Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-05-29

ing.in clear atmosphere berwcen th.
5 upper and lower clouds, though right il
: front of it, and within. . few hundret
yards, the upper and tower clouds wer'
joined in the form Of a waeer-spout
and from'this conjoined mass the dis:
charges were mainly taking place
though occasionally a more distant ex-
! plosion would occur. The central ex-
plosiops were SO frequent and terrific
that dare not let the Balloon rock in
the vortex, and in ordet to avoid this ]
had to pay out ballast and gas, causing
the balloon to rise and fall, and by that
means be thrown outward in the upper
| cloud, whenever the lower cloud had
rocked it too near the central ppfising
air-shower. This kind Of maneuvering
had beenlearned from former expert
ence in these meteors. .ss ~ =.
One time the. balloon got up to the
rear of the center of the vortex be-
tween the upper and the, lower cloud
that it fell into the raps of the sun.
This produced one of the rarest spec
tacfes of rainbow light in the form of
/ 2 perhelion, or aureola, as 1t is techAi-
cally termed, that my eyes ever ressed
on. 1t threw upon this black central
Ecloud-matter beautiful prismatic arch
of vari-eoloreflight, not ci6cuiar as a
rainbow, but in the form OF twisted
elipse, caused, no doubt, by the differ
ence of density of the watery particles
acting as the screen. gazed upon it
with admiration and amazemept. All
this time the celestial fireworks con-
tinued in full blast, banging and BOOM
ing like great guns, and the Kissing Of
the electrical streams of fire was truly
appalling. 1t seemed to me like the
crack of. doom; and while it made my
hair bristle and my heart beat quick
time, it seemed still tosay, ''Stand from
under, because the thunderbolts were
all hurled downward. So far as my
reason could direct, I felt it safer to
look at it from above than from below
besides, the cotl1try< Below was mainly
forest and river, as seen from an occa-I
siopal glimpse through, an open chasm
of the lower cloud. ,t.,...- f,,7r 81
Once the balloon was totally involved
in d mass of orange-cOlOred flame. This
was evidently "shee-lightning" play
ing between the upper and the7o&ef
cloud. 1 was for a moment paralyzed,
not by an electric shock, but by a shud-
der of fright, as it seemed for a mo-
ment that my jair-bubble was blaze.
In an instant more felt easier in mind
seeing that the fire had not harmed the,
balloon. The thought now occurred,
am I not venturing too far upon my
philosophy Of safety in thunder-cl cloud !?
Besides, my ballast was pretty well ex-
'hausted, and ] had been riding in q
storm for more than an hour, so chat
must be many,miles from the place of
departure.
The beautiful grotto of fire would ap-
pear and disappear as the balloon hap
pened to fall in and out of the sun
beams bihzing in between the upper
and the lower cloud. The balloon re-
fracting the rays of light passing
through it caused the prismatic arch |
The rain was discharged from the low
er Cloud, and but seldom a few heavy
drops would fall on to the balloon from
the upper Stratum. From the rushing
noise of water, it was evident that the
rain was descending to the earth in tor
rents, and this with the heavy and con-
slant discharges of thunderbolts and
the remarkable beauty OF the ,aureola
Illuminating the interior of the storm
cloud, gaveit more the. character of a
scene of enehantment than one of re-
ality. There was fearful fascination
in the grand phenomenon; and while
it made ones heart beat with emotion
and feeling of awe, it still persisted
in dragging one along as the soldieris
dragged along in. the thick, smoke OF
the battles cannon. It is impossible to
fully, and fairly portray with words the
condition of mind and its surrounding
phenomena when sailing in the'midst
of a good sized thunderstorm. 1t is a
sublimity not 3realizahle ON the surface
of the earth, grand and majestic as
these meteors present themselves to the
observer OIL. terra tirma. ......
Having now sailed within thu. folds
of his electrical meteor for over an
hour, and for a distance of nearly d
hundred Smiles by the course of the
Ohio river, and reviewed it-from yari-
GUS positions, the limited amount of
ballast remaining on hand admonished,
a preparation for descent. Before COM
ing down, dozen or more copies of the
Portsmouth daily paper were thrown
overheard, and they were soon drawn
into the vortex of the Storm. One Of
them fell into my hands again the next
day, as will. be explained at the conclu7,
sion of this narrative. 1 now COM
menced to-descend slowlyand cautious
Fly, in order to hook out for a safe land
ing place. As. this process was going
on, the storm was moving forward and
taway from the balloon. On coming
down through the lower cloud, 1 found
lthe Surface of Gailia county hereabout
covered with forest; but some distance
tahead in my line Of direetionsa log cab
in peered out from little Clearing"
and struck for this, and made lodg-
ment before the cabin door ip the rain,
greatly to the surprise OF, the family in
the house. Seeing the suddenly-ap-
pearing appearing apparation was
nothing more than flesh and blood, the
good housewife cautiously, with the
door slightly ajar, veatured the ques-
ton of, "Who are .you?'' In dripping
garments and with the most gentle
speech at my command, answered,
GA stranger, madam, IN a strange'land !;
will you please help me little?" Still
holding the door in her hand, she said,
'swhat is that?" pointing at the air
craft as it was swayipg over her head.
"a balloon, madam, just came out of
that cloud" The door Immediately
flew open, andat-the same time she ex-
claimed, "Come out, Joe; here's man
in balloon that you read about in the
paper the other day."
The next morning went to Small
landing, few miles, of, to get OH a