Helena weekly herald., 1873-09-18
A BALLOON RETROSPECT.
A Letter of 1910 to be Read i'm 1873.
NEW YORK. Julv 81 1910

nifty years since the sun began to arise in tn,
: west; In other words, since that memorable
time when the earth stood still for days to
gether, throughout this hemisphere men,
hearts failed them because of tear, and thou
sands died from fright alone All! well
remember it all, as distinctly as though i
were an affair of last week. .....'-,
No fact is more fully admitted now thar
that Of the existence of an upper air curren
moving around the globe. When you and
embarked on the mammoth "Graphic" las
year, in London, with seventeen hundred
passengers on board, not soul was there
who did not know of the existence of this
current, and who did not trust with certainty
that it would land the great aerial ship in
New York within ty-eight hours This
westward current swept eastward when was
4 lad. Nor was it generally known that such
a current existed. 1t was believed in by the
first aeronaut who crossed the Atlantic, Mr.
Wise; but scientific men, prior to that period,
had not generally adopted it. They could
give no satisfactory reason for the revolution
of the earth upon its axis. But that the first
transatlantic voyage settled the question, and
the construction of vast air-ships, and the
establishment of regular line of them around
the world, was but the work of a few years.
They were not SO large then as now, for no
ship, prior TO the change of the current, car
ried more than !, 200 people, and you remem-
Der that the Monarch brought over $500 on
one of her trips last summer. u In fact, there
were not many improvements in aerial navi-
CATION during the first twenty years of which
speak. The electromagnetic engine which
has for so many years taken the place of
steam, and which propels the great air ships
| to Europe against the current in four days,
was not then thought of. Nor could gas be
generated from the atmosphere during a
| voyage. .~. ll5yH .s ..I...
1 said it was fifty years ago. Let ME see.
Yes, fifty years one week from to-day. was
Graphic. 1t must have been between twelve
and one o'clock at night, while running over
the contents of the dispatches, my eye fell
on something like the following, dated at
Boston: ~ 20" ~'t.'~
Sword comes from the Cambridge Obser-
vatory that there are indications of fearful
calamity about to befall our world. No further
particulars received
l paid little heed to the dispatch, but in half
an hour came the following: y: FGp. ."g
"A terrible fate hourly awaits our globe
and its inhabitants! The diurnal motion of
the earth is ceasing; it grows less and less
each moment. No sun will rise in the morn
ing" ia. = " iii /.
Within half hour similar messages came
from the different observatories of the c0un-
try. The news was carried to the street and
through the city. Two hundred guns were
fred at the Battery, the bells were rung, and
before three o'clock everybody was awake
and out of doors. But no great change was
manifest to people who were ignorant of the
true position of the planets and stars. In
the meantime dispatches came thick and fast
from London, Dresden, Pekin, and evidently
there was reign of terror everywhere. In
Pekin it was broad day and the sun was !
standing still. We issued an Extra Graphic
at four o'clock in the morning, and sold
hundred thousand copies. The multitude on |
the street declared that the sun would rise as |
indication of dawn, no ray of light in the |
east, they went wild with despair. It was |
fearful sight indeed. Towards eight o'clock
there were indications of q reign of lawless-
ness, and the Mayor issued q proclamation to |
the effect that any man found committing an |
act of depreciation might be shot down by
the nearest observer Cannon and soldiers
were placed in many localities, and no seri-
Gus trouble occurred. Indeed, t"eusands of
the worst characters were founl in and
around the churches, perfectly panic-stricken,
on their knees in prayer. Every drinking
saloon was ordered to be closed up, but the
OAuc1 was SCdICCly u0CCSooAyS DO Mc u4uOI
dealers seemed more terrified than any other
class. The proprietors of one of the largest
establishments, at eight o'clock.
went deliberately at work and stove in the
head of every cask on his premises, and then
rushed down to Trinity church. People all
at once became astonishihglY liberal, and
gave awav their money as though it had been
but drops. At A, T. Stewards, and hundreds
of other places, bills were posted up inviting
EMPLOYEES to call at the Office as usual on Sat
nrday night for their pay. The horse rail-
roads and steamers carried everybody free. (
There was but one notable exception, and
hat was the gas companies, who shut off
heir pss on the street at half-past eight,
eaving the city in total darkness, and the {
,fflcers declared that they must have some q
,ledee of payment from the city ere they |
vou1d light il again. But the Mayor imme- q
lately sent the Seventh Regiment to take
of all the. gas-works, and from I
hat time these works have been owned and q
by the city. W eI "
The first news Of importance which came q
rom Europe was telegram. sent on the t
bird day of the darkness, stating that q party o
# Journalists were going up in one Of the
ships, in hope Of finding o cur o
ent at higher altitude. Later news came r
hat the balloon, after attaining height of d
bout four miles, was seen 10 shoot rapidly '
vestward. On the following afternoon this 81
hip came down ct Central Park station; and G
be captain stated that he had never witnessed v
uch gale. This was good news, indeed. b
fany predicted that the earth would soon Il
egin to move again, and that the long ID
sun would return. And 90 hoped b
8 entered my stater0om on board the Il
Donaldson, having been appointed by the Il
)aily t5T1pnsc to accompany the London and NJ