The Republican journal., 1874-07-23

! balloon.
The starting point was Court iIou.o
square The Professor regarded the .it
uation as particular dangerous in Il high
wind. as the Square is ilanked on each Sidr
by lofty buildings, including the Cour
House, Bank of Montreal Md ". N
Church During the afternoon the bal
loon which was being inflated with hydro
gen gas was the centre of attraction, anu
at the time Of starting fully ten Thousand
people had assembled to witness the yol-
age IN mid all The Atlantic is construct
ed OF Il peculiar quality Of muslin, yer{
thin and soft i'll texture, but when oiled
capable OF holding the gas. The netting
which envelopes the balloon is double and
twisted silk, and the ropes by which the
netting is attached to the basket are aboa,
three-eighths Of an inch in diameter
The basket is constructed of stronA
wicker work, being about three feet in dl
ameter and two feet in depth. The rope
| by which it is attached to the balloon are
woven in SO as to pass completely in under
the same. During the day several bal
looms were sent up to show the direction
OF the wind; from experiments thus made
it was shown that the principal danger
was the Bank of Montreal and the W NJ
| Church, Previous to starting II was dt
| termined to remove the balloon from The
| place where it was inflated to point neai
| er the Court House, with the expectation
| that the Atlantic would pass to the nortt
of the spire The cargo in the basket con
sisted of three bags of sand, welgh!h2
each about 50 poundS, n graphing Toh.
| to which was attached strong rope. ahd
| Prof. Squres. who was to start ON his one
| hundred and eighty seventh VOYAGE amid
| the clouds, All being in readiness, order
were given to cast of There was 4 hush
| aud the multitude grew silent a. the uu
wieldly Atlantic, being freed. swaYed
backwards and forwards. and slowly ROSE
from its resting place to make anoihv'
voyage in the ethereal blue,
A steady gale had been blowing all day
but its strength was not apparent until thr
balloon struck the current of the air above
the house-tops; this reached II -"aYtd
with the breeze, and swept on nj the r9tf
OF at least fifteen miles an hour discourse
was directly for the Stecple ui thr W vi
Church. The Professor AT once perceived
the danger and could have avoided II bN
throwing out a bag of ballast. which Wouli
have given him sufficient huoyauey /,
| have passed over the Stccplc. but untouu
natelv the square below was crowded Wth
| thousands Of spectators. and har OF sand
| thrown out would have crushed some PEI
| son below The sand was thrown out ,u
| small quantities, and the balloon rwcpr up
ward and onward, but unfortunately N"i
swcrvino from its dangerous direction IL
became apparent that the balloon N"u.1
strike the ~pire the watching, ~ Nl"ur.
breathlp~- multitude awaiting the shook
with compressed lips and bl9urhr,I check
With Il tremendous rush the .Nlanu,
! struck the apex oi the ~pirr. and in aH
| other instant parted i'm twain -\ rhr
| same time the basket cout3niny thu tnl
inc wronaut crushed against lhr -pua
! some twenty feet below. Nerin" 81, 1
We're instant death before him. ltt
! >quire> threw one hard forward. to avert.
rs far u> possible the shock, a, 1h,' e:,ut.
time allowing his body la sway la gu -a
poste direction The crash ut' tn" ,o,,. ....,.,.
sounded over the square, HoN >.Ir;.
a. the crave As the balloon cniI lI2rd .
and the ga escaped. il Wl~ seen ih1r I'll.
netting had caught "n the point "i NV.
spite.
A moment ut hreHIhl'~. -u-p,u..
SquircS wa, not seen 10 move a 1aH-'..
A whisper ran round Thc collision NV
kllieu hlhl ihrll i 0lI%ht Ih'f'hI'.'
and the basket began TO slip. 1t Wa- rN
dent that the netting Wa @ivinU V.t
Women grew white with terror, hta,.
men tremblrd. There. at the hr!lal ,.
eighty tect above the earth, Wa- a ,rl!o"
being, hanging by 4 few Sender thread
above and around him, the @liltrr.u.
stccpc ~heeted with TN: below, the ,s.t
sto~e 9attlementS OF the tower. ou wh.ea
to tall was instant death. y pause. aa
the basket had evidently bern arrr7,e,t ...
itS downward course. ~qui.v- va sc,r
to grasp the netting hope ro-,. hc m.r..
be saved
The moment he struck thc -pilr incl
was a rush for ladders and ropes Nls.
out number We're the plans ~u@gr-teo n.
save him from death But at thj~ mom.a
brave men were clumbering up The ,n-l ..-
to the grim church tower, dctcm.aed 3.
save a human life 4 small window br.au