The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-10-24
THE MISSING AERoNAUTs.
Probably Perished In Lake Michigan OF
Georgian Bay.
4 hfeagr Times

Chicago Times.
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 16.-The members of
the searching party which went up into
MacOupin and Sangamon bottoms to
hunt for Wise and Burr, the aeronauts,
came struggling back on different trains
to-day and tonight. They agree in their
conclusions, however, and those are that
the balloon did not come down this side
of the Springfield line It sailed over
the vicinity of Girard, at an altitude of
one mile. The timber on Sugar creek,
was thoroughly searched, it being the
only forest between Girard and Spring
field where the men could remain, if
killed, for any length of time without be-
ing discovered. Macoupin county is
tlIckly settled in all parts, timber land
as well as prairie, and it is hardly posi-
BILE that the men could be in any part of
the county for week without being dis
covered. Such thing might happen,
but it is not at all probable. The county
is nearly all prairie. There are many
immense corn-fields, and if the men were
lost in the country it is much more likely
they came down in a field than in the
woods. At this season of the year the
farmers are cutting their corn, and
if the men were lost in the fields it
is reasonable to suppose they would
have been discovered. The result of this
expedition has only added to the interest
manifested in the fate of the voyagers,
and the balloon is more talked about in
St. Louis than the fair, which is saying
a great deal. The fact that circulars
have been found at Girard, and again at
IllIopolis, and that none have been dis
covered between these points, is strong
evidence that the men were in the bal
loon at the time it passed over these
FAlaaac FIhaxy nnI1I6 fa1l NV ir-lfc
the houses when they were passing over
or near a town, and it was only when
they observed these lights that they threw
out circulars, well knowing that they
would be picked up by the people next
morning; but if scattered over the farms,
they would probably not be seen. By
reference to a map it will be seen that
Alton, Bunker Hill, Girard and Illiopo-
lis are all ON direct line northeast from
ST. Louis, the exact course which the
wind was blowing on the night of the
ascension. 1t can scarcely be doubted
that the balloon passed in safety as far
as Illiopolis. The country beyond
Springfield tothe north, as is well known,
settled. Had the balloon come down in
that section it is quite certain the fact
would by this time have become
known-whether the men were killed
or not in coming down to the earth.
If the balloon kept on i'll Il direct north
east course 1t reached Lake Michigan at
q point not far from Chicago. The
wind at IL O'Clock on Sunday night
was blowing almost directly north over
Lake Michigan, and if the balloon ever
reached the lake there was no help but
to keep on over the water for distance
of at least two hundred and fifty miles.
If the passage was made in safety, the
balloon was carried into Canada, but if
the gas was exhausted on the trip, the
balloon came down in the lake There
is no other conclusion. The belief that
the balloon may have started over Lake
Michigan is strengthened by the fact
that the object of the aeronauts was not
to descend, but to go as far as possible.
When Prof. Wise left st. Louis he eX-
pected to get in a current that would
carry him directly eastward, but in this
he was mistaken so far as definite infor-
nation of his course has been obtained.
The currents of the air some distance
above the earth are frequently quite diff
ferent from those on the surface, and it
may be that the professor was high
enough to reach a current which bOIe
him off to the east after passing north of
Springfield. A telegram, from La Porte,
passing over there at an early hour on
Monday morning last, going in north
east direction. If this was the Pathfnd-
er, and landing was not effected in
Michigan, the balloon must have
reached Lake Huron at Saginaw, as
the wind in the vicinity of Laporte was
exactly in that direction, and the course
would have borne the balloon diagonally
across Lake Huron and Georgian bay at
their greatest widths. Whichever course
the balloon took after passing north of
Springfield, an immense field of water
would haye to be traversed If a landing
was not effected in the United States. 1t
is quite certain that the balloon was not
carrying gas enough to convey it the full
length of Lake Michigan, or across Lake
Huron and Georgian bay. The conclu-
sion is therefore reached that the aero
nauts met their fate either in Lake Mich
igan or Lake Huron, most probably in
the former. These theories are based
upon facts, and are supported by the re-
ports of the signal service for Sunday
night and Monday morning. The veloc-
Ity of the wind was about the same over
the section of country between St. Louis
and Chicago. The balloon was travel
ing at the rate of thirty miles per hour
The distance between st. Louis and Chi
cago, 'air line" is about $50 miles. If
a different current was reached after
passing north of Springfield it may have
been one not so rapid as prevailed over
Lake Michigan, and the report of the
balloon passing over La Porte on Mon
day morning early may be correct.