The National tribune., 1900-01-04

over field and houSe-top. We now re
sumed communication with our felow-men
| Probably no other event possible in th'
| monotone of rustic life is so calculated Il
stir up and reveal individual pecularitie.
| as the advent of balloon, especially such {;
| balloon as the Buffalo and if it is granc
and inspiring To drift at great attitudes, il is
| unSpeakably cOmcal and entertaining Il
keen along for miles, just over trcetops anC
| villages, exchanging glbcS with the natives
encouraging breathless pursuers, and being
sociable generally. Every scrap of printed
| matter thrown out Of the balloon is eagerly
picked up and saved as souvenir. Years
after this voyage, when Gen. Garfield haC
| won the nomination for the Presidency, tho
| writer went among the scenes Of his early
days. and at Hilam, o.. recognized certain
local features and concluded that this vii
| lage had been upon tn" course of the
| Buffalo. This proved a correct surmISe
us the driver of the bus still had one OF ON
| circulars and stated that We had passed
almost over the Garfield nome.
AS the Buffalo drifted in the evening
shadows one sturdy old fellow refused Il
stop his milking and Join in the general tx.
citement, as he had "no time for such darncd
fooIishness a pleasant-faced housewife
called 10 us that supper was jisst eady. and
| upon a green lawn Il bevy OF pretty gin Is
| plead vainly, alas. 10 I've taken on board.
| Dispatches 10 friends were dropped &
operators at way stations in envelopes pro
viGed with long tails of tissuc-paper
| Small wirWinds OF dust al along tho
roads indicated the following of excited
men in carriage or the saddle. Farm
hands and dogs Wrestled with our elusive
| drag-rope, but finally we were pulled down
to solid earth in pleasant place by the
! hospitable neighbors. and when The Buffalo
had been properly weighted and moored
We accepted the good things which seem
all t1aI fol hoy % lCC
| toland decorously III civilized section.
AT sunrise the roads and fields about the
| Buffalo already resembled a County fair
| the many farm teams and dusty pedestrians
! being mOmentarily augmented by Othei
| arrivals. After breakfast Prof. King an.
nounced that if the wind kept fair he should
] try to continue the voyage through TO the
| seabOard, and was prepared 10 carry two OF
the party. AS the writer would thus be
homeWard bound and the photographed
was anxious to secure more pictures, 1t was
settled that they should stick by the ship
A fresh morning breeze swept us rapidly
aslant and away from the scene of our
bivouac. Away westward the horizon was
dark with the smoke of Cleveland's in
dustries. The lower stratum of atmos-
phere was clear, but the upper regions were
chill and haZy; around us were gathered
here and there little fleeces of cloud which
shaped themselves from the blue nothing
ness while we watched. These coalesced
into greater clouds which kept an even
pace with us toward the east. They spread
beneath our car and closed the earth from
our view; with the sun in the zenith, we
could only approximate our course. AT
noon rift in the clouds disclosed Oil City
almost Immediately below. Messages to
Cleveland were droppedin shotted envelopes.
Then the clouds closed in once more For
two hours we We're suspended over heav-
ing, tumultuOuS mass OF vapOr, keeping
above it by the fee use of our ballast. a
great Gibraltar of cloud mounted between
us and the sun, pushed upwards by the
pressure from below. We dropped into the
shadows and our balloon was soon dripping
, with moisture Down we went, as the
aneroid surely indicated. AS We plunged
through the somber roof of the sky We were
appalled, by the grandeur OF the scene.
The roar of the gale III the forest which
covered all the hills and valleys filled our
ears. To the westward "A gray curtain of
| rain closed out mile after mile Of the wild
landscape which 10 the northward still
CLEANED in the sunshine; lightnings flashed
along the skirmish-line Of the storm.
Still downward the Buffalo plunged and
| swayed. Now the dragiope whipped the
| tops Of the pines, clinging and leaping as
| the balloon sped along. King, calm and
alert, stood with his knife in hand at the
| lashings of the anchor-rope, and at just tho
| right instant the heavy grapnel was drop,
ped into the trees. Ii caught sturdy limb
and the Buffalo swung wildly 10 and fro
| The valve was opened wide while the photo
9rapher and the artist labOrously pulled ir
| the drag-rope. AS chance allowed Other
lashings were made to the tree. which
twisted and bowed like wheat stalk undel