The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1884-01-17
UP IN A BALLOON.
An AerOnaut's Account OF His Voy.
age Across the English Channel


easterly at the time. A crowd of some
900 persons had gathered to witness
our departure, and as we assembled they
gave us a tremendous cheer. My fell
low passenger, Mr.. Small, photog-
rapher, was so lost in admiration of the
magnificent panorama of Hastings lying
below us that | had to warn him that
he must be quick if he wished to obtain
photograph, and We just got the appa-
ratus ready as We passed over the
beach, the balloon being at that mo-
ment 3;25) to an altitude of 5000 feet.
AT 3 30 we had long range of coast
line. Eastbourne pier being exceedingly
distinct. 1 Thought We were a trihe too
near Beachy Head ever to make any
point of land on this side OF the Allan
tic, but when We attained an altitude of
1900 feet we southed a trihe more. APP
pearances were, however, much against
our ever reaching land, and | must ac-
knowledge that | was sorely tempted to
come down off Beachy Head and get
picked up. But this would have been
rather too ignominious, and decided
to keep on our course. We had the
satisfaction, few minutes later, to find
Beach Head receding north of us, and
we quickly settled our minds to make
night of it if necessary.
"At / 80 We were over a magnificent
cloud scene; here and there patches of
the coast line could be deserted far
away to the west, while at a vast dis
lance there was a gap through which
We got patch of sea, with three or
four ships very distinct. A moment
later and the great curtain of clouds
had shut out our last landmark. Mr..
Small got his apparatus ready to Sc
cure a cloud effect, but his shutter
missed fire two or three times, and this
suggested some little improvements for
such experiments in future. From 4 80
to nearly sunset Ito the people on EARTH
our altitude ranged between 5000 and
5000 feet. During this interval we got
peeps at the sea mGuy times, but no
land was seen. We could see the
suns rays two hours after he had with
drawn from earth and sea. The
shadow of the balloon on u cloud
looked very much like a shuttlecock,
the car forming the butt end, and the
balloon and cords forming the feathers.
The transition from day to night was
very slow and gradual, and as daylight
departed the moons rays from dead
gold gradually changed to bright sill
yer. Mr.. Small said, Did you see that
shooting star?' 1 said, Wait min
ute, and l will show you another The
balloon had commenced to revolve. and
this motion made it appear as though
bright star was darting through the
air. 1t was, of course, an optical
illusion.
A remarkable appearance was caused
by the reflection of the balloon in the
focusing screen of the camera. When
We surrounded with a black cloth the
frame round the glass we could see the
sky, sun, moon and stars inverted, and
the balloon cleaving its headlong down.
ward course through illimitable space,
the effect being more extraordinary.
Soon after o'clock we began to get
cold and set to work to don our fan
nels, etc. Our large wrapper got tightly
jammed in the rigging, but the hard
pulling necessary to get it loose soon
made us feel warm, and, having once
got up good circulation, We did not
during the entire voyage again feel cold.
The cork jackets, which were supplied
by Mr. Cornish. contributed greatly to
warmth. During the night, for more
than an hour our altitude did not vary
twenty feet. This was exceedingly en-
couraging, for upon our power of pols-
ing so nicely depended our chance Of
floating aloft all night. When the
balloon did take slight downward
turn l carefully noted how much
ballast it would take to stop her The
temperature of the air was very regu-
lar, and | found that seven pounds or
eight pounds was sufficient.
AT 10 10 We saw vessel almo st I'M
der US, and came down low enough to
hail her. This We did as Justify as we
could, but at first got no response, only
a remarkably distinct echo from our
own voices. At last voice was heard
on deck. VOLTA, balloon, balloon p
Are you English No reply. Par
leZ vous Francaise| 'Oui, oui, We re-
piled, but with all our French We could
not ascertain our whereabouts, and
whether we were over the English
channel or the Atlantic.
AT 1925 something slightly darker
than the normal horizon could be
faintl- discerned. We kept ourselves
absolutely motionless, and, listening in
tently, We seemed to hear in the same
direction sound as of far-distant
rolling surf. | looked long and eagerly,
until | exclaimed. It's nothing but a
mist, for it seemed to change its form
and at last to vanish into thin air.
passed nearly another hour intently
watching for lights until similar dark
portion of horizon was brought under
our view. We could not possibly