Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-05-30
BALLOON BUSINESS.
TALK WITH PROFESSOR KING. WHO
"G0Es up TOMORROW.
His Preparations for His Voyage from the
City-Hall Lot-Some Remi-
niscences, &C., &c.

an aerial voyage tomorrow from the lily
Hall lot.
"WelI, shall make the ascension al
o'clock, or thereabouts."
"Tell me something about the balloon
you propose to use ~
"The balloon holds $4,000 cubic feet OF
gas il Is 81 feet In diameter, and Is maze
Of English cambria oiled, covered with
cotton hetting, The car, which Is sus-
pended 80 feet from the top OF the balloon,
l. willow basket three feet high and four
feet long, and will hold three persons. IN
II propose to carry an anchor OF about -
pounds, several sand-bags for ballast, ana q
lunch. The balloon is OF an orange color,
ornamented with red stripes, running from
the neck upwards. Around the equator
on one side is painted the name OF the BAL
loan-sEAGLE EYRE and on the dia-
acknowledgements side is painted an eagle
lowering over a nest OF eaglets."
LOOK At TIE COUNTRY.
"Have you any idea how long You VIII
be up?"
no, have not, and will not be able
10 tell until | get up and get look AZ the
face Of the country. Immediately around
the city Is generally cultivated ground, but
there are some dense woods in The state l.
know, for | saw them IN coming from
Washington here on the traln.'
"Where will you get your gas :"
..The Gas will be furnished by the city,
which will run three-inch pipe from the
twenty-inch main on Capitol street To-
day." -
3Wil the City-Hall lot be encloscd'o
eyes; am having wire and pallng-
fence constructed around the lot TO-DAY.
and any person can come inside to witness
the ascension by paying % cents gate
Fee"
.'Who Is going up with youY"
81 don't know, I'm sure. | haven't yet
decided. | am trying 10 sell one OF the
seats to man for $50. | don't know
whether he will take il or not y
Chow high will you 90 up?"
IL can tell. In fact. il is impossible to
tell, but ! will probably 20 up from one to
three miles
" Have YOU ever been up thrce mlesI"
"Oh. yes; on one occasion | went up
three miles and three quarters
HIS MOST PERmoUs VOYAGE.
"TeH me something about the most peril
Gus voyage you ever madei'
..Well, let me see. The most perilous
VOYAGE. | think, was over the Maine and
Canada wilderness from New Hampshire
down 10 the Gull Of It. Lawrence. We
ascended from Plymouth and rose into the
clouds. A slight rain was falling. our
course was northw est, and soon we iound
ourselves over one Of the White mountains,
and we had % throw out ballast TO keep
from striking 1t. After passing over Mount
Jefferson and Mount Adams, Of the White
mountains, we plunged into the will
derpeSs, or at least passed over IT,
About uightiall. rs we were crossing Lake
UmbaCog, we Jaw light on one OF the
shores, and hallOoed. We seemed to attract
attention. but no response was made. \
canoe was put down in the water, and we
could see il lodging around IN the water rs
IL they were looking for something. They
thought the cry probably came from some
body out on the water. We soon left TIE
light behind, and, nearing mountain
shortly afterward, we dropped behind II in
lis shclterand rested for about bali an hour
While were discussing lby the by, had
Luther l.. Holden, Of the Boston JOurBlL
with me, who had been on some twenty-five
VOYAGES hef0rcl what course il would be
best To pursue. being in the wilderness and
poorly provided with provisions, We finally
decided TO start the balloon atlOat and see II
we could cross the wilderness to some in
habited region in Canada. our balloon
was only Of 10000 feet capacity, and not
calculated, except under such a stress OF
circumstances. 10 remain afl)lt 80 long a.
we would require 10 cross the will
derness. We had still, however, a
bag and half Of ballast LEFT,
which we were economically using. Just
here there was a natural law 10 be dis
covered, which was Of itself sufficient 10
carry Us through without the Use OF ballast
IL appears that at night when balloon
reaches the ordinary cloud heights IL be-
comes poised. and neither rises nor falls
without any expenditure OF sand or ballast
and 50 will float for hours, provided the
balloon Is free from leakage. Well. We
floatcd on in the clouds, which were Occa-
SIonaliy over our heads, and once or twice
during the night We saw the moon through
the riffs. aud frequently they would break
from beneath us, % that we would look into
an inky abyss below. The only sounds
that came to our ears were the occasional
cries Of loon and the sound Of falling
waters. From our isolated position We
could constantly hear the latter.
"sOUNDs or WATER.
~ As hour after hour dragged tediouSly
away We sat in the car. We could see each
other and kept up conversation, but we
could not tell what time il was except by
passing our fingers over the hands OF our
watches. You know II would have been
dangerous TO strike match. Pretty soon
new feature among the sounds Of the
waters struck our ears. We wondered
what caused the peculiar noise, and finally
concluded il was the breakers. After pass
ing over them. all sounds ceased, and We
then knew we were on the briny deep. Al
it did not seem to be policy 10 pursue the
course we were in, we brought the balloon
down slightly aud slowly some twenty or
thirty miles from where we had heard the
surf, and deposited our dragrope upon the
wafer. This rope j. an appendlge 10 the bal
loon about $50 feet long, and acts a. ballast
when it rests upon the water. We kept
constant watch, and in the course OF an
hour we saw in front Of US a black line,
which was apparently in few feet OF us
and we prepared TO grasp il, but Il proved
an Illusion, and as We watched the object u
gradually widencd, and soon after our drag
rope was caught among the tree tops. We
then found that Wc had run ashore over
forest, preSumng it at the time 10 be- an
island, but a. il turned out the ballOn had
met with a counter current u air on the
water, which carried it back to the mainland.
We again rested behind a bill, where We
lay TN the break OF day, when we threw
out the balance Of our ballast aud IOse
again.
4 LANDING.
After awhile we di,cerned q road, and
succeeded in landing within mile and
bali Of it. We made for the nearest place
Sayebec-which is about 30 miles below
Quebec, and learned that the water We had
gone ont on was the Gulf Of ST. Lawrence.
II We bad continued across il We would
have reached the coast Of Labrador. $50
miles further on. As 1t was, we travelled
$50 miles in thirteen hours. ! have been
ballOOning for many yelIs.'
Personal.
Professor KING is rather large man. OF
dark complexion, some few years past the
meridian OF life, and wears full brown
beard. He stoOps slightly forward when
be walks, IS moderately baldheaded, and
has small, sharp eyes. lie Is about five feet
eleven inches in height, and weighs about
l75 pounds.
THE HAMMOND CASE.
The Accused Sent TO Campbell County
To be Tried for Bigamy.
The continued case Of W. ID. Hammond,