The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1879-11-02

he struck up the stirring national an.
them. Hail Columbia" in which all
joined, though the frigidity of toe at
mosphsre put quite damper on pa
triotism and melody.
A little after midnight there were
momentary flashes of lightning on all
sides Of the horizon. The milky way
appeared like luminous phosphorescent
clouds, aud heavens jewelled tiara Of
stars elistened below and above.
Nights queenly brow shimmered with
the mellow light Of the new. born cres-
cent moon. The mighty scroll Of the
cerulean- pillared armament gli,tered
ell over with gorgeous heraldry.
Day broke at 8 O'Clock, and dogs be.
gan to bark At Ais they sailed over
Fort Wayne, ID, and could hear the
shouts # its inhabitants. At 5:lo the
mercury IN the barometer showed their
altitude to be nearly one mile. They
c.ulJ then hear III. loving of cows
with dIstii ctness In seven minutes
more the barometer indicated 231a
inches. Their altitude. therefore. was
then about two miles.
Twelve minutes after clock they
descriet in the east what at first sp
peared 70 be the reflection of the sun
on the sky. One OF the party asserted
that they were not many miles from
lake. The n, BILE air vessel WAS rushing
along a. brisk rate, dragging its shad
ow on the ground encircled in fantastic
colors. There w1s no doubt that what
had At fir, seemed brilliancy of the
eastern heavens was uothius less than
al immense body of water the aero
nants concluded that it could only be
Lake Erie. ard they were right. for
tracing the shore AMI obs serving tn
li;ilc I,,.rd>, the contour corrcspuh'
cI almost precisely with the map.
\ sallimcr scene never broke on no
man vi-u Lake Erie has o surface Of
500 square miles, and although they
could rot b. hold the whole of If. the
view lost none of its magniticence.
Groups OF white clouds. like great
puffs from steam pipe. h)ated languii-
lv on every side, unfolding their gAuze
hike rcbc>. and passing If III eidyinX
currents. There was a collection of
houses hudiird y.ther at the mouth
OF tie Maumee 1t was Toledo
Their. in ,hat great bend, dotted with
speca, Of land. Perry gained his vic
tory in 1913.
At 1926 they swept over Sandusky,
aud fioated out on the bosom Of the
lake. At 9:;}O they overlook Buffalo
stel. er, and were hailed with a shrill
W thistle They were about 800 feet
high, and held conversation with the
passengers At $50 they were over
Lorg Point. Canada, the scene of the
great fight betwce Morrissey and Hee-
nan Soon they had traversed nearly
the entire length of Lake Erie. a dis
tance OF $50 miles. accomplishing it in
three hours.
AT 10l, O'Clock they had Lakes Erie
and Ontario both in sight The bal
loon had again attained an altitude OF
nearly mile. A terrible storm was
sursing beneath them, the trees waving
ana the waves dashing against the
shore Of E,ie in al swfully tempestu-
Gus manner Now. like gurgle, came
the subdued sounds of the plashing
and hcadlerg cataract Of Niagara.
Atll o'clock, having SKINNED over
the lake shore, still bound eastwardly.
the balloon brough. them in sight of
Buffalo and Niagara Falls. rs also the
Welland Canal They had reached a
hight of more than a mile, the barome>
ter marking % 6 inches. At 1890 they
were nearly between the falls and Buff
falo. inclining rather to the left OF the
latter. The famous falls were quite
insigniii iicant. There was to the voy-
ayers descent of seemingly about two
feet, and the water seemed to be per-
fectly mo.ionless. The spray gave the
whole an appearance as OF ice. and
there was nothing grand or sublime
about il.
Passing the western terminus OF the
Erie Canal. the balloon was borne di-
rectly toward Lake Ontario. The bal
last was now nearly exhausted. aud to
have determined on crossing the second
lake would have been sheer reckless
ness and hardihood. Here it was de.
bated whether it were better to land
Messrs eager and Hyde and in their
stead take in a sufficient quantity OF
new ballast and again steer for the At
lantic Ocean. The DIR ship was low
cred. but was Immediately caught in
the hurricane which was then raging,
and carried very near the tops of trees.
which were bending and swaying co
and fro by the force Of the wind. Mr.
La Mountain at once threw over the
buckets and their contents. and the
lift this gave them kept them from be
ing crushed in the woods.
Like a bullet they shot out into the
lake The boat was got in readiness,
ard 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 pillows. Fhe steering ma
chinery was cut away, and they arose
like a feather. For time the ship was
buoyed out o, the way OF danger. but
she frequently darted downward. as
though bent on destruction. Carpet
sacks, oyercoats, provisions. everything
was pitched into the lake. La Moun-
tain finally cu, away the lining of .he
boat. The oars were sent after the
lining. Everything had now gone but
an oyercoat and two blankets, which
were saved TO bs used as a final resort.
A propeller. Young Americs. bore
down to their relief. but they srndded
some hundreds OF feet before her bows,
and that hope failed.
Finally. after skirmishing within
thirty feet of the dark waves for dis
tame of not less th>n fifty miles. and
rharS mora they were out Of danger