Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-11-13
A Frlghtful Balloon Voyage.

The balloon ascension from the City
Gardens yesterday came very near result
ing in disaster and loss of life. The bal
loon, which left the Gardens at twenty
minutes past four p. M, contained but
thirty thousand feet of gas, and carried as
passengers Edwin III. Clough, of this pa
per, and William w. Austin, of the Cly'On-
icie, each of whom being anxious to OBJ
tain full particulars of the voyage were
bent upon accomplishing the trip if the
other did. Neither Of the would-be aero
nauts paid particular attention to the fill
ing Of the balloon, trusting to the man.
agement of the Gardens and Professor
Lay. The hour was late and the crowd
impatient, consequently the ascension had
to take place, if only one man went into
the car of the balloon; and the main
through which the gas was supplied being
only four inches in diameter, the amount
of gas could not have been large. AS has
been subsequently ascertained, the supply
of gas only amounted to 10000 feet, and
the risk of the ascension was redoubled in
like proportion. The reporters before
mentioned, however, resolved to take that
risk, and at the word of command, given
by Professor Lay, scared toward that por-
ton of the heavens known as the neither
blue" The rope was cast loose, and
the two men were left alone in illimitable
space, with the surrounding country from
the Pacific coast to the Coast Range
stretching away far below them. For a
moment they enjoyed the delightful scene
ry--the winding streets, the hazy noun
tains and the glistening waters; moment
afterwards apprehension seized their
hearts-they ,oere drifting sedward. At
five O'Clock the barometer indicated a
height of over three miles, with a current
due west. A few moments after one of
the voyagers noticed that Meiggs's wharf
was almost directly underneath him, and
gave the order to pull the valve-rope
The balloon answered to the pull, and
drifted gently to the northward. But too
much gas had been already exhausted, and
the balloon, hanging over the Golden
Gate, one mile west of the North Head
Light, began to drop like a flash OF light
Mig, if that electrical fluid can be mea-
sured by time. The barometer indicated
at the time that the young aero
nauts began to fall, fully two miles above
the surface Of the water, and in exactly
two minutes the basket struck the
surges of the Pacific Ocean beyond the
North Head Light. 1t was an awful mo-
ment for these two men. Their combined
weight kept the basket upon the water,
without completely submerging it, al
though Austin went under three or four
times, while Clough, confident that he
could reach the Marin County shore by
swimming, chung to the other side. The
pillows Of the grand Pacific swept with
irresistible force into the bay, but these
men chung to their frail support until one
of them saw boat approaching, and APP
prised the other of the fact Then, and
not until then, did the courage of these
two lost rlen revive. A race then en-
sued between the balloon and the boat-a
Whitehall, pulled by two men. First The
boat seemed to be gaining on the balloon;
and the agony of those men clinging to
the frail wickerwork of that balloon may
be better asserted than described. One Of
them, certainly, and he in the better posi-