Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1890-06-04
ONE GENT

balloon right to the very spot where the
war of elements was the greatest
The thunder grew louder, till 1t was
almost deafening. but then saw that It
was getting lighter above me. aud pres
emily, thought. should be out into
the clear air. A moment later was
nearly blinded by discharge Of cleo
tricity from which the balloon barely
escaped; at the same time there was a
terrific crash of thunder, following
which the balloon was seized by the
wind and hurled furiously through the
cloud.
The tumult Of the wind was so great
that the weight In the basket was all
that kept the balloon from rolling over
and over. but this set the car TO swing
ing and tossing about with such violence
that | thought | should certainly DO
thrown from my place. and, quickly
seizing rope, tied myself in the car.
Then ] was threatened with suifoca-
tion from escaping gas, caused by over
flow from the open mouth OF the balloon.
The sudden expansion made 1t pour out
upon me In a dense volume. Fortu-
nately, was saved from this danger by
the violent action OF the wind, and was
enabled to catch my breath as the car
was thrown out of line with the escap-
ing gas
When the action had begun there was
no intermission; the electric fluid darted
hither and thither, the thunder was
crashing. and the balloon never had time
to come to rest before it was whipped
off to another quarter.
Meanwhile the gas was escaping from
the valve at the top, as well as from the
mouth of the balloon. and this seemed
to make the situation still more critical.
for If ever single electric spark had
come in contact with the gas nothing
could have saved the balloon from In
Simultaneous destruction.
The ordeal lasted, perhaps, twenty
minutes, but there was vast amount
of experience crowded into that space of
time, and it seemed as IL the end would
never come. Fortunately position was
reached at last where a sudden cloud
burst as it might well be called, broke
over the balloon. falling upon 1t with
such force as to bear it downward, and
tlOuA biAstt LtIIlC Oh until was out Oh tlA0
clouds there was no more trouble
This experience taught me that the
real source Of the storm was to be found
at the very apex or top OF the clouds,
where, for some reason, either because
of the degree of cold to be found at such
heights, or possibly because of the cold
produced by the clouds own rapid ex-
pansion in the lighter atmosphere, or
maybe from both causes, the cloud sud-
denly collapses, changing from q light
fog-like mist to heavy rain drops.
1t must have been nearly two miles
down through the clouds, but, strangely
enough. met with no more trouble
while in them. The lightning still
flashed and the thunder pealed, while
the falling torrent of rain made the sur
rounding mist resemble white horse
tails as it passed swiftly by. could
form no idea of how fast or in what d.
rection was travelling. had entered
the clouds while pursuing northeast
course, but when / landed was going
in the opposite direction. The compass
was useless in the clouds; it would point
to the north, of course, but had no sta
tfonary object to compare it with.
Before was out of the clouds could
hear the roar of the wind and the falling
rain upon the earth below, and began
to feel anxious to know what kind OF
country was likely to fall into. Now,
when was almost out there was a round
hole to be seen in the clouds directly
under the car through which I could
look, like peering down a well, and at
the bottom / saw woods In another
was out Of the clouds and
coursing over them in real tornado
1t was hardly any distance down from
the clouds TO the trees, and / saw at
once that ! should have to take my
chances of getting down through them
In safety. Before reaching them / cut
the balloon completely open on one side
by means Of cord called the " rip line,v
TO let the gas out quickly, and the next
instant my car was flying through the
tree-t0ps. Another moment and the bal
loon partly covered tree, the netting
holding to the limbs SO as to let the car
down by little jogs to within a foot
Of the ground. stepped out upon the
solid earth, caught a piece Of the torn
balloon as it came floating down, and,
drawing it over my head. sat down upon
q stump to wait for the storm to pass
over.
My reflections after the storm were
very satisfactory, as / had passed
through it in safety, and learned much
If which was previously ignorant, but
have felt perfectly satisfied ever since
not to search for any more information
n thunderstorm.
SAMUEL A. KING.