Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-09-24
Coming Down in . Parachute.
George Augusta sala contributes the


following TO the Belgrdsid Magdzine:
During the early part OF 1851 there
had been quite an epidemic of balloon
accidents. Two young aeronauts whom
| knew had been smashed within fort
night: and Albert Smith, whom greatly
loved and esteemed, had been within an
ace Of losing his life in falling from the
car Of a balloon on some scaifOldpoles.
Thus on my mental line of railway the
danger" signal was displayed very
plainly indeed; but | was young and
foolish, and endowed neither with SUI
perstition nor with common sense. tThe
first is very often an excellent substitute
for the last) So / said would go, My
brother, who was accustomed TO my hav-
ing my own way, let me have 1t. Soyer
was unable TO grant me a free pass for
the skyey realms, since the balloon was
worked as the inventors own specula-
ton, and ascending and descending
what with charges for gas and manual
labor, carting the dead body of the ma
chine, when It's gaseous soul has expired,
to the nearest railway station, and the
contingencies Of damages to- property
are somewhat expensive matters. Withal
the inventor, in consideration Of my be-
ing connected with the press" with
which had at the time about as much
connection as call-boy on board a
penny steamer has with an iron-ciad man.
of-war), agreed TO take me up at "cost
price, which he opined, barring acct
dents, would not exceed a couple of
pounds. A minute afterward i had
shaken hands with half dozen friends
and had clambered into the car. Then
there was cry Of " Let go!" the crowd
chcered--they would have been pleasure
bly, excited had we been going TO be
hanged--the band i'm an adjacent payil-
ion struck up "See the conquering hero
comes" "a slightly inappropriate melody,
seeing that we were departing and not
arrivng) and up we went.
So many ladies and gentlemen have
made "captive" and free" balloon as
cents within the last few years that it
would simply be an act of impertinence
on my part TO describe minutely the pbe-
nomcna of an ascent from the neighbor.
hood of London; how you do not at first
appear 10 be rising but stationary, while
the earth, on the other hand, seems to be
sinking beneath you how, If there are
any clouds in your part of the sky when
you have passed through the lowcrmost
banks Of vapor and look down on the
fieecy, floating masses beneath you, you
experience momentary feeling Of pride
sheer assinine pride or how, being
free from clouds, you look down and see
stretching around you the great green
earth, and Immediately below, London,
diminished to the size of model in a
museum, st. Paul's seeming no bigger
than pea and the monument looking
no longer than pin, while the smoke of
n I,.., af tt.,, hi
sleczy, blue blanket in two strips, one
for the Middlcsex and one for the Surrey
side and cut precisely TO the shape
the whole running the glinting
river like skein OF quicksilver
] must mention that my view of
the wondrous panorama around and be.
meath was somewhat lmpeded by the
fact that we were top-hampercd by
quantity Of oy-balloons, mere inflated
linen bags fashioned as lions, dragons,
fish and other preposterous forms, and
all embazoned with the cognizance of
the Symposium. These wretched little
trifes were indirectly the cause of our
undoing. The aeronaut had instructions TO
cut the wind-bags adrift when he as
cended short distance, in order that
they might amuse the g0bemouches lof
Brompton and Fulham road and scatter
advertisements OF the Symposium far
and wide. Thus the little old man, dur
ting the first five minutes OF his ascent,
had been so busy with his pockctknife,
loosing these impedinenta, that he had
forgotten prccaution very necessary to
our safety. While the balloon Is on the
ground 1t is customary to close the neck
of the machine by means OF n handker-
chief tied in slip-kDot, in order to pre-
vent the admixture of the heavy lower
stratum of atmospheric air with the more
buoyant carburetted hydrogen inside the
balloon. Directly the balloon ascends
the prudent aeronaut slips off the hand
kerchief. Our aeronaut, busted with his
trumpery windbags, did no such thing.
The assistant may have been unaware
that the thing ought to be done. lie
cried out glccfully that we had risen to
the altitude of one mile--that we were
lust over Fulham Church, and that we
were about to cross the Thames. Just
then heard sharp, cracking report,
precisely like that of musket shots
above my head The balloon had burst
1t could scarcely, under the circum-
stances, have done anything but burst,
The gas in the machine had become rare
fed, and had rapidly expanded IT
could not escape from above. the valve
was closed; it could not escape from be-
low, the neck was closed. So II went to
smash, just rs an inflated and alright
bag of paper goes to smash between the
palms of schoolboy's hands.
80 we fell, as stone falls, half mile.
When we assembled, 1t had appeared to
me that the earth was sinking beneath
us. Now the globe-fields houses, lamp
posts, chimney .pots-seemed TO be rush
Ing up to us with literally inconceiyable
rapidity. There was in particular one
tall church steeple which by the celebrity
of its approach seemed to be horribly
anxious that should be impaled upon
its apex. 1t could not have been Fulham
Church; but whatever and wherever was
the edifice, ii was there rushing up ut
me; and declare that the grotesqueness
of the position of impalement--all legs
and wings, like ckchafcr--distinctly
and vis!bly occurred to me. declare
also, sam pirases that there arose before
me no panorama" Of my early life or
of my bygone acts and deeds, as such
panoramas are said to have arisen before
the eyes of persons rescued at the very
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