Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-07-21
THE BALLOONISTS.
lars of the Ascension. and the
htOEm.

CHICAGO, July f0.-NothiDg what
eyer has been learned to cOrTObOTate the
story of the Donaldson balloon having
landed in the vicinity Of South Haven,
Michigan. The. operator at that point
knew nothing Of il last night, and Gem
! munication with that secIIOn is seyeted
to-day. The story is generally discred-
tied here. Rewards amounting to seven
hundred dollars have been offered fJr
the recovery of the bodies OF the aero
nauts, and tugs are now hunting tie lake
for them.
PARTICULARS OF THE ASCENSION.
Chicago Courier, I7th.l
The balloon that was sent up by Bar
mum on Thursday evening, fraighted
with Professor Donaldson and Journal
reporter, up to two o'clock this morning
he'd not been heard from, and it Is fearel
that the air ship met with some acct
dent during the severe storm that PIE.
vailed about one o'clock Friday MORN
ing, and that the aeronaut and his pas-
sergsr thereby lost their lives. Intense
excitement prevailed throughout the
city yesterday, and all sorts OF rumOrs
landed the erOnauts in the pineries Of
Michigan, and soon another one would
be in circulation to the effect that the
balloon, with its passengers had gone
into the waters Of lake Michigan.
"Wht news Of the ballOOn?' was the
question on every side, and all day long
the telegraph stations and newspaper
offices were thTonged with seekers after
the latest intelligence. When last
seen by the thousands who
witnessed the ascension, the bal
loon was travelling across the
lake in a nOrthessterly course. The
only intelligence afterWard received
came from Captain Anderson, OF the
schooner "Little Guide" which arrived
in port yesterday morning. The men on
the schooner say they saw the balloon
about seven O'Clock on Thursday eve
ming, about twenty miles off Gross
Point, a projection some twelve miles
north OF Chicago. 1t was then travelling
in a direction northeast by north, in
about due course for MuskegOn, land
in that direction being about one hun
dred and twenty miles distant. When
first seen, the balloon was gkimming
along close to the surface of the lake;
then it rose to quite ali altitude, and
and was thus Swimming along when last
seen. The sailors say that the balloon
seemed to be in bad condition, as if it
would not be able to remain much longer
in the air.
Professor Steiner, an experienced
eronaut, now at the Commercial hotel,
declares that the balloon was "a crazy,
patched affair, that any ordinary gale
would tear into finders.n He further
more stated that two thousand feet of
gas would escape from it in an hour,
and that the weak and rotten thing
never could stand voyage of two hun
dred nIIles-the distance from land |
in the direction the balloon was in
when last seen. He regarded Donald
son as an experienced but reckless
8ronaut. Barnum and his attaches
think that the balloon was in good
trim, and they all seem confident that
the voyagers have safely landed in some |
locality remote from the telegraph.
All admit that Professor Donaldson |
thoroughly understood his business, and |
was an even, cOOl-tempered man under |
the most critical circumstances. Mr.. |
Thomas, BarnUm's press agent, when |
talked to last night, predicted that all |
was we'll with the vOyagers. "DOnald- |
son is equal to the emergency" remark
ed Mr.. Thomas, land no Lake Michi- |
gan emergency can master him. He |
VAS in terrible gale or Lake Ontario, |
some time ago, and came out all right. |
Donaldson and the reporter will turn
out all right"
The terrible gale on the lake, on Friday
morning, shortly after midnight, must
have played havoc with the balloon if
it was in the air at that time. The storm
is pronounced by seamen to have been
one Of the seveTest for many year. If
the 9rOnauts we're on the LAKE during
the prevalence of this storm, the chances
are that the air-ship was sWamped, and
that the vOyagers lost their lives. Even
if the balloon was over dry land when
the squall struck it., fatal catastrophe
could scarcely have been averted. The
storm, in the opinion of scientists, ex-
tended far into the upper atmosphere,
father up than the balloon could
have gone. The theory of those
who were confident that the
@rOnautS are safe and sound, is
that the balloon was carried over into
safely landed there before the storm
opened with its fury; that the landing
was far remote from any telegraph sta
ton, and hence this continued silence
The Courier last evening sent to various
telegraph stations in Michigan, asking
for intelligence, but the only reply re-
ceived up to two o'clock this morning
has been "nO balloon seen or heard
from" General Stager, Of the Western
Union line, sent messages to all the OIL.
ces where there was possibility Of re-
ceiving intelligence, but not word was
received in reply.
The great fear is that there was not
sufficient gas in the balloon to make the
long trip of over two hundred miles
across the lake, or to have carried the
balloon, if still in the air at the time of
the squat, to a sufficient elevation to
have avoided the dashing, driving wind
Prof. Donaldson, when he started on the
trip, evidently had apprehensions of the
perils before him, as he remarked tc a
friend just before the balloon was freed,
Would to God was not obliged to 90
on this trip"
THE LOST VOYAGERS.
Prof Donaldson has been engaged in
aerial voyages for the past zen years, and
prior to bis last trip had made one hun.
bred and thirty successful ascensions.
He is thirty-six years of age, a south
hNJ birth T. = !