Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-09-16
RALLooN ExPERlENoE.

N.a
A AiIis from the Earth. IN fiis Midst Of =
Rain cloud aud Comforticss slienccs
As nearly as could be judged, ! was
more than a mile high, and all sounds
from the earth had ceased. There waa
a deathliks silence which was simply
awful. II seemed to my overstrained
nerves to forebode disaster. The tck'
ing Of the watch in my pocket sounded
like trip-haidtnsri could feel the
blood as 1t shot through the ferns Of
my head and arms. My straw hat and
the willow car snapped and cracked,
being contracted by the evaporation OF
the moisture m them and by the fast
,56ling t6inperatnre. ! was compelled
TO breathe Z little dtiicker, than Usual
on account Of the rarity 81 The sun6s-
phefel l became sensible of loud,
nionotonous hum n my ears, pitched
about on middle G Of the piano. which
seemed to bore into my head from each
side, tfthting In the center with pop;
then for an instait my head would be
clear, when the same experieh6u would
be repeated. BY throwing out small
pieces Of tissue paper saw that the
balloon was still rapidly ascending.
While debating with myself as to the
hdvisabillty Of Pulling the YalVc-rope
Is Was afraid 70 touch il for fear u
would breakJ and discharging some
gas, the earth was lost sight Of, and the
conviction was forced upon me that
this must be the cloudsl IL made me
dizzy 20 think of IL. Above, below and
upoh an sides was dense, damp,
chilly fog. Upon looking closer, large
drops Of rain could be seen, silently
failing down out Of sight into what
seeiiied hottomless space.
was alone, q mile from the earth,
In the midst OF rain-cloud and the
silence of the grave. Moreover, / had
sole charge Of the balloon; If 1t had
not been for this fact I could have
taken a little comfort, as / had no CON
bdehce in my ability TO manage 1t.
A rainstofiii upon earth is accom-
panied 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
belongings. Silence reignsd supreme.
The quiet spoken of by Dr. Kane and
other Arctic explorers as existing In
the northern regions, was a hubbub
beside this place. More tissue-paper
was thrown out; seeing thEt II seemed
to ascend, knew that the apparatus
was slowly descending, being brought
down by the weight of rain upon IL.
Soon the earth was in view. How
peaceful and quiet n looked Imme-
diately the whistling of railroad trains
could be heard.
Now mountains could he distins
guished from valleys, and the cawing
Of frightened crows and the shouting
Ihcdiately over Tallcott Mountain
tower, where there were soiie two
hundred people enjoying the day. /
could plainly hear one of them blow
ing horn AS the balloon slowly de-
sccndcd men could be seen running
from all sides towards the place of
landing. Now the hum of insects
could be hearjl,-Gad lie grapnel. with
q hundred feet of rope attached, was
thrown out; il soon struck the ground,
and dragged lazily along through the
turf and over the stones without get
ting a secure hold. 1 approached u
man weighing three hundred pounds.
who was sitting upon a stone wall all
out of breath from running. Without
the fUrmality of an introdut zion l
asked him to "catch on to that anchor
and stop the business" With woe
begone look upon his honest face and
an ominous shake Of the head he re-
piled: "It's no use, young fellow;
can't work my bellows But rs the
rope twitched along near him, ne fell
upon it, and my journey was ended
century MdgdciHe.