Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-05-29
In a Thundere Cloud with
Aoslsaa Bal ilooMlloq eye
BY PROF. JOHN WIS i

IL q 4uuuQSC.G1uQQ WIFI
!. Aosls BauooMIloa eYo
BY PROF. JOHN WISE. 70
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The first time l was, ever swallowed
4 up in a storm-cloud, It ithappened to be
in a suddenly generated hait-storu
nimbus during an ascension from Car
flisle, Pa. A hail-storm is not a very
large meteor, but it is very violent in
its gyrstory action and xhsnit snoks
a balloon INTO its vertical air-hopper,
the aronaut may look out for a little
rough usage, and not the least of his
troubles will be a nausea similar to that
of sea-siekness, following the swinging
to and fro, compounded with gyrations
of the air-ship. L will, however, for
the present, describe an experience of
travelling INSIDE Of q thunder7gust for
distance of nearly a hundred miles
along the Ohio river, in balloon voy-
age from Portsmouth, Ohio, to Point
Pleasant, about twelve mikes B9lox
Call Rolis. Straight across the coan-
try from Portsmouth to Gallipolis is
not much over half the distance it is
by the course'of the river, but 9apder-
storms have penchant to trail their
watery drapery along river channels.
The ascension was made in the after
ternoon, between four and I've O'Clock
and right in the face of an approaching
thunder-gust coming from the north
west. On attaining height of three
charters of a mile, discovered sec
ond thunder gust coming along from
the southwest. My balloon was situa-
ted on the apex of the two lines of the
approaching storms, and already gave
indications of being gobbled Up in the
vortex of centralizing air incident to
storm-clonds. made up my mind to
60 into tie whales belly, not entirely
regardless of consequences; but being
well provided with gas and ballast, L
was consolcd with the knowledge that
| could escape from this leviathan Of
the air by using the means of gravita-
ton in letting out gas, OIL of levitation
by disposing OF the ballast. y.
The two storms were approaching:-a as
lit were, in grand. battle array, with
numbering explosions. The discharges
of lightning came vivid, sharp and fre-
quent; and when the two storms clash-1
ed, they became terrific. 1t was scene
of awful grandeur. l had mind to
escape by one or the other of the means
just mentioned, but like Lots wife, /
was curious enorgh to look back-not
to be turned into pillar of salt, but
certainly to be well shaken = hurled
round and round as it were by the nape
of the neck.
The intelligent reader may here be
reminded that q thunderstorm is not
an accidentally condensed, irregularly
massed body of watery yapor, as viewed
from the earth, but a geometrieally
formed and indiyidualized meteor, and
of mathematical precision in its mo-
ton and compensating balances. Its
more or .less governed in its onward
progress by the undulations' of the
!earsh's surfaee-the channels of rivers,
valleys and mountain gorges. These
meteors often take short turns to pass
into a deep valley. When they happen
to plunge asaiBst.a ;npnntaiH side that
lies in their direct course, they oftenhe-
come tangled in the mountain-top,
swaying to and fro like things of life,
and gives rise to. those destructive
mountain torrents known as "cloud-
bursts" The rain that would other
wise spread over a great surface is by
this stand-still Of the meteor poured
down against the Immediately Under
meath surface of the mountain side.
1t requires no strained imagination
to give interest to storm scenes as view
ed from above them in theif midst. sad
lwhen it is considered that bafioofifs
mot in the predicament as ship at sea
is in q storm, the scene may be, viewed
with an assurance Of safety that is rare-
ly felt upon thes water. Thesea-ship
has two elements to contend With, THE
air whirling it round in the vorteSof a
storm, and the thousand times denser
water holding in in its ts,embrace, brings
upon the sea-ship a-leverage and strain
that crashes and cracks it TO pieces.
The balloon has but one element to
contend with, and it.matters not wheth-
er the current is one mfle an hour or
one hundred miles; to the air passen-
ger it is all the same; for he knows not
that he is moving at all unless he can
see some landmarks to give him all
idea of motion. In a thunder-cloud,
however, there is a perceptible motion.
not violent, but disagreeabie. The mo-
ton is gyratory-a swinging to and fro
and going round in circle at the same
time-and this motion produces nausea
like sea-sickness. The huge Black prec
ipices Of nimbi, or the brilliantly il
Illuminated lara-looking ,snmuli, have
not the terror-giving character to the
air-passenger that the coral reefs and
leeshore rocks have to the sea-passen-
ger. The reader is now better prepared
to resume ths thread of the narrative
with composure, since dashing against
an atmospheric boulder will not shock
him.
These two storms merging into one
having met ut an angle in the course Ol
/. the river where it tends off from ;
southwest to " northeast direction o.
stream, it followed the scoitfse Of th,
!. Ohio up to the mouth of the Kanawhi
river, andihsre-it made 4 turn up tina
water-course. Sailing in this meteor
0 I was constantly surrounded by elec
E trical phenomena.-Whilet the discharge
of lightning wefe' almosp incessant
laundering and crashing out of tn,
thick vapor with vivid, zigzag bolt.