, 1897-10-25
A RUNAWAY BALLOON
GENERAL FITz JOHN PoRTeR,s SUD.
DEN FLIGHT INTO SPACE.

An Incident 1t the Siege Of Yorktown.
The Balloon Cast Loose by . Plot a.A
Carried Over the Confedeeas, Camp,
Danger Of B%slloonins In War Times.
my experience with u runaway balloon
at Yorktown has in il u lesson to aero.
nauts who ascend upon the borders of dan
eerous territory" said General Fitz John
Potter. My balloon had ~tantalized the
sConfederates for many days. They saw
that 1t was doing rome very valuable spy
work and tried In every way to bring it
down. l WAS wholly unprepared for u
flight into space, and 1t was IL wonder
that under tho circumstances l gained
control of myself and Of the machine and
made the ascent IL valuable one from u
military point of view. The accident to
my safety ropes was u most extraordinary
one. In fact, that part Of tho affair was
no accident "a all. 1t WAS the result Of q
plot. The accident lay In the fact that l
came near being the victim of the plot in
stead of II member Of the balloon corps.
Il made the ascent just ut the time by
special direction of General Mcclellan,
who wished me to take some observations
Of affairs inside the Confederate lines,
III VIC" W oEutEIiiS uu liIlllltIlulo NJ
tack. This was wholly mex pected by the
balloon corps. 1t seems that a certain
member Of the corps was n new arrival In
tho camp, and as hc rnn.;el IL Little above
some of the old hands they were jealous
of him md made up their minds that the
best way to get rid of him was to have an
accident hnppen to the balloon under his
management. They deliberately removed
all the safety ropes hut one, and to that
they applied acid. which cut the strands
almost In two. The moment the balloon
assembled far enough to strain the remain
ing strands they parted. and tho nirship,
with its occupant, who happened to 10
myself, leapcd into space.
with every confidence In the balloon
cords. I entered the basket hastily. NOT
noticing that there was only nnr safety
rope. md ordered the men to cast off. I
had my field glHss ont md was sweeping
the field with it, unconscious Of what was
taking place with the balloon, until ! f"it
myself flying upward fur hcyond the usual
limit. A glance downward told mo Tint
the balloon was running away. AT FIRST l
was uncertain what to do, because /. was
a now situation for me. As u rule Profrs-
sor Lowe, the chief %urronnut, had accom-
panied me. and l had left the manage
IltUb III tUt DilIOUi W tlilCTS.
"~Supposing m of the small r pes dan
Cling in the bnsket to lie u valve rope, |
attempted to pull 1t and let myself down.
1t did not work. Seeing another rope
dangling In the rigging, l climbed out Of
the basket and gribhed that, with 'nttor
success. noticed that I was ascending
through a stratum Of escaping gas.
IL knew thnt l had control OF the bal
loon and determined tn carry out the Oh
ject Of the ascension. ! hiui my glass with
me and swept the whole field nround
Yorktown, up tho 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
and around Richmond, with their hags
flying, Beneath me was Yorktown, and
tho horses in tho streets appeared to lie
ants, while %olun:ns Of soldiers were NOV
ing massps q! little specks.
"My second startling sensation WAS
when I found that by letting out some
more rf the gus l drorlpd inton current Of
air which swept mo over the enemy
camps. That meant capture. the loss Of
the ha!loon and the fnilure of the cxDedi
ton For the moment | was unconscious
of everything except TINT I wished tn get
the balloon neain under control M bnck
III tIs ' vi Nt Nv = tftFNNo
through farther dow IL, Tint was Blowing
In II contrary direction One thing | did
notice, and lh;;: was that the Confederate
soldiers were running out of their camps
and cheering in the expectation proudly
that l would dc sccEd among them.
1.-The current l was In WIS rapidly bear
ing me west. far intD the cncmy's terri
tory. and ! pulled tho valve until tho nal
ionn sank into u stratum of mir moving
directly cast. ] pulled w.saull my strength
and felt tho balloon sinking rapidly As
the gns left tho silk bag the latter fell over
aud formed II surt nf parachute VITA the
mir beneath IL. This caused the whole
mnchinc to sway and maLe ns very dizzy
and uncomfortable. IA soon ~ l found
my curse changed to tho east l took my
glass md examined the ann where l
Thought I would fall saw tbs stars md
stripes there, II Tint treasured mo. I
then gave all my attention To personal
safety.
"At nfsEI Thought 1 was about to he
caught In u tall tree. hut ! cscapod that
and. then 1onted Over long lines OF stacked
bayOnets. did not relish being impsied
upon them and gave tine valve another
pull, bringing the balloon down upou .
tent. l WIS in the camp If the Seventy
second Pennsylvania, Bakers zonnves.
The men had heon excited spectators Of
the light Of the imlloon, but they I'LL sup
posed that its occupant was Professor
Lowo. WORE no insignia Of RINK. did
not undeccive them. They told me that
when tho b,lioon was seen making In tho
direction OF the Confederate cumps u body
Of our cuvmiry had taken the field II rid
den out with tho Intention uf charging
into the eDeiny's iinss u recover the runa-
way.
Il had landed more than q milo from
headquarters, and after giving directions
far packing and shipping tlie balloon !
borrowed IL horse AMI rode to General Nc
Clsilun's h~ea0quurtcrs. The general wal
nstopjaitcd t. sce me safe und sound. He
euid thai when lie saw tho balloon speed
ing through the mir toward Dixie lie had
begun to speculate upon whom he should
appoint in my place us director Of the
siege Of Yorktown, tor my troops were al
rvady In closo contact with the enemy and
engaged in very difficult operations under
my personal direction
'.Thu extent Of my 1ight In that runa.
Wny l have never been able to determine.
1 ejrcIcd around above our own camps,
over Yorktown and the Confederate
Campo, moving hack and forth some dis
sapoe. AZ tho time I estimated l was
1870 feet above the ground at tho Highest
point / may haye been farther than that
know she entire peninsula, from 20 70
~ miles In length and 70 70 %0in breadth.
sppesrod 70 b. no larger than . mana
hand. Onr camp. ZONE mikes In exeene
and holding from 70.O00s IN nc. 900 boys In
blue, seemed 10 larger than . 10 csns
pksoe New Yoek Sun.