Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1894-08-10
TRAVELLING BY KITE.
An English Acrc-Gut's Unpleasant
Adventure
The Singular accident which Was an
ouScni;le of a pecuiiar Mania
for Aero autics Ia
EpgIand,

81 - dKO u Lldltla SDb III
among aeronauts, who believed that
carriages drawn by kites would super
sede railways to considerable extent.
Among those who followed this f,Lscin-
atlng study, says Answers" was DR..
tocock. an uncle OF " q. Grace, the
champion cricketer of England. DIR.
Focock made many Journeys from Bris-
toi TO London in little carriage drawn
by a couple Of large kites flying a quar-
Ter OF mile or so i'm the air, and he
often attained a speed of twenty miles
an hour 1t was thought, too, that
kites would supcrsde sails for ships,
AID, in fact, for some time scientific
England went kite mBd IN order to
thoroughly uudersta1j the action Of
AIhese gigantic kites tsomo OF them were
y large as ships painsaiA a certain in
trepid John Ianrenhcit->no relation to
Tie famous chemist of thct naine-made
several voyages In a basket. an ordi-
nary wickerwork affair, such DIS is used
oy iaundresses, tied to a kite On one
occasion the kite was started at Rom
iord. In Essex II was attached to a
pony chaise, which was 50 constructed
as 10 De easily steered by means of ham
oies' such as those on old-fashioned tri-
cycles. In the chaise sat two men, one
brother Of the kite traveller. the other
gentleman who spent a considerable
fortune IN experiments of this descrip-
ZION. The party waited until suita-
oie Gay came and at length they arose
one morning at four O'Clock with the
pleasing intelligence that a half gale
was blowing from the west Every
thing had been In readiness for some
Time. and. after hasty breakfast, the
Kite was unrolled, stretched on it's ci-
gantic bamboo frame and held in the
roadway by couple of laborers
Fahrenheit seated himself in the
basket The three stout lines with
which the kite was held and controlled
were carefully examined, and after con-
siderable maneuvering the enormous
spread of canvas was waited upward.
with its human cargo seated calmly and
nonchalantly in the basket. For long
time II looked as though the kite would
not ascend properly. and the lines fire.
qucntly hung slack. but at6:3O the wind
had increased to such an extent that il
was thought expedient to pay out"
more line, and the three travellers seated
themselves in the chaise, which began
to move along the main road at a brisk
pace Once in motion the speed in
creased, and the difficulty of steering
the chaise and looking after the guide
ropes was so great that it was thought
expedient to bring the experiment to q
hasty conclusion. This, however. was
easier saiA than done As they passed
q milestone they determined TO time
their speed. and found to their surprise
that they had covered mile in ESQ.
Three miles out of Chelmsford rain be
gan to fall in torrents and violent tugs
were felt at the guide ropes. II had
been previously arranged that they
should form the signal for an imme-
diate descent and, taking advantage Of
a somewhat steep incline, when the
rate Of progression would naturally he
diminished. the brakes were applied.
Fahrenheit was observed making vio-
lent signals with his hands, and the
kite was found to be falling with alarm
ing rapidity So great, indeed, had the
speed become that it was evident that
Fahrenheits doom was scaled unless
some immediate effort could be made
to stop the fall. Mr.. McLepnan and
his two assistants thereupon promptly
determined to take the only possible
step which could save MIN. By pulling
In the ropes violently the kite would
slightly ascend, and SO, throwing off
their coats, they tugged .rith might
and main. In five minutes Fahrenheit
was on terra firma. 1t appeared that
the rain had thoroughly soaked the
canvas and added pounds to the weight
Of the kite. causing it TO fail. Had not
prompt measures been taken. there can
be but little doubt that the ponderous
would have caused the violent
death of the occupant of the basket