The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1877-03-29
4 MEMORABLE VOYAGE.
: True Stor, Of Gnmhetta's Trip In the bRl- .
leon from BcleaRucrcd Parts.

4 True Stor, of Cnmhetta's Trip In the bRl-
ioon from BcleaRucrcd Parts.
The following, saws Figaro, is an ahso-
lutelv trua account of that famous vov-
age III balloon 10y which NJ. Gamhctta
escaped from bcleagucrci Paris The
details have hitherto been but imperfect
IN known to the public We are fortu-
nately enabled TO give them rs they
came. lately, from NJ. Gambetta's own
lips-not. indeed. in our hearing, but in
that of several persons who merit our
entire confidence
NJ. Gambotta was dining the other day
with ladv holding high position in
parisian society, After dinner the Illus
trious dictator. in compliance with a
very general request turned round in
his char, and related some passages OF
his curious and cvcnttUl life.
OF course he soon had to say some
thing about the siege of Paris He
talked oi has dream of a prolonged re-
SjStaucy. and went ON 10 show how hv
came t. make up his mind 60 lCavo the
city bv balloon. At length all was ready
tor his flight through the air; he bought
furs. to0h with him the msoparahlc
Spuller. iampcj into the car andcouhdcd
Caesar and bi, fortunes 60 the care Of the
aerauaut The latter. as We shall pres
emily see, was 50 sensible oi the honor
that ON the strength of IL he treated hin-
self 20 a remarkably goni dinner as %
preparation for the journey,
And now We had better let the hero of
the adventure relate II IN his own wouiS,
which, as we NAV again assure our read
CrS, have been exactly rCpuoducCd IN the
following account;
"Nhen We started, he said, in his
Vurest GaScon accent, Il had "a terrible
attack ol bronchitis, Everybody was
saying Ii you 90 Won arr dead man.
The SarJut~ especially assured me that
the temptmturc would he lcc colL
Luckily, I had my furs- those iurs that
people have said 50 much about SINCE
then-au0 on We went Once fairly
clear ot the earth / found it 50 hot that
I was glad "a throw oil all my Wrappers
- much for the STugB,S That's why
/ never cared % learn anything Science
pooh IN five or slN hours the bali
loon stopped. l shook the sgrouauL
who had fallen asleep. Where arc We 3.
boundary Of the department ot the som
nae and Osse. Are yoU surcE Oh,
monsieur. / know the country as we'll as
| know nv own pocket And In fact.
after looking NJ my map, and then at the
landscape I found We were above the
O.sa. cr. SO least, above 81 river. IL was
the Qisg or something else Il he tGg
Olse. The point was o. know whether
we were stall over the PrCSsian lines or
among our own people. Wg.I, just then,
directly under the car, | SAW building,
a sort If farm, with large square court
ward in which a number 0t men were
midst " la arr they Oh mCn-
sieur. SAYS he, for certain they art
Ganlts Mobiles: We ara IN the French
lines The devil We are. said L; 'bu;
are you sure of it2-because, for my
part. yoE know l cannot recognize the
uniforms. Perfectly sure. Down
we 80 then. and down We went, till We
were not more than seven or eight hum
dred metres from the earth, when We
heard German challenge. 'Wtr da :
and saw 3 mighty hustle IN the court
yari-,ae men jumped mp, sclElng their
arms and beginning 10 shoot at the bal
loon. And the aerlnaUt had slipped the
Erapplgr III was drunk. l had Just
time to whip ont my knife, cut the cord
and pitch hmm 10 the bottom of the ear
with a threat that, If he stirred, I'll
throw HIM over. Then we began On
mount again, but slowly enough, as It
seemed 10 me. for we could hear the
music Of the bullets, though at that dis
t4gce they could not have done rs much
harm. I verify believe that If We had
leaned over we might have caught them
iu our hands In fact, / know We
could. for I afterward made the expert
Gslt aI Tours, by setting some chas-
saurs 70 -ire on a captive balloon fixed
~ about the same height. The balls
had no appreciable effect. Afta~ awhile
the balloon stopped, then begun 10 de
cend once more, with the Prussiaus still
watching It's motions.
A." We were again near the river. SO we
had no better alternative than 10 drop
info the water or into the arms Of the
enemy. / scribhled o dispatch 70 let my
colleagues know how We stood, and sent
it off by q pigeon. but the bird came
back 10 the car-uo doubt having lost its
way. We were still dropping down, SO
at last there seemed TO be but one hope
the Oise. As To our getting over the
river 70 the French SIDE before We fell.
L was not TO be thought Of there was
uos an inch Of air. All this while Spul-
!er had been smoking his cigar Ike q
philosopher. At last he said. with a
smile The Oise, the Oise; that's all
very wau for you; YOU know how 70
swim. bEt I may as well tell YOU don't.
Stuff / said: TN look after yOu.
Still we shot down, when on a sudden
puff; there was a breath Of ar. but
such o slight one that ! made q Joke ci
it. and told Spuller il was only the
smoke % his cigar. The gods had come
to our all The balloon passed the river.
and made STRAIGHT for the top Of an oak.
You've no idea how uncomfortable il is
10 come down on the top Of an oak-Gt-
tie branches without end, and all that.
However, we landed, and were--sayei. &"
The Lady Of the House" Very good:
but You must have had just a little
scare.
Gambetta-"O madame, not the
least in the world.