The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-07-10

AOU ysE0B ABOVE the o4ftn. ACCOF01D4 TO
the calculations since made. our perpsndic-
1lar fall must have commenced o. this
height and could not have lasted more than
. second and 4 half.
"Whils the balloon was serving A. ! para
chute my eyes wore turned toward the in
terror Of the car; ! saw n. Perron throwing
ont bags Of ballast with = vigorous hand; l
q tho graphing. iron and preparing TO
throw IL at the right moment. which his
skill and GOODNESS would recognize. From
that time . feeling Of quistness, of inertia,
psrhapa,. took possession of mi and .
thousand different memories came crowd
clearer; the panorama of my life unrolled
before me. I saw everythinR distinctly
pleasures. dreams. disappointments. the
struggle Of life. grie.s. and also days Of
psace-all in tho MEMORABLE framing i'm
posed BY destiny. 1t was . thrilling ex-
times strange. Who would believe, for o.
ample. that among a Thousand other pic
lures should sss myself ~ sergeant Of the
Twenty-second regiment of the line, at
twenty years Of age. the time when
youth still knows how to smile at
illusions; that / should SEQ myself again,
Wy to Vsndons. under the bright sun.
shine Of eprine? What clearnsss Of detail;
At my right that friend Of my childhood,
the river Loir, In the valley in the back
ground the privileged country of Cloyes
and Observation-Disclosures . name I
cannot p% pro-, without IS feeling my heart
But ! will bring to . close this retrospect
which can be Of interest only TO one who 10
travelling, In spite of himself, toward the
center Of the sarth; and then, you will say,
dreaming also brings deep feelings. No.
dreams have not such shapes Tor color, nor
onAk . hov;.nn, Ah.- n-l- Vnu~ 49,
phorsscsnt nasmory in tho brain, il may
10 express myself, n dreaming itself ia
reverio). "A Of the most charming words
in our beautiful French tongue, has not the
scope or majesty of . panorama developing
in light and losing itself in i~nfnity.
l was lost in these Retrospective
visions. suddenly. without transition or
shock, I felt the car slip from under my
feet. With that instinct which never fails
in supreme moments, I chung with both
hands to the ropes, raising my body and
stretching my limbs in = horizontal posl-
tion; l saw n. Perron throw the graphing
iron and hang to tho hoop; I heard con
shook which Jared me terribly; then fol-
lowed q moment of Inconsistencies and
blackness. Then again I saw the sun and
the blue sky.
1T was twenty seven minutes past four
O'Clock; the ascent had lasted eleven min
uses, 6uu tuo DhIIOOu uHu dCArColy GHk0n tWO
minutes in descending 761 yards, and, a. I
just said, less than two seoond in passing
through the last hundred and twenty Yards.
"'Cotlin!' said Psrron.
OF am all right, and your / replied
from the bottom of the car whore I found
myself lying.
"'I am all right said Psrron. How
1--WE were suspended two yards from the
ground. and our Car, almost intact. was
held by the netting which had slipped over
the roof OF a house when the shock took
place. And quite in the natural course of
things, it seemed to us. since everything in
favor, we found. just within our reach. a
staircase By which to descend from the car.
A few inches further forward, or backward,
or to one side, more or less tension of the
cordags and death would have followed.
Such is the resume of my impressions and
during the rapid and dizzy
aerial voyage"
On looking over the preceding list, it ap-
psars that aerial disaster may be ascribed
to the following causes: First. the loss of
at sea: second, asphyxiation in the
car by the descent of gas from the aerostat;
third, dragging and shocks on descent;
imprudent and often useless and
zion of the atmosphere above 5000 yards;
sixth. the burning Of the montgoltier;
tho fall of the balloon through
oss OF gas. wearing out or tearing of the
balloon covering. or imperfeotions in the
'alve or netting. 1t would seem that most
If these accidents might have been pre-
vented or avoided, yet We ought not to
the victims who have marked with
heir blood the %triumphal path of aerial
If possible a%eronauts should
profit by their experiences. and so 20 for
ward with confidence and courage.