Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1907-04-03
THRILLING STORIES
CT BALLOONISTS

In looking through the fascinat-
iNg records OF ballooning. there Is
scarcely a single record OF today
which has not been completely ever
Swallowed years before some or our
present aeronautS were Graded
How Insignificant. for instance
the largest OF the balloons which
took part in the recent race from
Paris would look by thu side of
Madras lie Geant. which caused such
a sensation i'm Paris forty-three years
ago. This monster balloon contained
over 100000 cubic feet OF gas-was
so gigantic. in fact. that half dozen
fair sized suburban villas could have
been placed i'm its interior: but more
remarkable still was its car. which
was a perfect model OF a two-story
cottage i'm wicker work. with a print
ing Office Photographic room. re-
freshment room. and carried thirteen
passengers. on its second ascent
this leviathan covered a distance Of
400 miles i'm seventeen hours. being
dragged the last seven miles over the
'sround before it could be brought
to a stanasun
Veg interesting and. in many
,odses thrilling are the stories of those
old time ascents when ballooning
was in its infancy. from which It
seems scarcely yet TO have emerged
On July %, 1925 n daring aeronaut
Mr. Green, made an ascent from the
famous Eagle tavern. in the city road
astride of pony. and came safely
TO earth again att Beckenham His
experience was more happy than that
of NJ. Poitevin who was dropped with
his horse in the sea of Malaga, and
narrowly escaped drowning: or than
that Of Lieut.. Gale who lost his life
in similar equestrian performance.
II is interesting to note that when
Lunardi made the very first ascent
from London in 1854 he had for
fellow passengers a cat, dog and a
pigeon. Such was the excitement
caused by this ascent that a Jury.
celebrating on the fate Of a criminal
returned a hasty verdict of acquittal
in order not TO miss the spectacle:
while King George III broke up q
meeting of the council to watch the
progress of The balloon It was ia
the following year, 1855, that an adj
venturous Dublin Undergraduate. Mr..
Mcguire, made balloon ascent and
was actually knighted by the lord
lieutenant for his courage.
The adventures of some of these
pioneer navgators of the air we're
very thrilling and even tragic. Count
Zambeccari had at least two warn
ings of the horrible fate that finally
befell him. Twice his balloon de
scended in the .Adriatic sea and he
was only rescued from the waves
when death seemed certain. But
Nemesis overlook him one Septem-
Der day in 1912. When he was de
scending after a trip from Bologna
his balloon caught fire when about
100 feet from the ground The count
leaped from the car and was picked
up dead, while his companion suf-
.fered terrible injuries, from which.
however, he recovered.
Probably no aeronauts have ever
survived to tell such a thrilling story
of their experience as Messrs GIai-
sher and Coxwell. when, I'm 1862. they
made their record ascent of seven
miles. When the balloon had reached
a height of $4,000 feet Mr.. GIaishcr
records. 4 dimly saw Mr.. CoxweIl
IN the ring and endeavored to speak.
but could not, when i'm an instant
intense black darkness came and :
suddenly became unconscious
Mr. Coxwell himself was ON the
point OF succumbing 10 the intense
cold; the boar frost was all round
the neck OF the balloon. his hands
We're frozen and powerless. and. as
the balloon was still rising swiftly
death seemed inevitable TO both
aeronauts Mr. Coxwell despaired of
opening the valve TO release the gls.
insensibility was rapidly coming over
him. and it was only at the last
gasp that, by a happy inspiration
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