Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-09-24
A Woman'x Trip in a Hot-Air Bal
loon.
From the Cincinnati Gazette

xOOu.
From the Cincinnati Gazette
From the time the canvas was at
tached to the derrick, the spectators
surged and crowded on the ground
and along the west promenade Of the
amphitheatre. A trench had previous
ly been dug in the ground, in which
about half a cord of wood had been
piled, and over it q bridge of iron
covered with earth. At the end y
tubular iron chimney, about four feet
high and three in diameter, served as
the injection pipe OF smoke and
hot air in the process Of imitation. A
couple of gallons of coal oil were
poured over the wood and the match
applied, and almost instantly the can
vas began to expand. In ten or fif-
teen minutes it assumed a globular
form, and the blue smoke curlcd up
through the porous seams. The reg
ular attendants and score OF volun-
teers held the sides away from the
mouth of the fue, as the great bag
rose higher and higher, and when it
was stretched to nearly its whole
height, Il double score Of boys and
men burrowed like rats around its
mouth to hold it firmly to the ground
and prevent the ingress of cold air,
and a deep-throated Irishman below
ed the crowd into a respectable dis.
tance on the outside 1t was q large
balloon, made of coarse canvas, un-
glazed, but rendered moderately air
tight by a thick coating of coarse,
dun-colored paint. 1t lacked the net
work covering of ropes used in gas
balloons, and the half dozen cords
passed up Its sides longitudinally
were quite enough to support the
small basket, a foot and a half high,
and about two feet in diameter, which
lay to one side ready for the upward
swing. A large wooden hoop, at q
height of five or six feet above the
basket, when in the air, kept the cords
separated. When fully inflated the
balloon stood between seventy-fve
and eighty feet high, and perhaps
fifty feet in greatest diameter. 1t
was said to contain about S5, 900 c4bic
feet of hot air. Near the basket
stood a small sized young woman,
with head protected from the sun by
Il covering of brownish-red halr, and
her chubby little nose entirely unpro-
tected, and in danger of becoming as
red as those adorning the faces Of the
Fat Nine, of Glendale, at their recent
three hour game Of base ball. Her
outer dress was Of some figured ma
terial, fashionably pinned back, and
trimmed with an acute ,angled tail on
each side. She was quite Il plucky
looking little girl As the great ship
began to surge from side to side, as
if anxious to burst away from the
ropes, the aeronaut unbuttoned the
waist of her dress, and cast 1t off like
a jacket; displaying tight-ftting
vest of crimson; then she unpinned
the skirt, stepped out Of it in white
tights and spangled something or an
I other, and while the average fellow
was left wondering whether all fash
ionable dresses were made in the
style of that discarded, she stepped
briskly into the basket, and stood with
each hand holding the ropes below
the great hoop which two attendants
held in position above her head. The
one OF two retaining ropes were cut,
and the balloon shot up sky ward
with almost the rapidity of rocket,
the great throat haring open, exhib-
iting the hollow inside distinctly
The ascent continued almost perpen-
dicularly to 4 height of four or five
hundred feet, when it was carried in
a northwesterly direction, in view Of
the spectators in the ampitheatre-
The aeronaut, during the ascent, re-
manned standing, with one hand hold
ing to the ropes, while she waived
her pretty pocket-handkerchief with
the other. At the height of 900 or
1000 feet the balloon began to de-
scend, and after moment, as if of
hesitancy, dropped as perpendicularly
and almost as rapidly as it rose
There was an expression of alarm
from the crowd, and many ran in the
direction where it was expected to
alight. Before anybody reached it,
the aerouaut stood upon the rim of
the basket and held tightly to the
ropes.
1t struck the ground with Il bump,
and rebounding few yards, brushed
slightly against tree, and again
dropped, the aeronaut springing from
the basket before it reached the
ground, and running in order to get
from below the falling canvas. The
great ball rolled over on its side, and
while crowd of spectators gathered,
the fire and smoke rolled out of its
huge throat, creating an oppressive
atmosphere, and in five minutes the
thing was limp and lifeless. The de-
scent was made in u potatotield,
about hundred yards west of the
railroad track, the same distance north
of Mill Creek, and about 1900 feet
from the starting point. The trip
occupied about five minutes.