Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1908-03-04
IN AFALL|NC BALLOON
Fearful and Tragic Experience of
Three Aeronauts.
ONE SAVED AS BY A MIRACLE

The Terrific Cold and the PeouIia
Sensations That Encor,p sssed tn
Daring Voyaasrs at an Altitude q
Over Five Mies-The Descent
One OF the most terrific experience
m the history of balloonlng was tina
" three aeronauts who IN 1875 mad
az ascension in large and well mad
Balloon. the Zenith. In this voyag
the object was to reach the creates
possible altitude. The balloon rose Il
height Of $4,000 feet-that is, abou
five and half miles from the earth
At this point something happened
what, no one will ever know, since the
only surviving balloonist, Tissandler
was at the time insensibe. But tho
balloon began rapid fall and finally
struck the ground with such a fright.
full shock that Sivel and Croce- Spin
nelli were killed instantly, while Tls-
sanders life was spared by miracle
The account Of this voyage is per-
haps best told In Tissandiers own
words:
AT $4,000 feet we were standing up
In the car. Sivel, who had given up
FOR moment. was reinvigorated.
Croce-Spinnelli was motioness In front
OF me. | felt stupefied and frozen. I
wished to put on my fur gloves. But
without being conscious of it the ac-
tion Of taking them from my pocket
necesstated an effort that | could no
longer make. copy verbatim the fol-
lowing lines which were written by
me. although | have no very distinct
remembrance of doing so. They are
traced in hardly leglble manner by a
hand trembling with cold:
My hands are frozen. am all
right. We are all right Fog in the
horizon, with little rounded cirrus. We
are ascending. Croce pants. He in
hales oxygen. Sivel closes his eyes.
Croce also closes his eyes. Slvel
throws out BALLAST Slvel seized his
knife and cut successfully three cords.
and the three bags emptied them !
selves, and we assembled rapidly.
when Sivel cut away the bags OF |
ballast at the height of about 24.OOO |
feet seemed to remember that he was |
sitting at the bottom of the car and
nearly In the same position as Croce-
Splnnelli. For my part, | was in the
angle Of the car, thanks to which sup
port was able to hold up, but soon
feit too weak even to turn my head TO
look at my companions. This was
about 1:30 p. m. At POS p. IN.
awoke for moment and found the
balloon rapidly descending. was able
to cut away a bag Of ballast to check
the speed and wrote in my notebook
the following words:
1--WE are descending. Temperature,
degrees. throw out ballast. Ba.
rometer, 12.4 inches. We are descend
Ing. Sivel and Croce still In a faint
Ing state at the bottom of the car
Descending very rapidly
Hardly had l written these lines
when kind Of trembling seized me,
Ind fell back weakened again. There
vas violent wind from below up
ward, denoting a very rapid descent.
after some minutes | felt myself
haken by the arm and recognized
,roce, who had revived. Throw out
'allast,' he said to me. We are de-
But I could hardly open
ny eyes and did not see whether 81
el was awake. l called to mind that |.
,roce unfastened the asplrator which
g then threw overheard, and he threw
ut ballast rugs, etc.
AT $3.50 p. m. opened my eyes "
gain. felt dreadfully giddy and op.
ressed but gradually came to myself. =.
he balloon was descending with |,
'ightful speed and making great oscil- !
tions. crept along on my knees a
I'D pulled Sivel and Croce by the =
I'M. 'Sivel! Grocer exclaimed. :
Wake upP My two companions were ~
added up motionless in the car, COW
ed by their cloaks | collected all my
rength and endeavored to raise them
}. Sivels face was black, his eyes %
Ill, and his mouth was open and full r.
blood. Croce's eyes were half clos .
. and his mouth was bloody. -
ITO relate what happened afterward a.
impossible. felt frightful wind. 20
Q were still 900 feet high. There a.
manned In the car two bags Of bal ~
IT. which threw out. was draw
3 near the earth. looked for my
life to cut the small rope which held
anchor, but could not find 1t. | was oil
e madman and continued to call. -
vel, Sivel! BY good fortune was Ga
lie. to put my hand upon my knife rol
d detach the anchor at the right on
'ment.
The shock on coming to the ground
8 dreadful. The balloon seemed as we
It was being fattened. | thought It dc
8 going to remain where 1t had fall -
but the wind was high, and 1t was
gged across fields. The bodies of 4
unfortunate friends were shaken Y
'ut In the car, and thought every
ment they would be jerked out. At ?.
9Th, however, l seized the valve III
, and the gas soon escaped from
balloon, which lodged against o
l.. 1t was then o'clock. On step Sig
3 out was seized with a feverlsh
ok and sank down and thought for --
oment that / was going to join my
nds In the next world, but I came "a!
found the bodies of my friends nv
and stiff. | had them put under w
ter In an adjacent barn. The de-
t Of the Zenith took place on the way I
ns Xxx miles from paris as the must
a., tional
dles. Inc greatest nelgnt at DR..
All In thiq ascent is estimated nj DR..
70 feet."-W. r. G. Latson In Min. mucol
'olis Journal. s Sm03p
- entire