The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1881-10-27
4 Thriliing Experlence.

CHICAGO, Oct. 21.-A News special
from Chippewa Falls says:
Prof. King is now here. The ballon
landed Friday night, -sixty-fiye miles up
the river from here. The 9ronauts were
two days in working their way to q hui
man habitation, and it has been Impos-
sible to reach Il railway or telegraph sta
ton until now, owing to the impasSibili-
ty of the roads, which is due in large
measure to the unprecedented rain fall.
CHICAGO, Oct. 81. - The Daily News
has the following from j. G. Hoshagan,
the Signal Service enaploye who went mp
in Kings balloon:
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Oct. 20.
The voyagers who took such n hasly
flight from civilization last Thursday
feel no such disposition to-day. If you
should see us now, dragged, torn, water
soaked and exposed, you would surely
say we loved civilization. Before five
minutes after leaving terra firma, we
reached an altitude of 4, 800 feet, moving
southwest. A few minutes later we
reached an upper current, moving slowly
| westward; SO slowly that VIC barely
moved. But what 4 prospect beneath us
over the Platte Mountains. At 7:l5 a,
M, we remained for long time swing
ing around the picturesque mountains,
when the balloon, as though anxious TO
give us heavenly view, shot upward,
carrying us 1000 feet above tue strait
| clouds and literally burying us in mist
for an hour. In passing Little Falls,
Monroe county, Wisconsin, we came so
near the ground that We came IN con-
| tact with the trees and were compelled
TO take up a large portion of one of them
as souvenir. On nearing the ground
we were greeted with beautiful view
of verdure in every variety Of color.
| The people stood in their doors in the
| most surprising and comical attitudes.
| At a. m, we passed over PutlaR, or
some similarly named place. At 8 40
a. m, we passed Tomah, Wisconsin. AT
| 8 40 a. M, we arose among the clouds
and we were soon shut out by night and
| had nothing but myraids of lights twink
| ling in the distance. We remained thus
suspended, neither rising nor falling for
several hours, but ut last a puff OF air
| sent us southwest, changing before MORN
| ing To west and northwest. While 60
| ing southwest we remained about be-
| Gained for three hours, swinging in a
| circle over a small city, thai favored in
| the distance, judged, Peoria, Illinois
| At 3 10 on Friday we passed over Spring
Vallay, Wis, startling the natives by
dragging our drag rope over their roofs,
and one ambitious fellow sent shot
| after US as we passed.
we lost sight of mother earth for
| few hours. The wind increasing carried
us at rapid rate, probably forty or
| fifty miles per hour, and not being able
to discern stationary objects could mol tell
/ where we were, or what course we were
pursuing. Meanwhile, the rain poured
| in torrents, collecting on the outside Of
the balloon and poured down the mouth
| of the bag into the basket in stream,
compelling us to put away the instru-
| ments, but 1t was useless.
| At IL :25 d. M, the highest known
elevation was reached, being 9,600 feet
| From the last person spoken to we found
| that we were forty miles from St. Paul,
| and when we descended, at 2:30 p m,
OF the west bank of the river, one-half
mile inland, we concluded we
were in tlIe State of Min
! nesota, probably ferty miles from st.
Paul, on the Mississippi river. With
| this supposiiion in mind, we stepped
out of our car into about eighteen inch
es OF ice water. We fonnd we were in
cranberry bog, and had to get out. To
recite our experience after that for the
five succeeding days, is too horrible.
How we walked for five days, up to our
knees, through Doggy swamp, without
| food, except half-pint of berries; how
wolves and bears snaried around us at
night; how We slept ON wet ground at
night through a heavy frost only TO start
again IN the morning through the
swamp with its Icy water, and falling
| over muddy logs at every step, | cannot
| put in words As a last resort we built
raft, expecting to go over ST. Anihony's
Falls. OF our subsequent tramp / viii
tell later, but oh, our joy, when at four
O'Clock in the evening of the fifth day.
we reached Flambeau river, and were
carried across by Cleramoc and Michael
| Minor, woodmen, and here we are en-
| ioying the good things fed us.
(Signed) GEORGE HosHAGEN.