The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-09-18

.,,.r of BaIIooning In War Times.
.,Mvexperenco with runaway balloon
Yorktown has in IL u lessoI 'o aero-
ute who ascend upon tho poruers Oh uah-
irons territory. said ueneral r,,N Jonn
3pnrter "My balloon hau tahIiilzeu INC
4 ronfederates for many days Ihey SAW
'snt n was doing some very Valuapie SPY
ort and tried in every way To prinS IL
Avn | was wholly unprepareu lor
Strht into space, and 1t was Wonuer
.hat under the circumstances 1 saiheu
sontrol of myself and OF the machino anu
'rado the ascent valuable one from
S,ilitary point of view. Inc accident 10
,,,r safety ropes was most EXTRAORDINARY
nno In fact, that part OF inc aHair was
~ accident at all. 1t was the result Oh
rIot The accident lay In the TACT that
aame near being the victim OF the plot IN
stead of a member OF the palloop corps'
81 made the ascent just at the tline py
tai directiou of General Mcclellan,
Who wished me TO take some opserVatlohs
4 n affairs inside the Confederate mos
with view to ordering an immaculate at
,ock This was wholly unexpected ny the
G,lloon corps. 10 seems that certain
member of the corps was new arrival IN
rho camp, and as he ranked httlo ABOVE
some of the old hands they were jealous
! q him and made up their minds thht the
y best way TO get rid of him was TO nave an
faccdent happen to the balloon under ms
management, They deliberately removed
all tbs safety ropes but one, ana 10 that
they Applied acid, which cut the strands
almo{ It i'm two The moment the balloon
Ipsce/ded far enough to strain the remain
ng /;trands they parted. and the alrship,
will its occupant, who happened to be
b yJ elf leapcd into space
1BJ with every confidence in the balloon
" .rds. | entered the basket hastily, not
Y noticing that there was only one safety
rome. and ordered the men to cast oil. l
had my field glass ont and was sweeping
the field with It,, unconscious OF what was
taking place with the balloon, until l felt
myself flying upward Tar beyond the usual
limit. A glance downward told me that
the balloon was running away. At first l
was uncertain what to do, because it was
a new situation for me. AS rule Profess
sor Lowe, the chief aeronaut, had accom-
paniod me, and l had left the manage
ment of the balloon TO others.
Surprising one of the small ropes dan
cling in the basket to be valve rope, L
attempted to pull it and let myself down.
It did not work. Seeing another rope
dangling in the rigging, l climbed out of
the basket and grabbed that, with better
success. noticed that | was ascending
through stratum of escaping gas.
II knew that / had control of the bal
loon and determined To carry out the OBJ
iect of the ascension. had my glass with
\ me and swept the whole field around
Yorktown mp 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
and around Richmond, with their flags
flying Beneath me was Yorktown, ana
the horses in the streets appeared ia he
ants, while columns of soldiers were NOV.
\ ing masses Of little spccks.
My cccOnd startling sensation was
when found thst by letting out some
more Of the gas cropped intoa current of
air which swept mo over the enemy 5
camps. That meant capture, the loss of
the BALBOA and tho failure of the cXpcdi
ton For the mOmeDt ! was unconscious
Of everything except that / wished to get
, the balloon again under control and back
, into the current of air which ] passed
through far5.Ier down, that was blowing
in 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
The current | was in was rapidly bear
Z Ing me west, far into the enemy's terri
tory, and pulled the valve until the bal
loon sank into stratum of air moving
directly east. pulled with all my strength
and felt the balloon sinking rapidly. As
the gas left the silk bag the latter fell over
ana formed a sort of parachute with the
air beneath it, This caused the whole
machine to sway and made me very dizzy
= ana uncomfortable. AS soon as found
my course changed to the east L took my
glass and examined the camp where 1
thought would fall | saw the stars and
STRIPES there, and that treasured me. l
Vheh gave all my attention to personal
safety.
AL 1rst thought was about TO he
caught IN tall tree, but l escaped that
anu then iloated over long lines of stacked
uayohetS did not relish being impaled
upon them and gave the valve another
iui' bringing tho balloon down upon
lenr was in the camp of the Seventy
ecuohu pennsylvania, Baxter's zouaves
Inc men had been excited spectators Of
we night Of the balloon, but they all sup
fo'eu tnht It's occupant was Professor
no"o' wore no insignia of rank did
NV unueceire them. They told me that
Mneh The balloon was seen making i'm the
uitcctloh OF the Confederate camps n body
y our cavalry had taken the field and rid
Ien OUT with tho intention of charging
way. ''N "'-''
- had landed moro than mile from
! sSoauquarters and after giving directions
I ur packing and shipping the balloon |
CCp ,iuu horse and rode TO General Nc
w,enun headquarters. The general was
s satS To see me safe and sound. He
,hat when he saw the balloon speed.
ha through the air toward Dixie no had
ar sun 20 speculate upon whom he should
s Eipo'ne IN my place as director of the
/ ,oaS. Vi yorktown, for my troops were al
en" Guy ~ close contact with the enemy and
my sa , IN very difficult operations under
"y personal direction.
w.. INC extent of my flight In that runa-
nave never been able to determine.
oya n''Vu around above our own camps,
can iofktown and the Confederate
tano p'' moving back and forth some dis
I5oo At the time L estimated | was