Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-11-05
HOW IL HAPPENED.
The Late Balloon &c Accident' Ora pll
ically Described.

The Late Balloon Accident Graph
icaIly Described.
From George Ashton Lunt in New York Graphic.
While consulting as to the best
method of evading the mountain re-
gion and it's changeable currents. we
were suddenly enveloped in a thick
cloud and an instant later terrific
squall Of wind and rain caught the bal
loon, twisting and shaking it SO vio-
lently that / own that [ deemed it's al
most instant destruction certain,
and IN another moment we
were whirled off we knew not
whittier The great bag above us
tapped and doomed like the sails Of q
ship when too close hauled, and every
convulsion was echoed from the inte-
rior and prolonged into a dull and
ominous roar That the moment was
one of great danger [ could not for a
moment doubt, but the horrible noise
above and the kissing below of the
wind over the tops of the still invisible
trees rendered conversation almost i'm
possible.
[ was standing in the bow of the boat
at this time Mr.. Ford was in the
centre, and Mr.. Donaldson in the cock
pit. Suddenly the latter shouted,
'ELook cut 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 an instant r
had dropped over the side of the boat
and was holding on to the gdnwale,
and 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 a mere chip. Suddenly Donaldson
shouted, Jump out, quick!" ana suit
ed the action to the word, followed in
another second by Ford. [ 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
to see the effect of their fall.
They were botn rising from the grass,
but my readers may judge my sensa-
tons 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, 6 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
- I, no hoy
visible. The time from Mr.. Donaldson's
first warning until now could not have
exceeded so seconds; yet there [ was,
alone, in the largest balloon ever sue
cessfully inflated, and perfectly igno-
rant practically of It's management. For
short tune I 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 I cut off the great
drag rope, ascend above the storm,
and trust to luck to make another
landing i'll southern country l
drew my knife Tor the purpose, but re-
membered that ] had asked several
aeronauts what would be the effect of
such a sudden Tightening of a balloon,
and they had each said it would proba-
blv burst. AS I had no desire to in
clude this performance In my i'm
promptu programme, the knife was
returned to it's sheath and the valve
resorted to. The cord was tangled by
the neck Of the balloon, and for some
time my entire weight was apparently
iuadeouate to open Ii.
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 began
to anxiously peer through the mist for
signs of the earth. They came with
vengeance. The roar of the storm over
the trees became audible again, and
moment later the balloon emerged
from the cloud, and [ saw myself near
ing the forest with alarming rapidlty.
had let out too much gas from the
valve, and the balloon was descending
very fast. [ had barely time to climb
into the concentrating ring when the
boat was dashed against tall tree !;
the balloon Strengthened out in line
with 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 great energy,
and feeling newly awakened, but deep
interest in the heretofore neglected
Subjects of timber, meadow, and
pleughed ground. Watching my OPP
portunity swung myself into tree at
moment when the boat and Rigging
were so entangled as to deaden the way
of the balloon, but before could make
myself secure it again broke loose, and,