Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-08-25
DONALDSON.
Narrative Of Wilson, Gf the Ontario
News, ORe Of the Finders If The
lll.Fsted ErOnaut Of Bar
Ham's MUssGm,
He Tells a ErlIling story, ard Con-
fesses TO Having Thr0wa Grim.
wood from the Balloon 10
Save lis tUn Lif.,

save BIs tTn liz
PORT EoPE. MICH, August GA
bottle was iouBa washsu ashore this
morning, containing The fol-
lOwiI z: "OveT Lake Michigan, at
eight o'clock of the evening Of starting,
about thirty miles from Chicago, about
| three thousand feet high 4 gale Is
coming from the northeast; the balloon
is getting out OF order; gas escaping fast;
can't remain up much longer; viii suJe-
ly land in the lake, fearful storm.
Donaldson" The writing is well-pre-
served.
Cincinnati Times.
The narrative furnished by the Penn
broke (OntariO) NeJC5, OF the death OF
Donaldson, the R-onaut, and the con-
fession that ne made previous TO breath
lug his last, is full Of mournful and
tragic interest, especially at this time,
when the remains Ct Ire unhappy
Grimwood are being buried at his home
in Indiana. Il Teistes that iGst two
weeks subsequent TO the stSTtIHE Of the
Inflated balloon, that is, on the first in
slant, MT. Wilson, one Of the editors of
the NetOS, together with d party of
friends, set out for fishing excursion,
intending TO be gone until the first OF
September. Their plan was 10 push
right up the Ottawa river to its junction
with the Montreal, and thence uy the
latter stream il their bark canoes 30 its
source in Lake des QaibzEs, where they
intended to make their headquarters. II
was when within about fifty miles Of the
IL Ia. =
forest through which the Montreal river
runs, that the doomed aronaut was
found, partly protected by the ruins Of a
fishing-hut, with bis LETT arm aud leg
broken, and starvation slowly making
its way against the few roots and
berries that he had been able to
drag himself out to gather. GangTeue
had also set in, in consequence Of his
unattended wounds, and even the most
unprofessional eye could see that death
waf inevitable, and that few more
hours must terminate his sufieTIn as.
And yet It must have been grand
thing, judging from Mr.. Wilson's mar
rative, to note how the magnificent
physique and daredevil spirit Of the
man rose triumphant over pain and
death. Shattered, starved, dying, SIS be
was, his bearidg was % proud ard self
reliant as in the hCuTs Of his perfect
prime, and bis voice, through al the
story OF his sufferings, was firm aud un-
broken to the last. The narrative which
Mr.. Wilson noted down f-Om the lips OF
the dying man is to- long for our space,
but the first portion is 50 full Of thrilling
interest that we give in his own words:
"The fact that the WIND, upon our first
rising carried Us directly upon the lake
did not disturb me a particle, for that
had been my plan from the first. The
breeze was q stiff one, and its trend such
as to carry u3 directly across into Mich
igan long before the natural loss Of gas
could have exceeded the amount OF bal
last that / could throw out. Once in
Michigan, intended to seek a lsndiEg
in the woods, TO lie quiet until our ab-
sence had given US sufficient advertis-
| ing, and then report at the nearest town.
The storm upset all our calculations 1t
struck us about mid way in the lake, and
at an elevation Of about two thousand
| feet. 1t needed but q few moments to
show me that disaster was inevitable.
! You see O storm is not necessarily dan
! gerous to a balloon, provided it be slow
! in its rise and steady ia its progress. The
balloon moves as rapidly as the air, and
| thus escapes injury. Butthis storm was
| 8 succession of furious gusts, cOllapsiug
! the balloon Oh one side before it could
| Weld on the other, and driving the gas
| out Of the neck in such volumes as al
most to stifi9 Us. OF course, 20 fasteu
up the neck would have resulted in i'm
mediate bursting. We had to le.
| the gas go, though cur lives were
| going with it. Tire rain, too, added
| greatly to the weight Of the balloon, and
| ia less than ten minutes all cur balla.
was out and We were still settling. An
! immediate discha ge CT all the ballast at
! the time the storm first struck Us might
/ possibly nave shot the balloon up ci6Sr
! Of the storm level, but l feared, at the
! first moment, to risk q counter current
| that should carry Us up the lake, and in
| the next we were so stupefied with the
! escaping ga7 as to lie sble 10 work only
/ with great difficulty and sioUness. l.
was only when The ballast was gone, and
our descent still rapid that the thought
| forced its way into my mind that one Of
| us must die TO save the other. ]
| think the thought occurred to Mr..
! GrimwCOd at the same moment as to
myself, only with this difference, that
| TO me it was ouiys new element Of dau-
ger which had confronted all my life
! time-I faced It quietly. To him il had
/ an appalling stTaugeness sat cover
| ing in the basket, his teeth Chattering,
his face livid, his hair blowing wildly il
the storm. He was completely I'M
manned, and | pitied him deeply, but
| it was life or death. For the moment
/ the thought &C uTred to me of giving
him g chance for his life by drawing
| lots; but in the next | saw clearly that
! it would be to him only another mode
! OF death, for he had not the nerve, even
! il he had the experience, to manage the
! balloon. At that moment, and it seems
TO me the strangest thing Of the journey,
there flashed across my mind passage
| of BlackstOne--I studied law q little bit
once in my life, you knOW-wlich refers
to two men on plank a sea It stood
| out bsfOre me, in the pressure Of the
! moment, "a distinctly as il the book
were in my hand, and ! think | can re-
cite every word Of it yet.h Mr.. Dom
aldsOn's memory was somewhat inQcCu-
! rate. We give the passage IS 1t stands
in Blackstone, volume 4, page lo3:
"There is one species Of homicide, Sc de-
fendO, where the party slain is equally
| innocent as ne who occasions his death
and vet this homicide is also excu sable,
from the great, universal principle OF
self-preservstiGu, Which prompts every
man to save his own life preferably to
that Of another, where one uf them must
inevitably perish. A., among others,
il, that case mentioned by Lord Bacon,
where two persons, being shipIrecked,
aud getting on tbe same plank, tut
finding it not able TO save them both,
one Of Them thTusts the other from it
whereby he il drowned. He who thu;
preserves his oSn iifs st the expense O
another mans is eXcusable through uD'
avoidable necessity, aud the principle
OF self defense, since their both remain
ing on the same weak plank js a MT
tusI, though innocent, attempt upon
aud endangering OF each others lite ~
"Men think very rapidly at sucL
times, sir; and ali this occurred more
quickly than l can tell il to you, How
the matter would have ended Il my
mind l cannot say, had / not seen a
tnat moment Mr.. GrimWOod trying t
draw q DerGinger from his pocket. Hi
hand trembIed SO that have no idea
now. that he could have hit ms, Dat In,
movement wss sufficient to end 10!
hesitation. All the instinct Of self-pIes
ervstion leaped to my Llgecles, and /
seemed % me but a simple wSye 6i a.
hand before Grinwood was falling 70