The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-23
Memorable
Balloon Vayage
Of 1900 Miles in
1859.

I anu SouHuS oi Jugs UdiAAA6 aNu 1IoSs
| croaking reached the Voyagers. They
| responded to the salutation by tossing
| out a bundle Of newspapers, doubtless
| to the establishment Of the natives
! next morning. At 1:30 a. m. the Wa
bash river and New Albany & Salem
| railroad were passed. By this time all
| the party were fast asleep but Mr..
Hyde. who was the least fatigued and
| realized the voyage would probably
be his last as well as first. At o'clock
| approaching dawn had snuffed out the
| stars and the deep mouthed dogs be-
| low had sought their kennels. The
| balloon was now riding majestically
| through the clear ether. At 1926 the
ship fioated over village composed
OF dozen or so houses in a pretty
| cluster. ALI hands were awake now.
| and, while eating their o'clock break
| faSt, Fort Wayne was left to the right
| The shouts Of the astonished inhabi-
tants were plainly audible, and some
papers and bills of fare Of the old
Barnum hotel were thrown off and fell
within ten miles Of the town.
The crooked Wabash afforded every member
OF the party the excuse for an early morning
joke on the line that it did not pursue its
course on undertaking principles.
At 4:SO the. ship was sailing at moderate
speed near large forest. At IL minutes after
O'Clock large lake was discovered. The
vessel was w1sping along at a brisk rate
dragging its shadow on the ground, encircled
in fantastic colors. Lake Erie, with its 2,SC0
square miles of surface, soon burst into view.
Groups Of white clouds, like great puffs from
steam pipe, foated languidly on every side,
unfolding their gauze-like robes and passing
off in eddying currents. There was a collec-
ton of small houses huddled at the mouth OF
the Maumee river, marking the site of the
present city of Toledo. Slowly the quartette
doated over the great bend. dotted with specks
Of land, where Perry gained his victory in
1878.
sandusky City was passed at 7:25 and the
Atlantic swept far into the lake. headed due
east At $50 a steamer bound for Buffalo
was overtaken, and an exchange of compli-
ments. consisting of cheers, followed At 10
o'clock the steamer was out of sight in the
rear, so rapid was the balloons flight. In
three hours the entire length of Lake Erie
had been traverSed
The balloon was a mile above terrible
storm that was bending the trees to the
ground and lashing the waves to an indie
scrfbable fury. but above the wildly tempes-
tuous elements ,t the Atlantic sailed easily, not
Buffalo, Niagara Falls and the Welland ca
nal We're sighted at II o'clock At noon the
four passengers had an opportunity of seeing
HAVEN its insignificance. At an altitude
OF a mile there appeared descent of about
two feet. and the water appeared to be entire
ly motionless. The spray gave the whole an
appearance as Of ice, and there was nothing
grand or sublime about it seen from that al
t1tude The balloon was being borne d.
rectly toward Lake Ontario. and as the bal
last had been exhausted it was decided to re-
turn to the earth, land Mr. Hyde and Mr.
eager take on sufficient quantity of new
ballast and again steer for the Atlantic ocean.
mediately caught in hurricane. The voy-
ayers had mistaken the roar of the storm
for that OF Niagara. The balloon carried
near the tree tops Some baggage was thrown
overheard, and the balloon shot out over the
lake. Soon land had faded, and dreary
waste of nearly 1900 square miles of water
lay below the little party. The situation was
one Of extreme peril, and the danger was
increasing momentarily as the wind swished
the big bulb over the water at terrific rate.
Everything movable was thrown into the
waves; All except Mr.. Lamountain climbed
into the basket under the balloon.
That gentleman, risking his life for the
safety Of his companions, dismantled the
ship. cut 1t loose from the balloon and
lied now that disaster was at hand. The
prayer was that they would not be overtaken
above those angry waters. Lower and lower
they were dropping, and hope was fast
ceding. Suddenly stronger blast than the
others caught the balloon and drove 1t along
within few feet of the waves for fifty miles.
Twice it dragged the surface Of the water
and the peril extreme Suddenly the
wind switched it inland, only to fall into q
hurricanes grip.
The balloon rushed into thick forest, and
tearing down trees and breaking branches
pursued It's resistless course for over mile,
dashing the occupants of the car to and fro
against trunks and limbs till at last 1t
caught a tall sycamore and the silk was rent
into ribbons.
The voyagers were left suspended twenty
feet in tho air. But one Of the four was In
jured-Mr. Lamountain slightly about the
hip. From natives who were attracted to
the spot in large numbers it was learned the
end of the expedition had occurred on the
farm Of Truman o. Whitney, Henderson
township, Jefferson county, New York
The ACKNOWLEDGMENT station was Adams,
ten miles distant on the Watertown G Rome
railroad. The, party adjourned there to tel
egraph news of their safety to relatives and
friends. The entire neighborhood had been
aroused by the landing Of the balloon, and
the party was not allowed to leave town until
each member had addressed a mass meeting.
relating his experience and ideas aerial
navigation.