Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-09

drilled in II for the anchor So the plat
form and balloons had survived the storm.
So. too. undoubtedly, was the case with the
hotel. for 1t was securely bound together,
and fastened to the platform. But how
about the occupants2 Had they been spill
ed out? And where was the outfit now? 1t
was :hen the LIST of August. 1t seemed in
credible that the structure could be still
foatinS In the upper atmosphere. and
equally incredible that 1t could have landed
anywhere In the United States and 10 re-
port have been made of It,
I was still wondering over this discovery
when received letter bearing the post
mark Winnipeg, Manitoba" This being
In the well-known handwriting of my part
ner. the inventor Feuser. who was among
the lost, gave me something Of shock.
similar to that which We experience on
seeing ghost. This Is his letter. minus a
few expurgations You see. Feusier has a
way of talking great deal without saying
much. and he carries the same fault into
his written communications.
AIRY CASTLE, 10000 TT. ABOVE RED
RIVER VALLEY, MINI. U.S.A.. July
10. pm.
My Dear Boom: Since we left Chicago
We have had many and strange adven-
lures, most of which 1 have recounted in
former communica tons, but as it Is by no
means certain that my letters have res ched
you. as have had to drop them overt GARD
and take chances on their reaching Uncle
Sans mail bags. will go over our expert
ences again briefly.
When the storm struck us on the night of
the Fourth" was sitting In my room
reading, while most of the guests had re-
tired for the night. Suddenly there came a
shock as OF an earthquake. The platform
and hotel were tilted at an angle Of Al de-
grees 81 minutes, as q momentary glance
at my ciinometer showed me. while / was
sliding down to the leeward side of the
room. (Feusler was once a sailcr) For a
moment only were we inclined at that per-
ilous angle, but that moment was enough
to spill everybody on the floor, and to roll
guests, furniture and all to the lowest parts
of the rooms. The people, thus suddenly
awakened by this unusual performance,
were naturally frightened, and the chorus
OF screams was deafening. The hotel, how
ever, held together under the terrible strain
thanks to my frmness in insisting that it
should be well braced and fastened down
TO the platform. cfhe COMPOUNDED feIlowt
How he does enjoy saying Il told you sou
Then the craft righted itself suddenly, the
screaming ceased, and the guests collected
together to talk the matter over, and to
wonder at the cause of II.
The electric lights had gone out,and when
l attempted to light my room by means Of
a gas fire 1 found the supply of gas was
cut on Then / began to suspect what had
happened, and, lighting a match. looked
at the barometer. Instead of standing at
% inches. as 1t should, the top of the COL
umn of mercury was at 81 inches. indicat-
Ing an elevation of 10000 feet, and was
rapidly falling. We were adrift AS the
wind was blowing hard from the north
knew that we must be travelling south with
.the speed OF an express train.
The guests soon quieted down under my
assurances that all was right and slept
more or less soundly upon the wrecks of
their beds. / didn't sleep, but sat up with
my barometer. At midnight the mercury
read fifteen inches QS.OOO feeD, and then
stopped falling. The balloons had reached
an equilibrium
Meantime the storp, haa cIaa rod and tho
fun moon made things almost as light as
day, i went out and looked over the
Railing on the earth beneath. Three and
half miles below me l saw the lights of
a city, which / judged to be indianapolis.
We Were on a course S. S. E., and making
as 1 estimated. about fifty knots an hour.
1t was very cold, but in my disturbed con-
oition of mind l could not remain in my
room. so, wrapping myself in my heaviest
Clothing. I spent the remainder of the night
outside. As the sun was rising we passed
over Cincinnati. and crossed the Ohio into
Kentucky. The sunrise ,sswasf' fffsgni1Aent,
but had little appetite for the beauties Of
nature. Soon the guests would arise, dts
covery OF our position would follow, and
there would be trouble for me. .
(Here Feusier devCtcS six pages and at
least two hours time in describing hts feel
ings, ard talking about what he is going to
do
1 met the guests in the dining room and
told them our situation and our prospects
In as hopeful terms i could. The result
surprised me. Instead of wasting time In
useless lamenta tons they forthwith re-
solved themselves into a committee of safe
ty. elected officers and proceeded to consid-
er measures for relief. You Americans are
admirable! Feusier is Frenchman by
BIRTH Hardy, the president of the C. and
NJ. R. R., was made president, and was
made secretary and executive officer.
We concluded, after a little discussion,
that it would involve too great risk TO
attempt landing while the gale continued,
so there was nothing left to do but to keep
everything snug. and await favorable con-
ditions of weather and landing place. Mean
while, we examined into our supplies. For
tunately we had replenished our provisions
and water on the day preceding the dis
aSteT, and 1t was found that had Suffi-
cent of each to last, with economy, for
month. The question of fuel gave us the
most concern. We were in an arctic at
me sphere, were unprovided with heavy
clothing, and, apparently, without fuel, I'M
less we burned our house. Suddenly l re-
membered the risers, all of which, as II
happened, were at the upper end of the
route when we broke loose. The gas with
which they were inflated would II used
carefully, suffice to heat the parlors and
dining room for q week, at least. The
guest rooms would, of course, have to go
unheated, So that difficulty was overcome
for the time.
The committee adjourned after breakfast.
the young folks going to their tennis and
foot ball, the old ones to their whist and
novels, while not few spent the day In
watching the changing landscape, as we