The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-07-13
A Balloon Trip With Female Aero
naut

- 0 laAN 1n "a.
Give, me terra firma forever, and
away from the sea and air. The balloon,
with motive power Of $4,000 cubic
feet of gas, and naVigated by Lizzie
lining, niece of Prof, Wise, was cut
| from ballast at the oil works on Elm
Avenue, opposite the main building, at
| 5;45 this evening. The lady was 'ac-
companied by A. S. A1lsheuse, proprie-
tor of the oil works, and by the writer.
The latter was never before higher tnan
the bell of a church steeple, and, though
dreadfully prejudiced in favor of land,
feels that there is a certain charm that
would entice him to the skies again. At
5;55 we. were 5000 feet high, the ther-
mometer being seventy-nine degrees,
two less than at starting. Then / saw
the Centennial grounds and buildings as
they appear on the map. The thrOngs
of well-wishers below gradually dimin-
ished to microscopic Liliputians, and
five minutes later, when $500 feet di-
rectly above the Times Office, which was
indicated by Independence Square, the
main building seemed not too large for
a poor mans dwelling. The city,
shaped ike a partially filed bag tied
around the middle, appeareda group of
structures not as large IS chieken-coopS,-
and bounded on the west by a brook five
feet wide. At 6 :25 we were A 800 feet
high, eleven miles east of the Delaware,
the thermometer being Il degrees. All
Jersey seemed quilt, its forests and
fields of green grass, darker green grain
and yellowish, upturned earth being the
patches. Our course was almost di-
rectly east, and at $3.50 our height was
five thousand five hundred feet. No
breeze was felt. All was still save when
the dauntless navigator ordered more
sand to be emptied or her not over-easy
companions wished for rope ladder
from the sky to the earth. The golden
rays of the setting sun, which smiled ON
us long after they had hidden us from
your view, the delicious GOODNESS and
the glorious landscape, taking in nearly
a whole State, made it delightful until
we looked down and saw fences and
highways like trailing strings, running
zigzag over the patches of the quilt.
Think of falling heels over head.a mile
through the air, and to be spitted on q
pinnacle of temple or the lightning
rod of Jersey barn. Then, look at
those twelve cords, none much thicker
than a lead pencil, fastening the plated
basket to the balloon. Should
one or two of them break, or should
a bird Gf birds flew that
high) peck hole through the thin oiled
cambria that held us above the earthl
At 6 :38 our height was $500 feet. We
were half way to MedfOrd, New Jersey,
and the Delaware off to the west looked
like a silver wateh-ehain lying between
a village of baby houses. At GAS, at a
height of $500 feet, Miss Ihling, who
was dressed as a Goddess of Liberty,
cOnsoled her rather timorous friends of
the lordly sex with the story that once
her balloon burst at a height of 1000
feet, and that-she descended to the
earth in six minutes. " Had not the
collapsed muslin formed a parachute"
said she, "yOu may guess the result"
Nearly mile and quarter below,
seeming SO many ants and flies, were
the jersey farmers ''hOmeward plOdding
their weary way" and to look at them
was to think Of thin muslin, slender
cords and collins. This shivering gloom
would depart as rapidly as it came,
when the eye, sweeping along the milky
streak to the East, marking
the breakers OF the Atlantic,
would turn to where the sun
was disappearing behind the still visi-
BILE Georges Hill, and take in, in the
meantime, Il map-maker's view of a
State and city. At 6 :5S we passed over
Medford at a height of $500 feet, open
ed the valve and began to descend.
Half mile east was a woods, which
we hoped to pass over and land on the
other side; but the balloon went down
too fast, and a tail button-ball
threatened us directly ahead. The bal
loon was descending at the rate of
mile in four minutes. Wewere but 200
feet from the ground. Allshouse
couldn't unite the sand-bag, so he threw
it out, when up shot the balloon like
an arrow till it reached the height of g.
900 feet. Meanwhile, all three had been
pulling on the valve, and we then be-
gan to descend. The cord of that valve
was no thicker than common twine,
and, had it broken, we might have slept
tonight in sharks bellies or landed
in France. The gas, however, was fast
escaping, and down we went. When IS
feet from the ground we dropped the
anchor, which caught in a fence, and
when the rope became taut the restless
gas monitor struck the ground with
dangerous momentum, but doing no
serious damage othe occupants. Then,
bav-ipr hor1pcnd ike a r11hhpr hall the
balloon pounded the fence with the car
until regiment of Jersey farmers and
housewives had congregated about the
spot and seized the basket. There was
at least one in that basket who thanked
God when he got out of it. We landed
in cornield half way between Med
ford and Vincentown, which are five
nnilas anart PhiLnleLLhin Il1neS