The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-03-17
D|NED ON THE MOUNTAIN
Loyal Legion Men Hold Their
Annual Meeting
NOTABLES WHO ATTENDED
Major Truman Reads q Paper on War
BallOoning
How Professor Lowe Was In Midair Stormed
at by Confederate Shot
and Shell

The annual meeting of the California
commandery of the military order of the
Loyal Legion was held last evening at
Echo Mountain.
The ranking membe present was Gen.
erai 0. o. Howard; others from San
Francisco were: Colonel Budel, Mrs.
Budel, Miss Budel, Captain Flint, Mrs.
Flint, Colonel c. Mason Kline, Colonel
W. R. Smedburg, s. Kelding, P. NJ, U. s.
N, Colonel r. E.. A. Cubbon, U. S. A..
General Eli H. hurry, the Ex-Governor
of Utah and prominent fnancier of San
Diego was also of the party.
The following attended from this city /:
Major g. II. Bonebrake. Colonel Charles
Bentzoni, Mrs. Schlutterback, Captain
and Mrs. J. A. Osgood, Colonel and Mrs.
G. Wiley Wells, Mr.. and Mrs. Charles s.
Captain w. H. Newman, Capt. and Mrs.
George W. Merrill, Captain and Mrs. Gil
bert Il. Canton, Major and Mrs. J. W.
Daniels, Colonel 7. S. Hall, Mrs. A. III
Cathcart, Miss HolDert, DR.. II. M. and
Mrs. Anna G. Bishop, Miss Alden, Mr..
Dabold, Major 4; Even. y, S. A., Mrs. G..
Even, Major E. G. Babb, Mrs E. G.
Babb, Colonel Gaines Lawson, U. s. A.,
Mr.. Lawson, Major H. 7. Lee, e. l.. Levaine.
Mrs. K. L. Levaine, Major l.. S. Butler,
Mrs. l.. s. Butler, Gratz X. Brown, Cen
eral b. G. Ludlow, Colonel E. W. Jones,
Miss Anna A. Jones, Captain 7. ]. Cressy.
Captain T. J. Cochran, l.. A. Simpson,
Major W; H: Bonsall. Captain W. P.
Tucker, Mrs; W. P. Tucker. J. L. Wolcott,
Mrs. J. l.. Wolcott. Miss Minot, Colonel
W. r. Shaw and wife, Miss Helen l..
Shaw, Mrs. George II. Stewart, Major
II. M. Russell, Mrs. ii. M. Russell, Miss
Hortense Whitley, Mrs. C. C. Carpenter,
Miss Millie Kortz, DR.. II. s. Green, Mrs.
Green, William l.. Barnum, Mrs. Barnum,
J. A. Fitch, Mrs. q. K. Barley, Mrs. P. T.
Levain, Major Ben c. Truman, Mrs. Tru-
man, Miss George Truman, Major w. G.
Wedemeyer, Major l. G. Towne, Mrs
Towne, Colonel }. B. Fuller, Captain ]. S.
Wallace.
The occasion was one Of great jollity,
and war time stories and jokes were ex-
changed by the veterans with gusto.
The paper OF the evening was read by
Major Ben G. Truman, and was as fol-
lows:
Comrades and s:-Professor Lowe
said to General Mcclellan one day that
with favorable wind and a clear sky he
believed he could perfect an ascension
that would give him an opportunity of
Richmond and of the character of the in
side works and of the approximate num-
Der and disposition of the Confederate
troops.
In few days thereafter the opportune
moment came. and the Professor started
upon his aerial reconnaissance, accompan.
led by an attendant with pencil and
paper and field glasses and all other nee
essary articles and appurtenances for
making observations.
The balloon used on this occasion was
the Constitution, which had been an
chored dangerously close to the picket
line. 1t was the dead hour of night when
the process of anehoring and Initiating
had been about completed. 1t was to be
kept under terrestrial control by being
well tied by strong ropes to we'll secured
stakes, and the gas had been fed to the
airship through rubber and metallic pipes
1t was about 3 80 in the morning on the
10Th of May when the Professor gave the
order "Stand by your cables"
Then the bags of ballast were cut away,
and twelve stalwart men, each handling
monster ceased Topping and glided
gracefully into the vault above. After
ascending to a height that made the Cap
itol at Washington look like a toy play
house. and other buildings of similar
proportions. the Professor signaled the
twelve stalwart ones to cease playing out,
and then he peered over into Richmond
and the adjacent country, and with his
powerful field glass he swept the entire
panorama beneath. He could see the
Confederates moving to and fro, and
then he handed the glass to his assistant
and took up pencil. map and paper and
commenced to sketch.
'Just you take as rapid and as accurate
observations as you can. - he said to his
c,cfo 7 Wi lot ,Lo+
you say. l have got them just where
want them, and we will stay here until
we get a complete sketch of the whole
country and all it contains"
History tells us that the English officers
were dancing at Brussels when the sound
of the first gun at Waterloo reverberated
through that beautiful metropolis. There
they who were tripping the light fantastic,
of the dreadful carnage that solemnly
followed.
Let us look back, my friends. to that
evcntful morning more than quarter of
century ago. The Wizard of Echo
Mountain sat there in the skies as calmly
and as heroically as he now luxuriates
among the Sunbeams of the SUBMITS of
the Sierra Madres.
But he did not sit there on that particu-
lar occasion long. For his assistant
dropped the glass and crawlcd into the
bottom of the basket and cuddled up into
the proportions of ball.
''For Heavens sake what's the mat
teri" inquired the Professor, coolly
In mutfied voice came the response:
Matter! Well. you'll find out what's the
matter. I've retired-I have"
simultaneously shell exploded few
hundred feet under the balloon and the
fragments went spluttering away.
Professor Lowe quietly put down his
notes and implements of sketching and
looked over in the direction of Rich
mond Just in time to see ball of white
smoke; and then followed IL shrieking I'M
derneath and then crash and then a
splutter of the piece of shell.
They are firing at us. or else I'm a
sinner" said the aeronaut.
Then there was another puff of smoke
on the edge of some timber, shrek
through the air, crash and splutter,
and in few moments there was another.
"You must like that said the tremb-
ling voice at the bottom. "How much
longer are you going to stay hereP
Haven't you got any"
sBang! Shrieks! Crash! Splutters! III
~ say, they're getting closer want to
go down. For Heaven S.
Bang Shrieks! Crash Splutters!
This last shell burst within hundred
yards to the right of the balloon, and the
voice from below again exclaimed: "Why
I