The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-05-14

- T.
had scarcely written these lines when
= sort of trembling fit seized me, and
sank down fainting for the second time
I was conscious Of violent wind, indi.
eating . very rapid descent. A few mo
mcnts later I felt myself shaken by the
arms, and recognized Croce, who had 70.
vived, ''Throw out ballast" said he,
i've are going down. But I could hard
" open my eyes, and did not notice
whether Sivel was aroused. I remember
that Croce unfastened the aspirator and
threw it out, as veil rs somc ballast, ex-
ira wraps, and the like. All this is IN
extremely confused recollection. which
was quickly extinguished, for I relapsed
into insensibility more thoroughly than
before, and felt as if was going of into
an eternal slumber. What happened
then! suppose that the balloon being
lightened, impermeable as it was, and
very warm, shot up once more into the
upper regions. At about 3.l5 o'clock
reopened my eyes, feeling giddy and
weak, but my consciousness returned. .
The balloon was rushing downward with
fearful velocity.
The car swayed violently from side to
side, and described great oscillations. l
raised myself on my knees and pulled
my companions by the arm. "Sivcl,
Croce! Icried, rouse yourselves! They
were both crouched down in the car, with
their heads concealed in their cloaks. I
summoned up all my strength and en-
deavored to lift Them up. Sivel's face
was black, his eyes dull, mouth wide
open and full of blood. Croce-Spinelli
had his eyes closed, and his mouth blood.
stained also.
To relate what occurred then is quite
beyond my power. I noticed tremen-
dous wind from below upward. We were
still at an altitude of 5000 metres. There
were still in the car two bags of ballast,
which cast out. Soon we neared the
earth, and sought for my knife in order
to cut the attachment of the anchor, but
could not find it.
was distracted, and kept calling out {:
''Sivel! Sivel!' Fortunately laid my
hand on knife, and was enabled to free
the grapnel in time. The shock of the
fall was extremely violent. The balloon
appeared to fatten itself out completely,
and thought it would so remain. But
there was strong wind, which carried it
along. The grapnel did not hold firmly,
and the car was dragged across the fields.
The dead bodies Of my unfortunate
friends were jerked about, and feared at
each moment that they would fall out Of
the car. Meanwhile succeeded in grasp
ing the cord of the valve, and the balloon
was quickly emptied, and was finally ex-
hausted against . tree. This was about
4 o'clock.
THE SURVIVORS, RECORD.
NJ. Tissandier's notes, as long rs he was
able to write, were as follows;
l take the place Of Croce.Spinelli while
he makes his spectral observations. My
pulse beats ITO to the minute. Weare ut
q height Of 5000 metres. Our thermom.
eter placed in the inside OF the balloon in.
dicates twenty-five above zero and ten
degrees lower in the car. felt the pulse
Of Croce-SPinellli. 1t beat l20 to the
minute. lilo. We are At a heig ht Of
5000 metres. We are we'll. Now the
height is $500 metres. A little oppres-
sion. Hands slightly frozen.
We are better. Hands
frozen. Croce pants. We inhale the
oxygen in the bag. Sivel and Croce
shut their eyes. They are pale
A little better, even gay. Croce
says to me, laughing, "You blow like a
porpoise.'' 100. We are at 1000
metres. Sivel seems drowsy. y
Sivel and Croce are pale. 7,4OO.
Sleepy. $500. Sivel still throws out
ballast. Sivel throws out bal