The Grecian Balloon.
The Times, 1824-09-07T00:00:00

- t ar swt2t 2tr o'clock yesterday, the tiie appointed for the ascen. sion of the balloon, we arrived on the ground. *Ve rematkedl the preseri- of lr. Bowringi, but, from the ,reneral appearance of the grounds, and state of the inflation at the time. we argued that no as- censiotu vwould take place. The whole affr,ir vas minerably managed. The inflation did not advance one step from the moment we entered .he gardens to the time when an accidental strokc from a penknife omtsioned the escape of whust quantity wis already accumulated in t.he baloon. A p^rson of the name of Smithies, who, it appears, is a Pastrcook, wvs the aeronautic aspirant on this occasion, but we do not scruple to say, that at the time when we thought the balloon Was ahout to ascend he was completely intoxicated; in fact, the whole afair was conaucted in such a manner as to disgust every in- dividual ptesent There were assembled at theplaccabout 3S0 persons lof whon. appeated to be of a very respectable class, and we not.iced thepresence ot a number'of Spaniards. At half past seven the gene- ral cxpectation a-as highily excited by the appearance on the plat- fors of the baUoon of SIr. Snaithier., and the attacbment of the car tothe balloon. iMIr. S-iithies was evidently, as we havebefore said, ruuch rintoxicatel, and he male an attempt at a speech which created z ot a little disturbance in the garden. An immense uuantity of con- Stables were assembled, who did their duty in a manr,ner somewhat the haitlest, and a great commotion wvas the result of their endea- vourv. At length. after having exhausted the patience of all pre- seat., thc netting of the balloon was disengaged, ant the escape orthe gs v,as accelerated by the opening of the valve. We sincerely hiope hat the present attempt to create an intercst in the Oreek cause may not Opera te on public opinion as an omnen ftor slhould it be considered in sucth alight. nn~is c rabc ee(lwilbtleh,eofhcvl-nen *soned to varxs that ill-fated wountr-ilie hipes of the well-ien- ANOTHER ACCOULNT. Alr. Smithies announcedl in his advertisements that the inflation of the balloon nould comnmence at II o'dock, but it was not until two oclock that the balloon, or any one belonging to it, made their appearance on the grounds. The gas-pipes had certainly been laid down, snd the sttge eTected for the purpose of the inflation, but, unt!l near three o'clock, nothing else indicative of an intention to osce,d w-as at all apparent. About this hiour, however, the balloon ;which Vas the sante that Mr. Graham succeeded in ascending with once, and failed twice, commonly called the " lawn alloon") was brought upon the stage, arld the pipe, conve'- ing the gas from the Imperial Gas Company's -wores, at Hack- nny. close at hand, was applied to the opening, and the process of intOation went on very rapidly for sonie time. So very thin Vas thX assemblage of company, there not being at four o'clock fiorty persons, besides constables, present, somne remonstrances were niade with Mr. Smithies to adjourn the ascent to an- other rnd a beuer day; butt his reply was. that he was committed with the Gas Company; he hall to pay them forty guineas for the supply, and on no future dav could they promise him a supply on any terms, becaulse, having lately obtained the contract for lighting the Et:sex rooal.their attnost rxertions tvere required to keep tip their ,nsiPn of gas for their proper p urposes: Mr. Smithies therefore de- tsrnined to nmake the ascent, if possible, at all hazards-and ha- :-z.rds indeed there 'ere; for, during the progress of the inflation, it -eas cfien found necessary to stitci up and patch the material of this arid b.l'oon, end the zea was so constantly escaping, from the po- 1ous nature of the fabric, as well as its tattered state, that the mell was very offcnsive in tile gardens; indeed, it was surprising to uc h"w any rational man would risk his neck in such a crazy ma- ctilne. The car was on a par with the bAleon, for a mnore shabbv concemnwe never saw, It was an old wicker-work basket (or car if you ill). covered outside, and lined within with faded vel. -e-. *'hat might once have been a purple colour, and a little bit of r'lange fringe round tile top. About half past live o'clock the bal- it4on was inflated to the utmost that wvas intended; and at this period or an o-t- o r, includirg the band (for there was a band), constables and al1. there could not hsve been above l O persons present sand r..ne. ither male or female (of the latter there were about two Aozen rcs-rrnt, of anr apparent respectability. It was here evident that the F-< was fast escapingthrouigh the textureof the balloon, and all sorts of rcportq were aflaat-that no a.scent could be niade wiLh such a machine. &c. l o counteract theso it was also rumtoured. that tso or three of the Greek Committee had arrived; but we tmxitd see no such persons, or of any such description. The 8tir- .aundinghouses, win(lows, anci tops, were studdedl with rnen, wno. in-. and children. Hackney church-yard was crowded, and to ge- neral tdieassemblage outside far surpassed even in respectability as -ell asnumber, heggroimp w,ithin. At half-past six, strong synip- teros of impatience within and without, and a hoax was loudly talk- ed of. The sun was nowv fast descending below the horizon, and a noonlight exhibition, if any, was all that could be hoped for. Al- though the supply of cas was stili keDt sup, it was evident the bal- lnon waLs rather diminishing in size than otherwise. About seven c'clock the Secretary of the Imperial Gas Goinpanv cntered the r-'oand. and declared that the Company wotild not supplv gas five minutes longer; they had already continued the supply two hours be- -ond the nsual time (five o'clock,) and there wai not the least likeli- Ihood of the balloon being able to ascend; in fact, instead of 20,000 feet of as, the usual qnantity itecessary to fill a proper balloon, they had alread experded that day upwardls Of 0,C000 fect of gas. In- d.^ed. the secretary said, that if the Company had known that it was this old lawn balloon wrhich they had over and over again refuised to 611 upon an, terms, they would not have hadl aty thing to do with it. It was now clear that no ascent could take Place, although it required all the ef.brts of Mr. Smtlithies's fiiends to dis- gi;ade him from going up; in fact, they took away the car by force fromn the platforni, Mr. Smithies exclaiming that, if he war not allowed -he car, he would ascend in the net- work. Finallv., however, the gas v;as suffered to escape altoFetheer fm-or the macidne, and at near eight o'clock the whole ridicu- loris scene was at an end. WVhile we remained there was no row, for there were few interested in creating one, as few had lost their mnoney. ltr. Smithiest asked the Secretary if the Company would again supplv hiit this day; but the reply was, that on no terms, and *t no time, would they ever again have any thing to do with the l- law ballhoot. THR CGREVIA DArLLOoV.