The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-10-07
Initiating n Balloon.

October.
Initiating n Balloon.
HOW THE EUROPEAN BALLOON WAS PARTIAL-
LY FILLED AND EMITTED.
A New York paper gives thr following
description of the frst attempt to fill tho
European balloon:
In the night dispatch was received
from the Signal Office in Washington
predicting for the day fresh sasterly
winds and possibly light rain. This
was taken to the grounds, and at three
o'clock in the morning Donaldson decid.
ed to begin the initiation. A six-inch gas
pipe had been run into the grounds from
a main in Marcy avenue A wooden
plug in the end Of the pipe held back the
gas Attaching the neck of the balloon
to this pipe he Knocked out the plug, and
the gas rushed into the immense muslin
bag with a loud, Kissing noise The edg.
es OF the netting had been carefully fast.
ened to the circle Of sand bags, and as
the gas began to fill the balloon the net.
ting hugged and held the vanished
muslin, Iu an hour about forty thous.
and feet Of muslin was in the balloon.
This quantity was just sufficient to dis
tend the entire surface to the height Of a
dozen feet. The balloon lay on its side,
and as the breeze swept over its undulat-
ing, glistening surface looked like
miniature sea in gale. So buoyantly
sensitive w"- IL. th~s .Lv siightost SuoC Ur
air raised it into mimic pillows that
surged and struggled from one extremity
to the other
The Signal Office had been correct in
its foreteliDg, The breeze freshened to
an castcrly wind-an air current in every
respect the reverse of what the pronauts
wanted. As the balloon filled with gas
and rose higher the wind caught tossed
it about and swayed i. so violently that
the heavy sand bags were dragged from
their places. At this time but eight
workmen, besides Donaldson and a re.
porter, were on the ground. All held to
the network on the east side, where the
wind excrted the greatest force.
AT 6 o'clock the balloon held about
one hundred thousand feet Of gas, one.
third Of the required amount, and its top
had reached a height of about forty feet.
Then sudden gust jerked the neck Of
the balloon from the gas pipe, tearing a
small gap in the muslin. 1t then became
pretty evenly balanced question wheth.
er the balloon would take start skyward
by itself. Over a hundred men were
hurriedly collected from among the labor.
ers who then thronged the streets on their
way to work. Under the direction of
Donaldson they were distributed along
the windward side of the tossing balloon,
and told to hang to the netting.
The weight Of the men and the sand
bags kept the balloon more quiet for an
hour, and the subsistence Of the wind was
anxiously looked for. But the weather
mans prophecy had not reached its full.
fillmcnt. The wind swept over the
unprotected grounds with increasing
strength, blowing the muslin bag inward
from the netting, and subjecting it to Sc.
rous abrasion, AT length, at nearly s
o'clock, sudden and powerful gust lifted
the balloon clear from the ground. and
in spite Of the sand bags and the hundred
clinging men, carried it six or seven rods.
The netting on the west side was partial.
ly torn from its fastenings, aud the bags
bulgcd out as though on the point OF
slipping away entirely and floating off
Seeing that only energetic action would
save it, Donaldson climbed up the net
ting and opened the valve. This. how.
ever, did not have the immediate effect
desired, and the balloon still surged and
tugged Attached to one Of the seams
on the inside of the bag is rope, leading
thence out of the neck. 1t is called q
Grip cord" and is intended in case sud.
den landing is necessary, or upon at.
tempting to launch the life-boat n gale
to tear slit and allow the gas to escape
BY It's use the bag can be torn from TOP
to bottom. Selling this rope, Donaldson
gave strong pull.
a tearing sound was heard, and a six
foot iissure appeared in the balloons side
ont OF which the gas rushed with roar
Several of the few spectators, who hat
in the meantime gathered, ran up to thi
gap, and as hurriedly ran away again
The air was tainted for few second
with the hundred thousand feet Of gas
and there was an involuntary clutching o
noses IT, the windward. The collapse U
the balloon was almost instantaneous, ant
it soon lay tangled mass.
An examination Of the balloon wa
made, and it was found to be uniujured
excepting the rent made by the "rip-line,
and small tear near the neck,
Profs. Wise and Stiner arrived at /
o'clock. They pulled off their boots s
as not to injure the balloons n,and examine
it thoroughly. Before their arriva
! Donaldson had begun the repairing OF III
rent made by the rip-cord, A strip {
muslin was sown firmly ever it, and Gov
cred with several coats of varnish.
similar plaster healed the wounded necl
Mrs, Ihling, Prof. Wise's niece, also aic
ed in the repairs.
. A country clergyman, paying a pr,
iessional visit to a dying neighbor, WI
y was very churlisb and universally Vi