The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-12-13
Precipitated From a Balloon,

A passenger from Kingstree, on the |
line of the Northeastern Railroad, gives
the details of frightful accident which
occurred at that place. A travelling |
show company had stopped at the town
for the purpose of relieving the natives of
their spare change, and in order more
successfully to carry out this praise
worthy object had with them balloon,
by means of which one of the company |
ascended into the air, and went through |
certain gymnastic performances. This
exhibition was free of course, and drew
an immense crowd. When the hour for
the balloon ascension arrived the town
and surrounding country were alive with
the natives, mostly negroes, who never
having seen balloon before looked
upon the whole proceeding with mix
ture of awe and curiosity. By dint of
persuasion two negroes consented to hold
the ropes of the balloon while it was being
inflated with hot air. When everything
was in readiness a man in pair of red
drawers and red shirt came out and was
cheered Justify. The balloon swayed
violently to and fro, and the aeronaut
took his seat upon small bar which
dangled from the air ship, and gave the
order to cast loose. The negroes loosed
their holds upon the ropes, and the
balloon shot upward like an arrow from
a bow. Te the CONSERVATION Of the
crowd, however, it was seen that one of
the negroes had become entangled in the
ropes and was being borne aloft with
frightful rapidity. With a wonderful
presence of mind the unfortunate darkey
grasped the rope with his hands, and,
after dssengaging his feet from the ropes
climbed up to the bar upon which sat the
man in red. Instead, however, of remain
ing upon this comparatively secure perch
he let 60 his hold and began sliding
down the rope again; and, upon reach
ing the end, he let go entirely, and was
dashed to the earth, having fallen
through space of about sixty feet. The
crowd was SO completely awe-stricken
that not one would dare approach the
PROSTATE man. After some little time,
; however, several gentleman who were
near by went up to the negro and found
him bleeding profusely from the mouth
t and apparently unconscious. At the
: last accounts the man was still alive, but
Q it is hardly possible for him to recover
The aeronaut succeeded in making a safe
G landing.
/. Burlington Ha,rkeys: The Burling
t ton Amateur Rifle Club will send team
r to compete for the prizes at the Inter
tional contest next year. The club il
J. going into arduous practice and train
;. ing at once, and has already constructed
d rifle range on the South Hill ground
" that is the most complete in its wav, ant
-e affords the finestscope for accurate shoot
ing that we ever saw. The range con
10 sists of nine long stretches of two-incl
~ gas pipe, eighty-fve yards in length
TO the pipe being supported on trestles at
a. distance of four feet from the ground
In practice, the rifeman sticks tn
;s muzzle of his rifle into the home end Q
10 the gas pipe. The target bearer, sittin
10 on the ground, then holds the target u
~ against the other end, and the marks
r. man fires at will. Thus far the practic
Il has been very perfect, and only tw
20 misses have been made, and in one il
~ stance it was the fault Of the targe
-. holder, who took the target away, out {
~ pure malice, when he heard the bulle
n rattling down the pipe, and in the othe
~. instance it was the fault of the man VIII
sb loads the guns, who put the bullet
~ first, and then filled the rife with pow
a der. If the Burlington boys go to Cree
W. | moor or Wimbledon next year we kno
or they will bring home the shield and cul
70 if they can get enough iron tubing
be reach across the range.
n THE late Marquis of Ailesbury bein
at the corporation dinner of the boroug
en- of that name, the Mayor presented
as him his son, a likely lad of ten, {
re whom Lord Ailesbury inquired as to h
p studies, and learned that he was "i
tn Sallust." The Mayor, proud of his bo,
then pointed to the escutcheon of tt
nd house of Ailesbury, hanging in the hal
en- and told the little fellow to translate I'll
is, motto Fuimus (alluding to the traditio
III of their descent from the King of tt
u East Angles, or some such potentate
IN but, as i'll luck would have it, the mott
de was printed half in one corner and ha
or in the other of the escutcheon. So IL
er young scholar translated +" Fui, ha,
dy been; mus, a mouse" In fact, he mac
ot a muss of it.