American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-08-21


IT will be remembered, says the New
York Graphic. that one of the postal bal
looms which was sent out from Paris dur
ing the siege of 1870 actually ira eled
from the beleaeuered CITY to Norway, a
distance of 200 miles. fhe following is
a Translation of the account which Robert
one of the aeronauts who performed the
wonderful journey, gave of his adventure:
Our departure was effected from the
Northern Railway station on the 24th of
November, 1870, at forty minutes past
eleven O'Clock at night, in the balloon
Vile d'Orleans. of a capacity of 300
| cubic meters (about rs 900 cubic feetl. I
was accompanied by M. Paul Roller.
aeronaut We carried enough provisions
| to last us twenty-four hours and a QUAINT
ty of Government dispatches. We had
also a cage containing six pigeons, about
| 625 pounds of private dispatches and ten
bags of ballast.
Midnipht-We set out with a moderate
breeze from the south-southwest. and con-
seouenfly we sped in the direction of the
north-northeast. that is nearly in the di-
rection of Saint Valery sur Somme. The
balloon, which rose to a height of 800
meters (about 2, 800 feet, began to descend.
and we were Obliged to sacrifice two and a
half bags of sand in order to attain a
height of $3.50 to 1000 feet, at which
height we were safe from the shots of the
Prussians. They fired at US, but without
effect.
Half-past Twelve-We reach q height
of 4. $50 feet. Everything is quiet: the
night is extremely serene.
One O'Clock in the Morning-We are at
height of $500 feet. We maintain this
elevation till day.
Half-past Two-Everywhere below us
extends a thick fog, which entirely con-
ceals the earth from, ma A no;sa wbicb
I can onlv comnare tn that of railway
train in motion Leads ns to haI;eve that wa
are in the nroximitv of a ra;1road Int aS
the no;se Continues mill day we arc ax.
ceedingly curious about it.
O,arter nast s;x-Dav beo;ns to hre.k
Tho balloon has redescsnSe5 soa;n to a
he;gbt Of about A 65O feet Nnwhere on
the horizon can we perceive land: and be.
meath. in every direction. stretches-the
oceani the ocean, for ms DEATH The noise
which we believed to be that of e train was
nothing hut the waves
Half.nast Six-Iost in immepsitv. pos-
sessing no instrument which would helm
us to make out our bearings or discover
whittier we are drifting with the wind
CONSTANTLY imnelIino toward the north we
nrenare d;spatch for Eranca to th;s of.
feet Halfpast six O'CLOCK in the morn.
ino- Over the ocean. no land in s;ght
ODD holm usi,, Tb;s Loot ad;en ve al yed
20 oro of o,,r moor ;ttIo ,nossorrors h,,t
y. a. e. ~ p,.o..;.. tS;ni1ar .,S ti,;;oi,o,
a,,or,, -, ;nrta 20 roTomncaJ the nro;act
cd mt hac, the h;rd ;n,o no p'c 9s;ar
rr;soP "' "'oA 'no "iN INV Ai' o'to'
p' HoIf nos+ E1evor- W. ,,o;nto;n tho
s.,,,a aip1,ot;r,, NJ, sh;,, ,.a.s haroo.I,
no but ali onr cr;es and SignaIs are nse-
1eSs Either ,hav do not baar ne or .I,a
nrod;gioua ran;d;{v of onr aiaht viii ,ot
hermit the mariners to come tie orr rescne
This last hypothesis is the most probable
one We now begin to descend again and
the aeronaut conceives the notion of let
ting out the whole of the guide rope. /, 200
meters $4,000 feet), in the hope (insen-
safe ID that a ship passing below us could
seize it and stop the balloon. This chance,
however. never occurred. and we were
comnelled nainfullv tn mil fine rome hack
aoa;p " pun -'' '''A
Ouarter to Twelve-A LARGE shin in
the east nerceives ms and fires signal of
distress
Five Minutes to Twelve-A schooner
the last we see ON our tourney, signals tn
us. The sailors are on the boon making
signs and thew are evidently maneuyerine
to give us help. M. Roller pulls the
valve rome and we descend RAPIDLY to
within few feet of the surface of the sea.
But in the three minutes that have been
occupied in descending the balloon has