Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1873-10-15

ioOR got irisky. lifting the saud-edgs from
the rround here anl there. Ii looked ;
like an elephant. with too many legs to !
count, trying to dance what the stage peo-
pie call a "solcmn jig" Donaldson tore
around the bag, aud swere and called for
help. The fellows, who had been sitting
on the fence. responsively jumped down,
aud evcrs body elutched the neltiag. Then
a sudden gust swept the balloon twenty
feet norlhward, dIaggiug the boat aud the
men, who were adjured by somebody with
a loud voice to ''hang on like" They
did. The balloon gave it up and kept
tolerably quiet. The breeze only swayed
it from side to side, and huttered the flags
o. Great Britain, Germany, France,
Spain and Sweden, which were suspeuod
from its sides. These were believed to
comprise the countries in one of which
the brave v1yagers would land.
Before 0 the breezs ireshcned again,
aud its vagarics grew boihersome. Occa-
slonally the balloon would be lifted at Que
side and some Of the ciingiug men be
ierked of the ground The neck Of the
bag, up to this time, had been tied Shut
but it was deemed necessary 10 loosen 1t
now TO give vent to the gas, which the
force of the wind was pressing downward
so hard as to threaten a burst Of the
muslin, Some confusion cnsuCd, but
| Prof King seemed to know his trade.
Under his direction, and after much trou-
Bile. the balloon was pulled down and the
peck opened. The sand-bags were all un-
fastened at $40, and the balloon was
held down by the two husdrcd persons who
aad by this time collect d. Here again
the wind caught the bag, the netting
strained aud stretched, and the impriSon-
cd ras made a last effort to start skyward.
The men were pulled and jostlcd but
they held on determlnedly. A test was
then made of the lifting capacity in order
to determine the necessary amount OF
ballast. The long drag rope ives tied to
the concentrating ring aud dlstended along
the ground. Sand bags we're piled on the
rome as close as possible to the balloon,
end, at the command Of Prof. King, the
! men gradually loosencd their hold. The
strain was thus thrown upon the rope, and
the weight Of ballast could be asccrtaned.
The quantity decided on was ninety
small bags containing thirty-6ve pounds
of sand each, aud three large ones OF l1o
pounds each This gave 1854 pounds
5 altogether. ~
t At fifteen minutes past nine, Prot King
cried "All aboard for EurOpc!" " The
c boat then rested on the ground, and the
(. balloon was held down by single cab',
o tied to deeply-sunk post. Mr., Ford
: was the first to respond. lie climbed IN
!, to the boat after the manner OF mai
!. who hadn't got his sea legs yet, and sat
+ down il the COCKPIT. He had big note
e book in one hand aud pencil III the 9th
;. er. Mr.. Luut climbed in after tho man
d uer of A sailor aud trod the deck Will
# the air of IL sea monarch This deck wa
q six by ten. Mr.. Donaldson climbed II
$ after the manner of gymnast, ana wa
:, up in the concentrating ring in gltiy
i Those who saw his face moment ATTIC
!. the previous great burst would scarcel
: have recognized it now. There. was JUS
4. the difference IN it between crying am
t. laughing. Prof King stood on pile o
ID sand gs and gave his orders in lou
&c voice.
A. Are your anchors all right" he ask
n cd.
ii "Ay! ay! sir!" replied Donaldson
lc with touch Of his little navy cap.
h. "How Is the valve-rope!!" continue
lg King
h, "All right" responded Donaldson
clutching the rope which hung dow
10 through the mouth Of the bag.
sy Mr.. Weed, the manager of the Caplt
re line grounds, stood over the cable with
III uplifIed axe in his hand.
en- Cut it,! was Kings next order.
re "Bang!"
III This was a cannon that man toucht
off out in Nostrand avenue when he sa
Is the top of the balloon lift.
w. ~ eh.o-oscu !"
H. h. This sounded like a rocket, and I'll
- :. spectators wondered for moment what
90 was, until they saw the long drag rope T
~. ing whisked like lighting through Il
ne grass These things detrocted instant
;n tention from the balloon, and before t
r., spectators realized that the air ship HI
FL really launched, it had shot up sever
hundred feet. Then all faces we're turn
ar skyward like so many sunhowers, and
70 sun, which hadn't shown before, popped Q
NV from behind cloud and made overybo
!, souint-e,ed. "Mr. Donaldson will be 81
ON to 60 up dagsling by rope" was one
he Prof. Wse's maay predictions and
Tho hedid. He was seated in a loop OF
ck rope which hung from the concentrate
,no my ring, and he bowed and smiled at
II. cheering knot of spectators. Lunt os'
rho on the deck with one band holdinga a G
wa rope, and waving his cap with the 9th
y Ius Ford sat conposedly in the cockl
ob I When height Of about thousand
~ ,,ar had been reached, Prof. King propo
Ia three linal cheers for the daring voy
rts crs, and they were heartily given
the balloon as it now appeared was moth
was like its original pictures. The abscc
of the secondary balloon, and the bas'
ouv and the reduced sized, made a strlk
ord change.
Of The small numbers op the grounds
gere not include all the witnesses OF the
had reusion. Many had gathered or the .