The Portland daily press., 1900-01-26
A FAMOUS BALLOONIST.
Thrilling Events I'm Henry cosweirs
Career Recalled Apropos OF His Death.


b cath occurred JON. o, at Seaforu, Will
be remembered a. one Of the most active
promoters In his time OF thst science OF
aerostation 10 which he devoted his life,
and more especially. perhaps, as ons Of
the two heroes Of what Is still TO be re-
garded a. the highest recorded ascent.
He was the son Of . naval officer who
had seen good deal Of active services,
and was born in 1919 ct Wouldham. near
Rochester. A. that time paliooning was
still practically In Its infancy. 1.-The first
aerial voyage In free balloon having
been made IN November, 1888 when
Piiatrs des Rosters and the Marquis
d'ArIands crossed the seine and con-
sidsra BILE part OF Paris In Montsolfier,
otherwise balloon expanded by heated
air. As sohoolboy Henry Coxweli's In
terest In the now science was greatly
excited by the sscents. from Surrsy Gar
dens, of Mr.. Green. q famous ballocnist,
who made something like 1850 ascents
during the oourss Of his life Young
Coz well took to making hontsoIfsrs on
his own account, and at the age Of fifteen
he considered himself already proficient
In aerostation. His tasts for baliooning
became an sil-absor bing passion. and
bet ween his ssvehtssnth year and his
twentieth he saw almost every public las
cent In or near London. His own first
ascent was made ut white Conduit Gar
dens, Pentonviils, on Aug. 10, 1874. In
company with Hampton, and In Is47 he
Joined Lieut.. Gale In numerous accents
from various public gardens In London.
In that year. too. in company with Mr..
Gypson. Mr.. Pridmore. and Albert
smith, he made . night assent from
Vauxhili Gardens amid display OF ire
works, but experienced on that occasion
what he after wards described as the moet
perilous descent on record. when the
balloon was 400 feet high . storm broke
and, Immediately after = vivid fash OF
lightning rent 10 feet long appeared In
the balloon, which began to fall at ter
ribls speed right over the West End OF
London. Fortunately, the network
caught In the sosffoId poles Of some new
houses, and the fall was broken, Mr.. Cox
well being ths only one who was hurt.
So far, however. was he from being dis
Outraged BY this aocidsnt-due, 40 he
showed, not to the lightning, but to the
vs1ge line not having tean pulled-that
the following week he assembled with
double the quantity of fireworKs-l20
pounds instead Of 10 pouuds-and on this
occasion all went we'll.
Up to 1s45 Coxwsll Was only an anna
teur halloonist, and followed the occupe-
ton OF q dentist; but In 1s48 he had q
balloon oil his owp, and commenoe1 n
ssries OF professional ascents from num-
Der Of different plAos on the Continent
His first ascent from the Crystal Palace
~ aEtoR~aVd
when hsllooning In Derbyshire, he met
with the first really serious accident that
occurred to him during the lC0 aseents
he had made up 10 that time. But.
though he had been severely bruised and
crippled, his zeal for the science burst out
with greater ardor than sver In lSt2,
when, hearing that o committees OF the
British Association ct WolverhAmpton
had been making some unsatisfactory
experiments with q Cremorne balloon In
order to take meteorological observations
In this upper regions. set about the con-
ftIustion OF a special balloon Tor this
purpose. finally producing one that TODD
SO feet from the ground, had diam eter
Of 90 feet, and was capable Of containing
when fully inflated, 9S,00 cubic feet OF
gas. ME-. James Glaisher, ". X. S.,
who had not previously made an ascent,
was to 90 up with Mr.. Coxwell snd take
charge Of the observations, while Mr..
Coxwell himself was TO attend to the bal
loon. The first OF the long series Of as
the auspices of the British Association
took place ut Northampton on July IL.
1869, and on that occasion they travelled
sixty miles Ia two hours, and attained
q height Of four miles; but the desosnt
was 90 violent that q number OF the dali
cately constructed Instruments that MI
GlaisEer took mp with him were broken.
1t wrs on sept. 3, in the same year. that
the pair made the record journey Of risin Z
to hight of no Less than seven miles
above the surface Of the earth, and the
story OF this exciting o. ploit shows that
the Intrepid scientists mad very narrow
escsps indeed Of their lives.
In foIty two minutes. and still kept as
cending. After u time, the valve line
having bsooms entangled. owing to the
rotary motion of the balloon. Mr. Cox
well had to leave the cal and mount to
the ring, but there was boar frost oil
round the neck Of the balloon. and the
moment his hands touched the ring they
were frost bitten and rendered useless,
90 that he had to put his arms on the
ring and In this way drop back into the
car. In tire msantime, MIR. Glashsr,
who had obssrved shat they had attained
q Insight Of 90. coo fest, found his sight
affected, and soon afterward his arms
pOWot6S8, enou nc o59u1eA " AeVo ho
limbs at all, his hack and neck lost eli
muscular power, and he became unoon-
seious. This was the condition In which
Mr.. Coxwsll, on reaching the oar again,
his own hands powerlsss, found him.
Happily, Mr.. CoIwell wss able 10 ssiss
the valve cord with hiI teeth, and some
vigorous pulls speedily brought them In
70 . warmer tempersture, when Mr..
Gaishsr recovered, and was himself able
60 attend to NJ, Cornwall by rubbing
his crippled hands with brandy. In .
leading article on the subject Of this
Famous exploit. the Times Of Sept. II.
1863, said: 1.-The aerial voyage juss per-
formed by Mr.. Cox we'll and Mr.. Glsisher
deserves to rask with the greatest feats
OF sxperimsntalisess, diseovsress, and
travellers, and. though much has since
happened, the remark IL certainly ~ true
today % 1t was then. The result Of the
many asoents by Mr.. Coxwell and Mr..
9la,shsr was the making Of some impor-
tNnt contributors to the science Of mets-
orology. and they proved. indeed, more
clearly than had ever bsen done before.
that ballooning was not merely PHEASANT
pastime, but might b rendered sf great
practical utility. From the same point