Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-10-30

'"HnU NOVc Win C0An0
UNITY, MINNESOTA. '
| HOW 1T HAPPENED.
The Late Balloon ..Acci.ient,' Ora nh.
- = icany Dcscrihezi.
Flom George Ashton Luns in New York orsphlo.
While consulting rs to the best
method Of evading the mountain re-.
eion and it's chaugeablo currents, we
were suddenly enveloped in thick
cloud, and all instant later q terrific
sqnall of wind and rain caught the bal
loon, twisting and shaking it 80 yio-
lently that I own that deemed it's al
most instant destruction certain.
and in another moment we
we're whir]ed off we knew not
whittier. The great bag above us
Tapped and doomed like: the sails Of; a
ship when too close hauled, and eyerv
convulsion was echoed from the inte-
rior and prolonged, into dull and
ominous roar: :That' the moment was
one of great danger I could not for n
moment doubt, but tie horrible noise
above and the kissing below Of the
wind over the tops of the still invisible
trees rendered conversation almost i'm
possible.
I was standing in. the bow of the boat
at this time !; Mr.. Ford was in the
centre, and Mr.. Donajason;in the cock.
pit. Suddenly the latter shouted,
Look out Be ready to Jump when /
tell you," and the next instant the
green tree.tops swept past the boat on
either side. At this moment we de-
scended out of the cloud, and I saw
that we were ALPHABETICALLY falling
into small open space between two
pieces of woodland. In m instant ]
had dropped over the side of the boat
and was holding on to the gunwale.
and a glance showed my companions to
be also in readiness behind me. Down
we came, the balloon driven furiously
earthward by the seemingly perpendic.
ular gale, and the boat spinning about
like 9 mere chip. Suddenly DoEaldaon
shouted, "Jump out, quick!" and suit
ed the action to the word, followed in
another second by Ford. I heard the
double thud with which they struck the
earth, with horror, and all that Donald
son had told me of the difficulty of
judging distance after an ascent flashed
through my mind, and turned my head
tQ>see the effect of their fall.
They were bota rising from the grass,
but my readers may judge my sensa-
tions when I saw that they were hun
dred feet below me and the balloon was
shooting into the air again. One second
Of indecision, and swung myself upon
the boat and shouted to Mr.. Donald
son, G. What shall I do 2" The fury OF
the storm, however, drowned my voice
and his, and in another moment was
again in the clouds, which were so thick
that even the great bag above me was in.
visible. The time from Mr.. Donaldson's
first warning until now could not have
exceeded 80 seconds; yet there I was,
alone, in the largest balloon ever sue
cessfully inflated, and perfectly igno-
rant practically of its management. For
a short time stood absently clutching
the ropes and wondering what was to
become of ne, but soon felt that my
safety depended upon prompt action,
and began to think what had better be
done. Should cut off the great
drag rope, ascend above the storm,
and trust to luck to make another
landing in a southern country2
drew my knife lor the purpose, but re-
membered that J. had asked several
aeronauts what would be the effect of
such sudden tightening of balloon.
and they had each said it would proba-
bly, burst. As I had no desire to in
clude this performance. in my i'm
promptu programme, the knife was
returned to its sheath and the valve
resorted to. The cord was tangled by
the neck of the balloon, aud for some
time my entire weight was apparently
inadequate to open it.
It appears, however, that this was an
error of judgment on my part, and
that did really open the valve. This
must have been the case, for in short
time the extension of the drag.rope at
an acute angle showed me that the bal.
loon had again descended, and I began
to anxieusly peer through the mist for
signs of the earth. They came with q
vengeance. The roar of the storm over
the trees became audible again, and a
moment later the balloon emerged
from the cloud, and saw myself near
ing the forest with alarming rapidity.
7 had let out too much gas from the
valve, and the balloon was descending
very fast. I had barely time to climb
into the concentrating ring when the
boat was dashed against tall tree {;
|the 6alloon stfaightened out in a line
wiei the wind, and away went the whole
machine, humping and crashing over
the tree-tops, your artist-correspondent
studying the topography of the sur
rounding country with egreat energy,
and feeling a newly-awakened, but deep
interest in the heretofore neglected
subjects of timber, meadow, and
ploughed ground. Watching my op-
portunity swung myself into tree at
moment when the boat and rigging
were so entangled rs to deaden the way
of the balloon, but before I could make
myself secure it again broke loose, and.
some OF the gear coming IN contact with
my hands, scraped me of:
Under ordinary circumstances, agen-
tleman in thin boots and minus a hat
AMI coat would consider q two Lille
walk in pouring rain, over swampy
ground, with incidental climbing,
ditch-wading, ETC., a just cause for in
vective against the thousand ills that
flesh is heir to. Whether the statement
that never enjoyed a walk so much
before in my life will be received sim
ply as evidence that am one of those
rare beings who accept without
grumbling the dispensations of
Providence, I know not. The cir
cumstances may be attributed to meek
ness or eccentricity, as my readers
please. 1t is fact, however, which l
will maintain to my dying day, that,
of all the pedestrianism in which /
have heretofore engaged for purposes
of pleasure-not even those well.re-
membered evenings "by moonlight
alone" with her by my side-none ever
gave me more unalloyed joy, nor did
ever labor more cheerfully for the
emolnment of Crispins than in those
two wet, sloppy, boggy miles to the
nearest station, where I found my
companions busy writing kilograms OF
my probable death.
Explosion Or Giant Powder.
The Marquette Mining Journal con-
tains the following account of o fatal
accident at the Republic Nine: "About
S o'clock on the morning Of the 10th
| A1l~>~k A~l~o,,,c o,>l T0(>r, To~,1:~~