The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-10-20
SAILING THROUGH THE SKIES
UP IN A BALLOON.

UP IN A BALLOON.
GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF A VOYAGE IN THE AIR
Two HOURS ABOVE EARTHLY THINGs-THE
oMNIPREsENT STIFFNESS A PHANTOM
BALLOON.
The experience OF a gentleman who accom-.
panied Prof. King in his last ascension from
Akron, o., is pleasantly given in the Cleve-
land Leader: The rope was cut by Prof
King. Snapl l was in dream. All that
had read, all that had imagined, was as
nothing. / heard wave of confused
sounds which so rapidly sank way that
it appeared as if the voices of
those who made the sounds had failed
them, and their utterance had been
suddenly choked. The whole world seemed
in moment to have been reduced to min
iature by some gent in vision. Soon all
sounds from below were hushed, and we
drifted-nay, the earth moved away, softly
and almost imperceptibly. snow we will
put out the drag rope" said the professor
So, carefully, coil after coil was paid out, the
utmost care being taken to prevent its get
humming a tune. After the drag rope was
out, the ballast, which consisted of
only single bag OF sand, overcoats, basket
of provisions and other articles were so dis
posed of as to afford us the most room. The
barometer at this time indicated three
like a lilliputian city. The canal moved
round like a glistening thread, whilst the
railroads were only black lines stretching off
in curving distances until they were lost in
obscurity. The panorama at this time was
magnificent. As far as the power of
were scattered in thick profusiOn.
1t seemed as if they all lay close together.
and the intervening country, the forests and
fields, were only little dots of white and
green. Hudson, Cuyahoga Falls, Kent, and
other villages which we could not identify
were distinctly visible: In about eight
minutes after our start we were nearly
above the falls of the Cuyahoga at an alti-
tude of 5000 feet. We now encoGn-
tered a current of cold air, and Prof.
King Immediately exclaimed, "We are
going DOWN. "Well." added he,
and so he refrained from casting out much
of our scanty supply of sand. An easy de-
scent was made in corn field near Gay
lords Grove. After a brief conversation
with the large crowd that gathered around,
the sun having meanwhile emerged from
behind cloud. the balloon again shot up
ward. the course lay for some distance
over forest trees, the drag rope rafting
merrily through the leaves and branches.
Soon. however, the balloon began to ascend
rapidly. Up, up,
HIGHER AND HIGHER
we went, until, shooting through what was
literally hole in the clouds, we were soon
above them. Away, as far as the eye could
reach, was an ocean of mist. The earth was
gone. We were in the region of eternal si-
lence. But still higher, and seemed to hear
the professor talking as in dream. heard
his voice distinctly, but my ears seemed
lazy. My own voice sounded strangely. 1t
was as if some one else was talking, and / all
the time knew so we'll what he was going
to say that my lips moved in sympathy.
Above the clouds. We had by this time got
ten so high above the clouds that they APP
peared as far beneath us as the earth did be-
fore we entered them. To one on terra
firma the clouds, when entirely obscuring
the sky, appear dome-like. To us. from
above, it seemed as if we were gazing on an
immense plain of silvery ice, from which
vast mountains rose in volumes of splen-
dor. Mountain lowered above mountain.
ance was bounded by horizon of blue sky.
SIS that Lake Erie?n asked the professor as
he leaned against the edge of the basket and
long and carefully scanned the edge of the
horizon. We we're both of us on the alert,
as it was for a little while problem whether
or not we were approaching the lake. AT
this time we had not the faintest idea in
what direction we were going, having en-
tered the clouds so suddenly that the pro-
lessor could not get our bearings. Pretty
soon he came to the conclusion that it
the sky, and that we were in dam
ger of getting over the lake, as
our last bearings showed that we were trav-
cling northeast. have read of a phantom
snip but know there ia such lining rs . )