The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-08-26

Professor Samuel A. King, the Cleve-
land aeronaut, who succeeded Donald
son as the balloonist of Barnum's Hip
podrome made as ascension alone IN
the "Cloud Nymph,' at Burlington.
Iowa, on the 9th. Professor King fur
nished the Hawk-Eye with the follow
ing account of the trip:
I assembled from Burlington at 4:30 P.
NJ, taking northeast direction. In a
few moments I had crossed diagonally
the Mississippi river and was sailing in
the direction of some wild bottom lands.
I had intended to make a landing al the
first opportunity, but the poor prospect
presented just then determined me to
continue the voyage. An ugly-looking
storm cloud lay directly in front of me,
the low ragged edges of which betokened
wind as well as rain. knew had bust
ness before me, but hardly realized the
strange and terrible experience I was
about to pass through.
had hardly left the ground before I
heard the rumbling thunder, and in a
very few minutes I was immersed in
the cloud, thai is, what appeared to be
the superior portion of it. Thought
that at that time disappeared from the
sight of the crowd in front of Barnum's
Hippodrome. was about three-quar-
tiers of mile high. There seemed to
be nothing unusual about the cloud as
[ entered it, it being simply a dense
fog, through which I arose calmly
enough for some minutes. had heard
the thunder from the first, and seemed
to be getting nearer the sound, when
suddenly there came an electric dis
charge in my Immediate vicinity; at the
same moment the balloon seemed to
have been seized by some extraordinary
force, hurled through the inter ven
ing space in the direction of the flash.
The gas in the balloon expanded with
such force as to drive it down through
the open neck in solid, and for mo-
ment 1 was fearful of being suffocated.
I opened, the valve at the top of the
balloon to give it vent, and did my best
to get out of the way of the escaping
gas below. Following quickly came an
other discharge in different direction,
and the balloon was again seized and
thrown with fearful velocity in that
direction, and this was repeated over
and over again; the lightning blazing
around me, and I looked anxiously at
the escaping volume of gas; once or
twice when the balloon gave such ter
rible lunges thought it had been struck
with the fluid, for it did not seem pos
sible to escape it. I had been pitched
and tossed about in this manner for
about twenty m mites without even
reaching the top of the cloud, when all
at once a torrent Of rain began to fall
from above; it seemed to cleave the air
almost in a mass; the fog around me
presented the appearance of white horse
tails, as the falling water pierced through
it, dragging it along. The weight of
water showed it's effects on the balloon
too, and confess it was with sense Of
relief that saw the lower portion of
the balloon drawn upward in parachute
shape, which indicated to a certainty
that it was descending. I had now an
other great danger ahead, which must
be met with care and resolution.
could see nothing below; as yet all was
fog and rain; there came an instant,
however, when saw the tops of trees,
it was but an instant; the next I was
dashing through their tops, tearing off
limbs and crashing along at a fearful
rate. The collapsing cord was in my
hand; I threw my weight upon it, the
gas escaped, the balloon and net work
spreading itself over the trees, letting
the car down through them almost to
the ground, allowing me to alight in
safety. The balloon was badly damag
ed but not, hope, beyond repair. A
tramp through corn fields three-quarters
of a mile or more brought me to house,
and soon 1 found willing hands to assist
me in getting my balloon out of the
woods. L had alighted about two miles
southeast from Olena, in Henderson
county, Ill, in what is know, as Camp
bells timber. The duration of the voy-
age was not over three quarters of an
hour, and by The direction in which the
drag rope lay across the trees after the
descent, I found that I was returning in
almost direct line to Burlington.