Evening star., 1903-09-05
HIGH BALLOON ASCENT
ALTITUDE OF 81 900 FEET REACH
ED OVER FORTY YEARS AGO.
New Account by Glaisher of His Ad,
Misunderstanding at the Rate of
5000 Feet Per Minute.
From the London Telegraph.

From the London Telegraph.
The well-known meteorologist, James
Glaisher. who died in England last winter.
has left a full and corrected account of his
historic balloon ascent. made in 1852, when
he reached the highest altitude ever attain
ed by man. His first ascent with Coxwell
was made from woIverhampton on July II.
1862 They rose to height of Ave miles.
travelled sixty miles in two hours. and
descended just in time to avoid dip in the
Wash Two important things were learned
on the excursion; first they passed through
a cloud 5000 feet I'm thickness and dense
that the balloon was invisible from the car;
and, second. they dropped $500 feet-from
16.3O0 to l2,4O0 feet-in one minute. But
the great historic ascent, made from VOL
verhampton, took place September 5,
1862 when the highest point ever attained
by men who survived to tell the tale
reached Mr.. Glaisher relates:
AT Isl the barometer read los inches
About 1:52. or later. l read the dry bulb
thermometer as minus ) degrees; after this
l could not see the column of mercury. nor
the hands of the watch. the fine divis-
ions on any instrument. / asked Mr.. Cox
well to help me read the instruments. In
consequence, however, OF the rotatory mo-
ton of the balloon, which had continued
without ceasing since we left the earth. the
valve line had become entangled. and he
had to leave the car and mount into the
ring to readjust 1t. l then looked at the
barometer and found its reading to be 9%
inches still decreasing fast, implying a
height exceeding $1,000 feet.
Insensible.
Shortly after / laid my arm upon the
table, possessed Of its full vigor. but on
being desirous of using It, found 1t pow
erless. Trying to move the other arm I
found it powerless also. Then 1 tried to
shake myself. and succeeded but seemed
to have no limbs. In looking at the barom-
eter my head fell over my left shoulder.
I struggled and shook my body again. but
could not move my arms. Getting my head
upright. for an instant only. it fell my
right shoulder: then 1 fell backward my
back resting against the side of the car and
my head on its edge. In this position lny
eyes were directed to Mr.. Coxwell In the
ring. When shook my body seemed to
have full power over the muscles OF the
back. and considerably so over those OF
the neck, but none over either my arms or
my legs. AS in the case of the arms, so all
muscular power was lost in an instant from
my back and neck l dimly saw Mr.. Cox
well. and endeavored to speak, but could
not. In an instant intense darkness over
came me, so that the optic nerve had sud
denly lost power. but was still conscious,
with active brain at the present
moment while writing this. 1 thought 1
had been seized with asphyxia. and believed
l should experience nothing more. death
would come unless speedily descended.
Other thoughts were entering my mind
when became unconscious as on going to
sleep. cannot tell anything Of the sense
OF hearing. as no sound reaches the ear to
break the perfect stiffness and silence Of
the regions between six and seven miles
from the EARTH My last observation was
at 1:54 above 5000 feet
Returning Power.
while powerless l heard the words
Temperature and observation and
knew Mr.. Coxwell was In the car speaking
to and endeavoring to raise me, therefore
consciousness and hearing had returned 1
then heard him speaking more emphaticaI-
ly, but could not see. speak. or move I
heard him say again. Do try. now. do
Then the instruments became dimly visible
clearly. 1 said to Mr.. CoxwelI I have
been insensible: he said. You have, and
1 too. very nearly He told me he had
lost the use of his hands. which were black.
and l poured brandy over them Mr.. Cox
we'll told me that while in the ring he felt
1t piercingly cold. and on attempting to
leave the ring he found his hands frozen.
He had therefore to place his arms on the
ring and drop down. He wished to ap-
proach me, but could not. and when he felt
coming over him, too, he be-
came anxious to open the valve. But in
consequence of having lost the use of his
hands he could not do this: ultimately he
succeeded by SeZing the cord with his
teeth and dipping his head two or three
times, until the balloon took decided turn
downward. The descent took place al Cole
Weston. seven and half miles from Lud-
low"
Thus one of the aeronauts was insensible
and the other had only the of his teeth
left with which to open the valve and on
that their safety depended. The height to
which they had attained is without parallel.
Mr.. Glaisher says:
Height Of the Ascent.
my last observation was made at q
height of %. 900 feet. at 1.54. when we were
ascending 1000 feet per minute. and when
resumed observations we were descending
1900 feet per minute. These two positions
must be connected. taking into account the
interval between them. 13 minutes. And
on these considerations the balloon must
have attained an altitude of $4,000 or $1,000
feet Mr.. Coxwell. on coming from the
ring noticed that the center of the anerotd
barometer. its blue hand. and rope at
tached to the car were all on the same
straight line, and this gave a reading OF
seven inches and leads to the same result.
Therefore. these independent means. all
come to about the same elevation-fully
seven miles.
Coxwell has given his own account of this
adventure Never" he says. shall for
get those painful moments of doubt and
suspense as to Mr.. Glaishers state. when
no response came to my questions. 1 began
to fear that he would never take any moro
readings" In the descent the aeronaut
states that they fell 10000 feet in a quarter
of an hour 1t is pleasant to note that
these two brave men lived so many years
after their narrow escape. At the meeting
of the British Association at Newcastle in
1853 Sir Richard Owen observed that ply
siologists were all agreed that one condi-
ton OF longevity was the capacity of the
chest. He hoped the increased breathing
capacity acquired by Messrs. GlaIsher and
Coxwell would tend to the prolongation Of
their lives. That hope was prophetic Cox
well survived until January 8. 1900. having
nearly completed his eightieth year. and