Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-30
eALLooNINo IN MANY LANDS.

The Queer Experiences OF Aeronaut Wells
on the Other Side OF the Globe. aa
DR.. Rufus Gibson Wells, the famous aero
maui, has AN aerial experience covering
period OF thirty years, during which time
he made over 500 ascents in every country
In Europe, In the United States, India,
Australia and Brazil. Notable among these
were at the marriage Of Princess Isabella,
to the Count d,Eu in Brazil, the fetes given
in honor of the Prince of Wales in India,
the imperial assemblage at Delhi, the COR
onation fetes of the czar at Moscow and St.
Petersburg, and the Paris exposition. Ills
trunks are filed with valuable presents
from kings, princes and rulers in all parts
of the world. l4Gapj UlE 5f
On Oct. 5, 1870 DR.. Wells contracted with
the French government to make a balloon
for the purpose of taking Gen. Bazaine out
of Metz. During the -Prussian war
the doctor constructed balloons for both
governments. He made two ascents from
Rome for the benefit of the poor of the
Eternal City, after making the most re-
markable aerial voyage with the Montgol-'
fer balloon related in history. This Journey
was over the Apennine mountains, from
Rome to BeneVento,; which Is situated al
most forty miles from Mount Vesuvius.
"My experiences in India, Y said the aero
naut, "were very pleasant. AT Lucknow
Parsee merchant named Hormiesjes gave
me 1900 rupees for an ascent. He made
money on the gate receipts, however AT
Allahabad / made captive ascensions, En-
glishmen and natives paying 80 head to
ascend. l also went up for the king of
Bhurtpore, rising from the famous kings
garden. He is very affable.. The king of
Cashmere was much delighted with my
entertainment. Cholera appeared and the
king went away He afterward sent me
valuable presents, including bag of
money and q cashmere shawl for my wife.
The king of Travancore gave me from his
own finger ring set with nine large die-
monds. The king of Cochin China was
present at this occasion. He gave me a
dress of gold and silver. an elephant tusk
worth 800, a sandalwood box containing
gifts and 100 rupees, besides which his
prime minister and other wealthy people
presented to me flag with the kings coat
of arms.
"You have manufactured many bal
loonsi" asked the reporter.
ooh, yes. made O new one ut Bluert-
PORE which was painted with the heraldic
blazonry of the maharajah. He desired me
to carry up an elephant and selected a
suitable one. When the balloon was near
ly inflated the pachyderm broke away and
escaped. The maharajah therenpon sent
us to his private palace at Deeg, where for
three days we roamed through the beauti-
full gardens, and at night slept on the
downy beds which had been occupied by
his queens" s...
Have you been at Benares, the old holy
cityp tas.
"At Benares are nearly thousand tenn
Piles, representing many faiths. | visited
the Monkey temple. In the Golden temple
Is stone as big as an ostrich's egg with a
hole in it. Through this stone rice and
sweetmeats are fed When / entered they
garlanded me with flowers, as is customary,
expecting gratuty, A priest who was
tanning the stone told me it was warm
| that 1t was god and could feel like hui
man being.
1.-THE rajah at Benares agreed to give me
| 1900 to make an ascent just Mt the close of
the rainy season. used the same balloon
as in 1854 at the marriage of Dom Pedro's
daughter. When the day for the ascent
| arrived the balloon was in need of recoating
with varnish. It was recoated and laid
upon the grass to dry. The rajah had in
vited many princes. The next morning at
| initiating time the balloon was found full
of holes thousands of white ants having
eaten through it. 1t took two days to repair
the damage, and the ascent was abandoned.
at Batavia on the island of Java,
madetw remarkable ascents, the first ever
made there. At Samarang l could get no
gas, and the admiring thousands could
simply gaze at the balloon. / was at Lyons
buying silk when Gamhetta escaped from
Paris, NJ. Bouree, secretary of tn. defence
rationale, having contracted with me to
construct the first cigar shaped balloon
ever made. It was l75 feet In length, the
silk costing 5000. My idea of successful
balloon Is one cigar shaped, to carry a ten
or twenty horse power engine, and run a
screw for propulsion when the air currents
are unfavorable. Electricity, however, is
best, there being no waste of power"
On Nov. ID, 1889, DR.. Wells made his third
ascension at Paris, accompanied by Will
lam J. Hammer, Mr. Edison's representa-
tive at the exposition, and, carrying a
phonograph, they dropped messages to the
assembled thousands below. They were the
first messages from the clouds" in history.
st. Louis lobe-Democrat.