Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-07-15

| hour. More ballast being thrown out the
air-ship assembled until it reached height
of nearly two miles At this point they
could see nothing but each other and the
stars. The atmosphere was clear and bit
terly cold, and they huddled together in
the basket to keep themselves warm.
Then they descended and came within a
few hundred feet Of the water. They
sighted Oshawa in the distance before it
became dark and came within few hun
dred feet Of land. Then change Of wind
drove them far out over the lake. Mr..
Pirie continues:
Gas the evening wore into night a
heavy mist rose to the west or in rear OF
the balloon. Ii seemed to follow close be-
| hind but did not overtake 1t, the air being
quite clear in front. At later period in
! the night, when two Of the reporters went
almost to sleep, having been singing and
endeavorng to pass the time as pleasantly
| as possible under the circumstances, Mr..
Devine, who was on the lookout, suddenly
called attention to a magnificent burst of
light which Illuminated the whole sky.
He fancied for q moment that the balloon
was on fire, but this delusion was quickly
dissipated and the cause of the light was
| discovered to be a most brilliant meteor,
which appeared almost directly overhead,
| lasting for an instant and then suddenly
darling off in an easterly direction,
changed its course and gradually faded
away. The spectacle was a singularly
| impressive one and will never be forgotten
| by those who saw it.
"Af,er passing Port Hope the move
ments Of the balloon became very cratic,
the wind blowing from all points Of the
compass. After drifting about for some
| time in this purposeless manner the bal
loon descended to within twenty feet of
the waves, which were rolling heavily,
the great drag-rope trailing in the lake.
As this weight of rope was interfering
with the motion Of the balloon the profess
| sors orders were that it should be taken
| into the car. This was no easy task, as it
was an inch thick and nearly 800 feet long.
| 1t having been cOilcd in the car after very
heavy labor, ii was found that the weight
| in the car was more than the bottom could
| bear, and it was again gradually let out to
| the extent of fifty feet. The balloon sud-
| denly dipped into the water and rose again,
and again dipped. This was, to say the
least Of it, unpleasant, and, the ballast
having all been disposed of, the professor
ordered the anchor and the drag line to be
thrown overheard, and thus lightened the
balloon sprang upward, and the moon
rising illumined the whole extent Of the
| lake.
"T'he light enabled the party to sight a
schooner in the distance, coming toward
them from the east in the direct line of
the balloon. The party Immediately hailed
the boat, which replied to the cries, and
asked where they were Naturally they
replied Up in balloon, which had such
humorous sound that those on board the
schooner uttered some calculations of dis
pleasure and Immediately tackled away
This was like the last hope disappearing
and feeling of dread apprehension fell
upon the party. All hope was not how
ever, abandoned, as it was felt tina
another vessel might come in sight or thu
wind drive the balloon ashore. AT abou
one O'Clock the car again dipped in til,
water and dragged at a tcarfully rapid rat,
) through the lake. This necessitated tn,
parties on board clinging to the ropes ant
standing on the edge of the basket. TIL,
cold was intense and the arms of the re
porters became SO numbed that holding or
WAS almost mechanical.
when all hope had been abandoned
the professor from his perch alott de
serted a blue light, which was hung a
the masthead of schooner approach
ing the balloon. As soon as she came
within hailng distance the distress of tn,
aerial travellers was made known, and q
small boat was put out to the rescue. The
balloon appeared to be filled with Il spirit
of contrarneSs, and instead of waiting tc
be rescued flew before the wind. Two
Young men in the boat, whose names were
subsequently ascertained to be Henry
Loney, aged twenty-one, and Thomas
Whallam, aged eighteen, rowed vigorously
for an hour and half sometimes nearing
the balloon and again left far behind
Fortunately dead calm fell, and the boa
was enabled to reach the balloon, and thu
unmanageable monster was towed to shore
near Long Point Lighthouse, in Atho
Township, Prince Edward County. N
\, sun, June 2S.
|