Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-10-09
A Perilous Balloon Voysge.

ASSAAOVA
/ 1t now seems, says the London
Times, that NJ. Durnof and his wife
who asccnded in n balloon from Ca
laiS, Aug. 81, were landed at Grims
by ON Sept. /. NJ. Durnof says:
"At 1855, 7. NJ, the. balloon wen,
up amid the acclamations of the peo
pie, and for the space of 800 metres
went in a northerly direction. Our
course then changed to the northeast
and shortly afterward VIC saw the
French and English lighthouses al
sea, and We seemed to be going more
toward England than toward France.
There were no vessels to be seen at
sea, and night was coming on.
felt that in that case l should be
obliged to make long voyage, and
must cconomizc my ballast. / dcci-
dcd to pass the night watching the
extremity Of rope seventy metres
long, and every time the rope touch
cd the water | threw out a very small
quantity of ballast. At 4 A. NJ, just
before sunrise, I threw all the light
ballast out, and discovered that dur
ing the night had been driven in a
northcasterly direction. Not know.
ing the distance l was from the near
est land, and fearful Of being driven
by another current to the northward,
l resolved to try to lower myself on
vessel. l perceived many Of all
sizes below me. Being then 1900
metres high | mancuvercd SO as to
get down and toward five O'Clock sue
cceded. The lower current Of the
wind was blowing northwest. 1t is
impossible to describe my extreme
thirst, and my poor wite-whom l
tried to console by telling her that
we were going in the right direction
did not lose courage. l showed
her two vessels in the direction we
were falling, and made her under
stand that We were trying to get stop
ped by one of them. OF the eight
bags of ballast l had taken with me
l had only discharged three, and l
should have been able, if nccdful, to
continue my journey for thirteen or
fourteen hours. l noticed that the
smallest Of the vessels, a fishing
smack, mancuvcrcd and tried to cross
my path. The kea was very rough
indeed. Without any fear opened
the valve and descended until the
ropes were trailing in the water, and
in an instant We were past the ves,cl
The crew of the smack, however,
launched their small boat and two
men rowcd it toward us. 1t was six
o'clock then, 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 filled with water, and thus
give more resistance to the progress
of the balloon. However, when l
turned around l could not see the vcs-
sci. From time to time tremendous
waves broke upon the balloon, cover
ing us with water, hut still the bal
loon 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 lis,
and we noticed by degrees she came
closer to us. The cold was very Sc
we're and our limbs were becoming
bcnumbcd. Our strength was fast
failing us, and our hope Of being
overtakcn by the smack was the only
thing that gave strength to our arms
to hold OH. Ny witc's limbs were
bcnumbed, and at each jerk Of the
balloon she became weaker and weak
or. The smack continued to ap
proach US, and was now within 500
metres. Ipointcd it out to my wife
and it renewed her courage. What
was more firing was being obliged to
hold her in my arms. The smack
Was then very near us, and l raised
myself on the ropes and salutcd the
crew. They saw us and launched \
boat, being 2oO metres ahead Of us.
The small boat was manned by the
master (William Oxley) 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 cour-
age, 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 bal
loon. had cut the greater part of
them when was dashed against the
boat into which l had let myself fall.
I, 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 a mighty speed toward
Norway. The boat returned to the
smack; We were put on board and ta-
ken into the cabin, and good fire
did not fill to bring us around. 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 morn