenty five
pounds. At i.lS o'clock we bid Ply
mouth adeu and ascended, not swiftly
but moderately, toward the murky-look-
ing clouds. The surface current was ap-
parently from the north or northwest, but
some Of the clouds had been drifting
northeasterly, in the direction of the
mountains The balloon probably re.
mained in sight of the Fair Grounds iif'
teen or twenty minutes, or at least We
thought they might catch occasional
glimpses of u through the interstices o.
the clouds for that length Of time, since
Plymouth itself was plainly in our sigh
for the most art until after four O'Clock
The lower stratum of clouds was made
mp of aeecy masses which obscured tn,
earth only in spots, aud some OF the va
por we could see through, though dimly
They found that as they ascendsd tn,
thermometer sank from 6S degrees at tn
ground to AZ degrees below the lowe
stratum of clouds, aud "A degrees in il
The report proceeds