The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1873-10-16
Tse Second Attempt to Launch the
Transatlantic Balloon.


New YORK, Oct. 6.
The favorable weather of yesterday
was taken advantage of by Mr.. Don
aldson 70 prepare his great transat-
lantic balloon for the proposed st
tempt to cross the ocean. Two hum
dred thousand feet of gas, two-thirds
the required quantity, was let in be
fore dark, when the initiation had to
be stopped on account of the dimin'
ished pressure, caused by the. illumin-
alton Of the air. A strong watch,
divided into three reliefs, was kept
on the ground all night, and shortly
after four o'clock this morning the
process of imitation was resumed.
Much difficulty was experienced In
conducting this operation successfully,
on account of frequent violent gusts
OF wind, which several times carried
the wOrkmen off their feet, and once
necessitated q frantic call for volun-
teers to the occupants of the surround
ing fence. Shortly after 8 O'Clock
300,OOfeet of gas had been successful
ly let into the monster. The life
boat Chicago, taken with 40 days
provisions, number of scientific in
struments, life preservers, etc., was
attached, and Messrs. Donaldson,
Lunt, and Ford took their places in
side it. At 19 minutes past, the huge
cable was cut, and the balloon arose
With immense velocity. The drag
rope depending from the concentrat-
ing ring, had been stretched out along
toe ground, and as the great air ship
scared skyward, it ripped the rag rope
L fhraIIUh q rryffh nnffnva fhot
can only be compared to an infuriat-
ed whale dragging q harpoon rope.
/ The crowd cheered Justify, the aerOn-
auts correspondingly waving their
has. and blowing a fog horn. The
the houses on that side of the grounds,
until it had reachsd sn apparent al
titude of 5000 feet. 1t then detected
sharply TO the east, with the boat
pointing constantly in the direction
OF the wind. Eighteen minutes after
the balloon had left the earth, its
course was due northeast. From that
time it steadily worked toward the
east, and its course, when last seen
from the Capitoline grounds, was
nearly northeast by east. At 9:55 it
was observed that the balloon was
rapidly rising, and its altitude at 10
O'Clock was full one mile, The sur
face current was blowing from the
south. The balloon remained in sight
from the Capitoline Grounds about 4S
minutes, but from higher points 1t
was visible for half an hour longer.
At 20 minutes past 10 o'clock the sig
nal service officer at the Equitable
Building was enabled by the use of
powerful glasses to take q last look at
the balloon. AT that time it appear
ed like dark spot in the clouds, and
Immediately afterWard disappeared
from sight. The balloon was heading
in a northeasterly direction, and was
rising higher. The officer estimates
that at this time it was about q mile
from the earth, forty miles from the
City Hall, New York. At 10 O'Clock
the balloon passed over Bye, West
chester County, going due east at
good rate OF speed. At IL it was
sighted two miles southeast of Bethel,
CT, travelling rapidly oceanward.
Bridgeport was passed at 1885, and
New Haven at 1l:40. 1t beat the
train from Ansonia to Seymour, and
was seen at Waterbury at noon, and
dl w dlElbOh II az 4-s.OOs <NAbCA
over WAtertOwn, its course changed
toward the northeast, and it sailed
slowly over Litchfield, where it was
low enough to enable the occupants
to hail q man who was working in
field. Two carrier pigeons were dis
patched, bearing the following mes
sages
at is now 20 minutes past o'clock.
We are 1900 feet high. Lnnt Is rails
ing the Old Harry with the horn, and
we all feel jolly. The scene is mag
nificent. The sun shines splendidly,
and Donaldson has just been singing,
''DO They Miss Me at Home" Mr..
81. H. Wheeler, of Brooklyn, was the
last man we could distinguish aloft.
"FoRD."
"IN THE CLOUDS, 1905 A. M.-We
are 400 feet high, going northeast.
We all feel very happy. Donaldson
says: The dream of my life is now
realized Lunt has been doing some
thing with the ballast, and stopping
every moment 10 admire the passing
grandeur of the scene. IT is very
haZy all around US, and light clouds
ere floating below. We have just
heard three cheers below and have Civ
en- a toot with the fog horn in reply.
We are now at an altitude of $3.50
| feet, or just one mile. We have just
struck the lower portion of the east
ern current. We have just passed
over NOrWalk.
"ALFRED FoBD.u
The little messengers arrived to-
gether at their home in Rivercliffe
shortly before IL o'clock, but were so
| frightened that they were caught
with difficulty. The aeronauts had q
pleasant time of it up to about noon,
when they began to get into the
stormy area of Litchfield County. AZ
ter passing over q mountain, they
arrived at a valley where all motion
of the balloon was suspended, and
they were for a time shrouded in q
dense cloud of mist and pouring rain |;
the balloon every now and then being
caught and shaken by violent gusts
of wind. The adventures were un-
certain what to do. At first they
thought they would wait until the
balloon descended sufficiently, and
then cut all the ropes and drop the
boat, letting the bag escape. The
storm, however, increased so violent
ly that this was given up as inn
practicable, and it was decided to open
the valve, but at this moment, Els,
the balloon was struck by tremen-
dous squall of wind and rain, and
was driven to an immense height
above the valley, and then down
again to the earth with frightful We
locity, spinning over the tops Of the
trees across q small brook and toward
a bank at the bottom of the noun
tains. Donaldson then gave the or
der to prepare to jump, and he and
Ford scrambled to the side of the
boat, and when the balloon reached
within so feet of the ground, sprang
simultaneously. They were very
much stunned, but otherwise un-
harmed. Lunt was notquick enough,
and the balloon shot into the air,
carrying him clinging to the ropes.
He was speedily in the storm cloud
again, and being whirled about in the
most alarming manner. The bag was
shaking about above him with awful
force, and he could see nothing so
thick were the clouds. He seized the
valve cord, and attempted to open it,
but could not, as it was entangled
with the neck of the balloon. Sud-
denly tree tops appeared above the
fog, and in an instant the balloon was
whirling through the branches. Lunt
climbed to a place above the concen-
trating ring, and as the balloon rush.
ed into a thicket, he swung himself
out and dropped. He managed to
catch the topmost limb of tall tree,
but the boat scraped over his hands,
forcing him to let go, and he fell
through the branches to the ground,
fortunately unhurt. A DR.. Adams
drove him to New Canaan, where
Donaldson and Ford soon afterward
arrived in wagon belonging to Mr..
Charles Lewis, North Canaan, on
whose farm they landed. The bal
loon was captured in sadly demor-
allied condition q mile further on.
The Sidney Building and Loan As
soeiation met on Friday evening and
made an important change in Its by
laws, which, as amended, now provide
that hereafter no bids for Ioans shall
be received for less than % per cent.
premium. If there be no bid. at that
rate the association shall proceed to
rooaiva hids from mam hers offering TO