Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-10-01

and fearful of being driven by another
current to the northward, / resolved tn
try to lower myself On TO vessel. liner,
ceived many OF all sizes below me. Re-
ing then 1900 meters high / manen.
vered so as to get down. and toward five
o'clock ! succeeded The lower current
of the wind was blowing northwest. II
is impossible to describe my extreme
thirst, and my poor wife--whom | tried
to console by telling her that we were
going in the right direction-did not lose
courage. | showed her two vessels In
the direction we were falling, and /
made her understand that we
were trying to get stopped by one
of them. OF the eight bags of ballast
| had taken with me / had only dis
charged three, and / should have been
able, if needful, to continue my journey
for thirteen or fourteen hours. noticed
that the smallest of the vessels, fishing
smack, unanswered and tried to cross
my path. The sea was very rough in
deed Without any fear ! opened the
valve and descended until the ropes were
trailing in the water, and in an instant
we were past the vessel. The crew of
the smack, however, launched their small
boat, and two men rowed it toward us.
1t was then six o'clock, and seeing the
good will of the fishermen TO come TO
help us l resolved to stop the speed of
the balloon by springing the valve until
the car flled with water, and thus give
more resistance to the progress of the
balloon. However, when turned round
/ could not see the vessel. From time to
time tremendous waves broke upon the
balloon, covering us with water, but still
the balloon resisted, and my fear then
was that the balloon might burst, in
which case we should assuredly have
been lost. AT seven O'Clock we again
sighted the smack on the horizon, and
saw that she was pursuing us, and we
noticed by degrees she came closer to
u.s. The cold was very severe and our
limbs were becoming benumbed. Our
strength was fast failing US, and our hope
of being overtaken by the smack was
the only thing that gave strength
to our arms to hold on. My wife's
limbs were benumbed, and at each
Jerk of the balloon she became
weaker and weaker. The smack
continued to approach US, and was now
within 500 meters. l pointed it out to
my wife and it renewed her courage.
What was more firing was being obliged
10 nOlu her III my dTIlS. Il uc SiHdCh was
then very near us, and raised myself on
the ropes and saluted the crew. They
saw us and launched their boat, being
200 meters ahead of us. The small boat
was manned by the master IWilliam Ok
ley) and the mate. They came nearer to
the car and took hold of the rope. At
this time their boat was nearly sinking
on account of the strong jerks of the
balloon; but they did not lose courage,
and, taking hold of my wife's hand,
dragged her as best they could into their
boat saw the danger they were in,
and began to cut the ropes that were
following the balloon. / had cut the
greater part of them when / was dashed
against the boat, into which | let myself
fall /, like my wife, lay helpless at the
bottom of the boat The men let go the
ropes of the car, and the balloon rushed
off at mighty speed toward Norway.
The boat returned to the smack; we were
put on board and taken into the cabin,
and a good fire did not fail to bring US
round. We have only to thank the men
for their care and the kindness shown to
us during the voyage to Grimsby, which
lasted until nine O'clock this morning"