The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-10-31

|
! damper on patriotism and melody.
4 little after midnight their were mo-
mentary flashes of lightning on all sides
of the horizon. The milky way appear
ed like LUMINOUS phosphorescent clouds,
and heavens jeweled tiara of stars
| glistened below and above. Night s
! queeuly brow shimmeTed with the mel
/ low light of the newborn crescent moon.
! The mighty scroll of the cerulean-pil-
! Jared armament gIittered all over with
! gorgeous heraldry.
! Day broke at O'Clock, and dogs be-
gan to bark. AT 4.15 they sailed over
/ Fort Wayne, Ind, and could hear the
! shouts Of its inhabitants. At ). Is they
described in the east what at first ap-
peaTed to be a reflection of the sun on
! the sky. One of the party asserted that
/ they were not many miles from lake
/ The noble air vessel was rushing along
! at a brisk rate, dragging its shadow on
! the ground encircled in fantastic colOrs
| There was no doubt that what had at
| first seemed brilliancy of the eastern
/ heavens was nothing less than an i'm
/ menSe body of water. The RrOnauts
/ concluded that it could only be Lake
/ Erie, and they were right, for, tracing
/ the shore and observing the little islands,
/ its contour cOTTeSpOnded almost precise
/ ly with the map.
/ a sublimer scene now broke on hu-
man view. Lake Erie has a surface Of
/ :. 800 square miles, and, although they
/ could not behold the whole of it, the
view lost none of its magniicence.
/ Groups of white clouds, like great putfS
! from a steam pipe, fiOated languidly on
every side, unfolding their gauZe-like
/ robes and passing off in eddying cur
rents. There was a collection of houses
l br7I1laI tDpat her at q Tnnuf In of he.
/ Maumee. 1t was Toledo. There, in
/ that great bend, dotted with speckS of
/ land, Perry gained his victory in 1913.
/ At 7:25 they swept over Sandusky,
/ and noated out on the bottom of the
/ lake. At $3.50 they overlook a Buffalo
steamer and were hailed with Shrill
whistle. They were about 500 feet
/ high, and held conversation with the
| passengers. At $50 they were over
/ Long Point, Canada, the scene of the
great fight between Morrissey and Heen-
an. So they had traversed nearly the
entire length Of Lake Erie, distance
of 80 miles, accomplishing it in three
/ hours.
/ At 1920 they had Lakes Erie and On
| tariO both in sight. The balloon had
/ again attained an altitude of nearly a
mile 4 terrible storm was surging be
Meath them, the trees waving and the
/ waves daShing against the shore of Erie
in an awfully tempestuOus manner.
{ Now, like a gurgle, came the subdued
sounds of the plashing and headlOng
/ cataract of Niagara.
/ At II O'Clock, having skinned over
/ the lake shore, still bound eastwardly,
| the balloon brought them in sight of
/ Buffalo and Niagara falls, as also the
/ Welland canal. They had reached Il
height of over a mile, the barometer
marking 23.6 inches, At 1890 they
! were nearly between the falls and But-
/ falO. inclining rather to the left of the
/ latter The famous falls were quite in
I significant. There was to the VOyagerS
/ a descent Of seemingly about two feet,
and the water appeared to be perfectly
mOtionless. The spray gave the whole
an appearance as OF ice, and there was
nOUhing grand or sublime about it.
/ Passing the western terminus of the
/ Erie canal, The balloon was borne di-
rectly toward Lake Ontario, The bal
/ last was now nearly exhausted, and to
have determined on crossing the second
lake would have been sheer recklessness
and hardihoOd. Here it was debated
| whether it were better to land Messr5.
/ eager and Hyde and in their stead take
in sufficient quantity Of new ballast and
! again steer for the Atlantic ocean. The
diately caught in the hurricane which
was then raging, and carried very near
the tops Of trees. which were bending
[ and SWaying 10 and fro by the force Of
the wind Mr La Mountain at once
/ threw over the buckets and their con-
i tents. and the life this gave them kept
them from being crushed in the woods.
Like a bullet they SHOT out into the
lake. The boat was got in readiness,
and the troOping winds sent them out
of sight of land. They were in dreary
waste Of 1000 square miles of water. At
length they neared the daShing billOWS
The steering machinery was cut away,
and they rose like a feather. For q
time the ship was buOyed out of the way
of danger, but she frequently darted
downward. as though bent on destruc-
ton. Carpet-sackS, OveTcOatS, prOVI-
! siOnS, everything was pitched into the
lake La Mountain finally cut away the
lining of the boat. The oars were sent
after the lining. Everything mad now
gone but an Oyercoat and two blankets,
which were saved to be used as final
resort. \ propeller, Young America,
bore down to their relief, but they scud-
ded some hundreds of feet before heI
bows, and that hope failed.
Finally, after ShirmiShing within thlr-
ty feet of the dark waves Cor distance
of not less than fifty miles, and perhaps
more, they were out of danger OF drown
ing. but new peril was before them
The hurricane blew them into a dense
| forest which Skirted the lake. and threat
= ened to tear them limb from limb. MI
{ eager had thrown out the anchor, {
{ heavy iron one, with three hooks, eacl
an inch and a quarter in thickness. -
= rapid was their flight that this stood Ou
nearly straight from the car. As tn;
grapnel swung against the trees OF mod
crate size. the velocity of the balloon
/ and its terrible strength would tea
I them down and fling them to the ground
One by one the hooks broke Oft, an'
: they We're again at the mercy of an all
7 / sweeping wind. MessTs. La Mountain
D and HYDE held on to the valve rope, en-
B.: / deavoring TO discharge the gas, bn
!. } were quickly compelled to release theI
= grasp, and cling to the concentrating
= hoop to avoid being thrown out.
The balloon actually went through
. mile of forest, and. tearing down tree
f and breaking branches, pursued its cours
T dashinE the party in the willow car t
and fro, against trunks and limbs, unit
f the stout netting had broken, little b
: little. and the balloon itself had II
+ longer any protection, when, striking
IS tall tree, the silk was punctured in
dozen places, and rent into ribbons
II leaving the car suspended by the uettin
!. twenty feet above the ground. Ih
course in the woods left a path Simila
s to that of "a tornado. Trees half tn
l. size of a mans arm were snapped /