Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1897-10-16
A RUNAWAY BALLOON
GENERAL FlTz JOHN PoRTER's SUD
DEN FLIGHT INTO SPACE.

Danger Of BaIlooning In War Times.
I" My experience with a runaway balloon
at Yorktown has In It u lesson 20 aero
nauts who ascend upon the borders of dan
gerous territory, slid General Fitz John
Porter. My balloon had tantaliged the
Condolences for many days They saw
that il was doing some very valuable SPY
work and tried IN every way e bring II
down. / was wholly unprepared for q
flight into space. and 1t WIS wonder
that under the circumstances | gained
control Of myself and Of the machine and
made the ascent d valuable enc from 4
military point az view The accident %
my safety ropes was most extraordinary
one In fact, that nart Of the affair wils
no accident at all. II was the result ot q
plot The accident lay in the fact that l
camc near being the victim Of the plot IN.
stead of member Of the balloon CORPS,
- madn tho ascent just at the time BY
special direction of General Mcclellan,
who wished me to take some Observations
IL affairs inside the Confederate lines
With view to crdnenE an immediate NJ
teek. This was wBally unexpected hy the
.blloou corps II seems that q cerfsin
iapmher Of thc caf48 was new arrival ir
some OF the old hands they were iealags
az him ana mai up their minds that the
hest way % reg RID og him was 10 have ma
neeident happen 10 tAe balloon under Hts
management Thss deliberately removed
all tho safety ropes but one, and 70 tbat
they applied acid which emit the strands
almost In two The moment the balloon
assembled far enough Ia strain tho remain
ing strands they parted, and the aiFshiHr
with its occupant, who happened 20 be
myself, lcaped into space
with every confidence IN the balloon
cords, entered the basket hastily, not
noticing that there was only Quo saicty
rope, and ordered the men to Gust off /
had my field glass out ana was sweeping
the field with il, unconscious of what Was
taking place with the balloon, until felt
myself flying upward far beyond the usual
limit. A glance downward told me that
the balloon was running away. At FIRST
was uncertain what 10 do, heeanse It WIS
new situation for me. As rule Prufcs.
scr Lowe the chief acronant, had accoln-
panied me. and | fad left the manage.
ment Of the balloon 60 Others.
'sSnpposing ono of the small ropes dan
Cling in the basket TO he q valve rope, |
attempted to pull It and let myself down.
1t did not work Seeing another rope
dangling in the rigging, / climbed ont u
the basket and grabbed thut, with better
SUCCESS | noticed that ! was ascending
through stratum of escaping gas.
Il knew that Ind control Of the ball
loon and determined Go carry ont the oh
iect of the ascension | had my glass with
mo and swept the whole field around
Yorktown, up the peninsula TO Richmond,
down toward Fort Monroe and Norfolk.
saw the fleets in the harbor, saw the
camps Of the enemy along the James river
aud around Richmond, with their flags
dying Beneath me was Yorktown, and
tho horses In the streets appeared 10 he
ants, while columns Of soldiers were mos
ing masses Of little specks
:" My second startling sensation was
when found that by letting out sonie
more Of the gas / dropped intoa current Of
dir which swept mo over the enemy s
camps. That meant capture, the loss Of
the balloon and tho failure Of the oxpcdi
ton. For the moment was unconscious
Of everything except TINT wished to get
the balloon aRain under control and back
into the current of air which | pnssod
through farther down, that was blowing
In u contrary direction. One thing did
notice, and that was that the Confederate
soldiers were running out Of their camps
and cheering in the expectation probably
that would descend among them
1.-THE current was IN was rapidly bear
ing me west, far into the enemy's terri
tory, and pulled tho valve until the bal
loon sank into stratum OF mir moving
directly east. | pulled with all my strength
and felt the balloon sinking rapidly. As
tho gas left the silk bag the latter fell over
and formed a sort of parachute with the
air beneath it. This caused the whole
machine to sway and made mo very dizzy
and uncomfortable. As soon as found
my course changed to the east | took my
glass and examined the camp where !
thought | would fall | saw this stars and
stripes there, and that reassured mo.
then gave all my attention to personal
safety.
"At first | thought | was about to be
caught In u tall tree, but / escaped That
and then 1oated over long lines Of stacked
bayonets. did not relish being impaled
upon them and gave the valve another
publ, bringing the balloon down upon q
tent / was in the camp of the Seventy
second Pennsylvania, Baxtor's zouavcs.
The men had been excited spectators Of
iDt iiNHb VI Ailc bhiabph3 Jun phtp W. sup
posed that its occupant was Professor
Lowe. wore no insignia Of rank. did
not undeceive them. They told mo that
when the balloon was seen making in the
direction Of the Confederate camps body
of our cavalry had taken the field and rid
den out with the intention Of charging
into tho enemy lines to recover the runa-
way
II had landed more than mile from
headquarters, and after giving directions
for packing and shipping the balloon l
borrowed horse and rode to General Me-
Clellan headquarters. The general was
astonishcd Co see me safo and sound He
said that when he saw the balloon SPEED
ing through the air toward Dixie he had
begun to speculate upon whom he should
appoint in iuy place as director of the
siege Of York town, for my troops were RI
ready In Gloss contact with the enemy and
engaged In very difficult operations under
my personal direction
''tihe extent of my flight in that runa-
way have never been able to determine.
/ circled around above our own camps,
over Yorktc.sn and the Confederate
camps, moving back and forth some dis
lance AT tho time l estimated | was
1900 feet above the ground at the highest
point may have been farther than that.
know the entire peninsula, from 20 to