, 1874-11-04
on COMING DOWN IN 4 PARACHUTE.

On COMING DOWN IN A PARACHUTE.
George Augustus sh1n's E1perlenco.
" "captivo and % froe" %" Balloon epoonts wthin
tue Last fow yours, thasit would simply DO an
act OF imnertil,onco on my part to dcacrbo
n'Inutely tho phonome1la of au ascent from tlo
frat appoar to bo rising, but stationary, whilo
tho Garth, on the other hand. seen1s to DO sink
Ing beneath you; how,-if thoro arc any clouds
N your part q tho sky,-Whon you hayo
and look down on tho tloeoy. floating
maases bcnoath sou, you experience mamon-
tarY feeling Of rrido,-.slaeor nainino pride; Or
how boing froo from clouds, you look down and
and, Immediately below, London, diminished to
tho a,ze Of model in q m,lsoum,-st. Paul'a
Boen,iug no bigger tl,an poa, aid tho Monu-
mont looking no longer than piu, while tho
thin Bloazy blue blanket In two strips, ono for
tho hliddlcsox aud ono for tho Surrey sido, aud
cut precisely to the shape Of tho city and sub
urbH, through the whole running tho glinting
lion n that my Wow Of tho wondrous
panorama around aud beneath was aonle-
what impoded by the fact that we woro
top.hamnorod By quantity of toy'bn1l,o'ons' ,'e'
dragons. fish, aud other propoateroua formB, and
all omblazoned With tho oognizanco OF tho Sym
posium* ThcHo wretched little triflos wofo ill.,
dtrautty tue cause OF our nudoIng. The aero-
naut bad instructions to cut tho wnd-baga adrift
they might anuRo the gote-7n0nches OF Dromp-
ton and tho Fdlham Road, aud scatter adyor-
lisetnenta Of the Symposium far and wido, Thus
tho little old man, during tho first five minutes
pocket-kn'fc looaiug tlleBo ridiculous i'm
pedinenta, that 10 hnd forgotten a
procaution yory necessary to our safety. Whilo
the balloon Is on the ground it III customary to
oloso tho neck Of tho machine by means Of
handkerchief tied III ep-kuot, in order to pro-
won't the admi1ture Of the hoavy lowor stratum
Of atmospheric air With the moro buoyant oar-
burettcd hydrogen inHile tho balloon. Directly
or tho handkerchief. Our aoronaut busied with
his trumpcry wind-bags, did no such thing. Tho
asgiBtant may havo boon unaware that tho thing
ought to DO done. Ho criod out gloefnly tlat NO
wore just ovor Fuham Church, aud TINT wo wore
about to croas the Thames. just then heard
sharp craokling report, precisely liEo that Of
burst. It could scarcely, under tho circum-
! stances, havo done any thing but burst. The
gas in tho machine had become rareiod. md had
rapidly expanded. It could not oacape from
above, tho valve waB closed It could no. escape
| from below, tho neck WAS closed So 1t won't to
smash, just aa MI inflated aud air-tght bag OF
| papor goes to H1naah botwoon Tho palms Of
| Bchool.boy8 hands.t
| So nc fell, az stone falls. half mile. When
earth was sinking beneath US. Now tho globe
| folds, lousee. lamp.posta, chimney pots-seon-
cd to DO rushing up to us with literally iucon-
coivablo rapldity: There waa in particular
ono tall church-atocple, which, by tho
horribly anxious tintt it should bo impalod on
| its apex. It could not hayo been Fulham
Church but, whatever or wherever was tho
edi1co. it mas there rushing up At mo; and
declare that tho grotcaqueneae OF the position
Of impalomont-nll lega aud wings. like y cock-
chafer-distinctly md visbly occurred to mo.
| declare. also, saas z'h''oces, that thoyo arose
boforo mo no "panoransa Of my carly life, or
of my by-gone acts aud doeds, as such pano-
ramas aro aud to havo ariaon boforo tl!o oyea
! Of porsonH rescued at tho very last inalant
and literally remember several things;
gol" and "Cut! cut!" and that d knife was
| thrust into my hand; and it seoned afterward
that tho aasasant and had pitched out nil tho
bailast in tho bnsloon,-bags aud oil, and that
side Of tho cur. That had doue so wus plain
from two Of my lngers being Jagged acroHs by
| tho knife. What became OF tho grapnol NO mover
know but, Il it had fallon in . popnloua stroot.
w9ua in a probability hsvo killed
| lite stoues. The aanl thing remembor during
tho balloon left tho Pro d'oreay, my
aSar soers sG soh9E bt hna naod hr0Sn snssng
wi With 'ADG sash, tilt ' 'i night feei It
rathor cold 'sup there" l donned tlis garment
as We ascoudod, aud l remember aayiug ns wo
came laundering down. "Charley's coat will bo
| fccts when tho jaws Of death Beem to be yawn-
ing for us. 70 the poaaoasiou OF what is ordi-
nari1y tormod "presonco Of mind" on tho oc-
cason dedaiufully dccllue to lay claim. What
81 ~
t last waB done mechanically aud wellnigh uucon-
| aciously; and I was desperately and mortally
terrified. a fow duyB after tho accident mot
the aeronauts assistant, aud had tho curiosity
TO- soand him ~ to my dolaeanor during tho
fall.
"Sir," lio worry candi1ly replied. "you kept
your mouth wide open. and you scere as blue as
| your 5reeches."
/ Ind boon clad at the time in light summer
NV sWoll out % Of SH IT,, qaoth tho aorouaut's assist
ant, who was eoomingly philosopher; and 80
wont Ills way.
hleanwlile-the term is wollnigh inappro-
pirate, Hinue thero waa scarcely any "wAiio" to
! bo t' mean "-she aoronaat. who looked like a
sailor. had not lost his presonco Of mind, and
had not been idlo. Flo saw at glance, this
brave little old man-although be had boen for
getfal IL the mettor Of tho sp-knotted hnnd-
lay. ue jumped up into tho ahrouda of tho
balloon, cut tho cords which attached the neck OF
| tho maohluo to tho hoop, and away to tho very
top OF tho netting tlow tho whole Of the OK
haustod silk body Of tho sausago. TAon it
formed cnpola Of tho approved umbrella
pattorn-a formed parac'!utc! 1t stcalied
instantly. Thoro was no collapse, aud down
NO cauie swiftly. but easily in slantng
direction. aliglting among. tho caebages
Tie car struck tho elastic oarth with violence,
aud rebouulea, clearing hodge, a distance OF
Home twonty feot Then tho silk, and tho net.
ting. and tho hoop and tho car itself foil atop Of
r9s o W ~ "on1 I
md robbed Of all tAe money in cur pockets by q
rufflanly crow Of worlng market -garlouers; and
tho proprietor Of the light cart, who consented
to drive me- from Falhnm to Konaington Gore,
| demanded guinea as lis faro, OH tho ground
that balloons didn't fall every day." Ho was far
from complimentary, too, about the accident
itself, remarklng ironically that thla "wos cum
Of carryiu' up lot Of dogs md monkoys." This