The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-09-22
A Balloon Experience.

From an article on " Amateur Bal
looming" in the September Century, we
quote as follows: " AS nearly as could
be judged, | was more than mile high,
and all sounds from the earth had
ceased. There was death-like silence
which was simply awful. 1t seemed to
my overstrained nerves to forbode dis
aster. The ticking of the watch in my
pocket sounded like trip-hammer. l
could feel the blood as it shot through
the veins of my head and arms. My
straw hat and the willow car snapped
and cracked, being contracted by the
evaporation of the moisture in them
and by the fast-cooling temperature. |
was compelled to breathe little quicker
than usual on account of the rarity of
the atmosphere. | became sensible of
q loud, monotonous hum in my ears,
pitched about on middle G. of the piano,
which seemed to bore into my head
from each side, meeting in the center
with a pop; then for an instant my
head would be clear, when the same ex-
perience would be repeated. BY throw
ing out small pieces of tissue-paper l
saw the balloon was still rapidly ascend
the ACCESSIBILITY of pulling the valve
rope q was afraid to touch it for fear it
would break) and discharging some gas,
the earth was lost sight of, and the con-
viction was forced upon me that this
must be the cloudsl 1t made me dizzy
to think of it. Above, below, and upon
all sides was dense, damp, chilly fog.
Upon looking closer, large drops of rain
could be seen silently falling down out
of sight into what seemed bottomless
space. | was alone, mile from the
earth, in the midst of rain-coud and
the silence of the grave. Moreover, |
had sole charge of the balloon; if it had
not been for this fact could have taken
a little comfort, as had no confidence
in my ability to manage it. A rain
storm upon earth is accompanied by
noise; the patter of the rain upon the
houses, trees and walks always attends
the storm; while here, although the
drops were large, they could not be
heard falling upon the balloon or its be-
The quiet spoken of by DR.. Kane ant
other Arctic explorers as existing in the
northern regions was hubbub beside
this place. More tissue-paper was
thrown out; seeing that it seemed tC
ascend, l knew that the apparatus was
slowly descending, being brought dowr
by the weight of rain upon it. Soon tn,
earth was in view How peaceful anC
quiet it lookedl Immediately thu
whistling of railroad trains could be
heard. Now mountains could be dis.
tinguised from valleys, and the Gavin!
of frightened crows and the shouting o
men could be heard. | passed imme
diately over Tallcott Mountain tower
where there were some two hundred
people enjoying the day. l could plainly
hear one of them blowing horn. AS tn,
balloon slowly descended men could b,
seen running from all sides towards tn,
place of landing. Now the hum of in
sects could be heard, and the grapnel
with hundred feet of rope attached
was thrown out. 1t soon struck tn,
ground, and dragged lazily along through
the turf and over the stones without
getting secure hold. l approached
man weighing three hundred pounds
who was sitting upon a stonewall al
out of breath from running. Withou
the formality of an introduction asked
him to catch on to that anchor ant
stop the business With woe-begon,
look upon his honest face and an omin
Gus shake of the head he replied: 1T
no use, young fellow: l can't work m,
bellows But as the rope twitched alon!
near him, he fell upon it, and my Jour
ney was ended.n