The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1874-10-01

Yet 90 pihlliS w" ,o;oo
several things: that l hearo u ,C,, no'vv
cry, with an oath, "Let go" and "Cut!
cut 7" and that knife was thrust mto
nv hand; and it seemed afterward that
the assistant and | had pitched out al,
The ballast in the balloon-bags and al
and that had cut away the grapne'
or anchor from the side of the car.
That I had done so was plain from Two
of nv fingers being jagged across by, the
knife. What became of the grapnell we
never knew but, if it had fallen in
nopnlous street, it would in all proha-
bility have killed somebody. The heavy
bags of ballast, too. must have lal,en
like stones The final thing remempsr
during our descent was droll enough.
Just before the balloon left tho IRE
d'Orsay, nv dear, kind brother had
thrown over my shoulders light pale,
tot observing, with laugh, that !
might feel it rather cold Sup there,
T donued this garment as we ascenoeu,
and remember saving rs we came
laundering dowr, "Charley's coat VIII
he torn to ribbons" So much for pano,-
romic effects when the jaws OF death
scanned to be yawning for us. 10 the
noasnss;on OF what is ordinarily termed
"presence of mind" on the OCCASION
disaainfully decline to lay clam. Wha,
7 did in the matter of the Grapnei ahV
the ballast was done mechanically ano
wellnieh unconsciously and was des
nerately and mortally terrified. A lev
doys after the accident | MT the aero
nout's assistant, and had the curlosit
to sonnd him as to my demeanor durln
the fall. 49,, -, H..
"Sir," he very candidly replied, '"yo
kcpt YOUR mouth wide open, and yo
we're as blue as your breeches.
had been clad Mt the time in ligl
summer attire. And youF Col
md "Well out of it, quoth the acre
nout's assistant, who was seemingly
nbilosopher; and so went his way. ..
Meanwhilc-th term is wellnigh Il
appropriate, since there was scarce
@ anv awhile" to be "mean"-the aer
nant who looked like n sailor, had n
lost his presence Of mind, and had n n
been idle. He saw at glance, u
brave little old man-although he n
,,, been forgetful in the matter OF the 81
IE. kpotted haudkerchief-whereln our 81
Gle chance of safety lay. he Jump
' an np into the shrouds of the balloon,
the cords which attached the neck
AVE The machine to the hoop, and away
Don Tho very top of the netting flew I
that whole Of the exhausted silk body OF
erti- sonsope. Then it formed n cupola
tely the approved umbrella pattern-l,l loi
the cd parachute 1t steadied instant
| do There was no collapse, and down
but came swiftly, but easily, in slant
ther direction, alighting among the caopn
YOU; in market garden, Fulhom ileias;
your car struck the elastic earth with
ssed lcnce, and rebounded, clearing .hed ,,,
spor, a distance of some twenty feet. L
ating lhe silk, and the netting, and the nc
zee and the car itself, fell atop OF us am
ash the cabbages. We were dragged i'
from from tho ruins of the sausage, on.
etch- he hustled and robbed of all the me
arth, in our pockets by ruilianiy GREY
dim working market gardeners; ana the
mn nrietor of the light cart, who conse
igger 70 drive me from Fulham to kensln
oklng Gore, demanded guinea as ms ,l,. in.'
moke the ground that balloons oioh
it-a every day" He was far from con N
trips, mentary, too, about the accident II II
II the remarkipg ironically that this "
o the cum of carryin' up n lot OF dogs
rough monkeys." This ingenious but mel
river, orv norson had mistaken our wlnd
must Jr,gons and fishes swaling through
drous air. when we assembled, for living
some imals. rh,
were T will omit any account OF tle
y-bal- oratulations which were induigcd
shion- onr return to Gore house; yet CT
other conclude this paper without novl m
zoned pregnant but somewhat stron8'y-w'
,sium. remark made by the little old aero
re in While everybody was grasplIng
The hands. and paying him well-des'
It the nomnl;ments on his intrepidity, he
ded aonlv drew on one side, folded his
might and and sternly inquired, "Who the
mpton Vii sov now that You can't come
Ter ad- ~ q narachute?' The manner OF
Jar and tine the query was irreverent, bI
during mofter thereof was cogent. Ihre
Mt, had twenty wears after the event hav
fe loos, rated, I find myself iorcipiy IL II
Ia, that with the conviction that it is pos!s
cry ne descend in safety from any no'tt
he bal means of parachute, pnt 1hav
mary to are ten thousand chances TO one
means the man who tries the venture sur
Knot, in to tell the tale. And please 10
of the ber that had no intention OF {
eric air down in parachute. ! cohtrac
ted ny. come down in sausage balloon )
Directly will do the inventor the Justlce =. =
1t aero ton that he never asKea me
I. Our share of the expenses.