BALLOONING, MODERN. 



79 



tain heights, and he fools almost intuitively the 



.Iling of the balloon. Hut a scrap of 



thrown from the far solves any doubt. 



! clothing >hould always l>e carried for ex- 



:ind provisions also, for nothing 



can ! in"''- uiiriTiain than tin- landing-place 



a prolonged flight in the air. 



America is, perhaps, the best country in the 



. for long ami interesting voyages; the 



great variety of scenery, particularly east of 



the Mi>- issippi, the one general language, and 



the intelligence of the people, all favor this 



ibore other countries ; but for short aerial voy- 



iie I .est place is, no doubt, to be found in 



France or Kngland. 



The most remarkable ascensions in this coun- 

 try, since that of La Mountain, are the follow- 

 ing : Lowe sailed from Cincinnati to Columbia, 

 S. C., about 300 miles, in six hours. 



Two experienced voyagers rose from Plym- 

 outh, N. H., in 1872, and, having crossed the 

 White mountains, found themselves at nightfall 

 in the wilds of Maine. After alighting among 

 the tree-tops on the lee side of a mountain, 

 where they consulted for half an hour on the 

 po->iliility of escape from their dilemma, they 

 determined on a continuation of the voyage. 

 Throughout the night they floated on over the 

 Maine and Canada wilderness, and toward morn- 

 ing were carried out over the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence. Their ears caught the sound of the surf 

 beating on the shore while they were passing out 

 over the water. They made a careful descent, 

 availing themselves of the advantages of the drag 

 rope, when by good fortune a counter-current 

 wafted them back to the shore. Daylight com- 

 ing on, they discovered a road the only one in 

 hundreds of miles and effected a safe landing 

 near the little French settlement called Sayabec, 

 250 miles below Quebec. 



A company of five persons rose from the city 

 of MufTalo, and, taking a southerly course, passed 

 into the State of Pennsylvania. Crossing the 

 Allegheny mountains, they reached Havre de 

 Grace, Md., where, ascenditig to a great height 

 on account of the heat of the rising sun, they 

 encountered a current from the west, which car- 

 ried them over the State of Delaware and landed 

 them in southern New Jersey. They were about 

 thirteen hours in making the journey. 



Seven persons rose from Cleveland at 11 

 o'clock A. M., on a September day, and were im- 

 mediately swept out from the shore. Their 

 course lay down the lake for a hundred and 

 thirty or forty miles, when they came down for 

 a sail on the water by the aid of the drag rope. 

 In doing so they doubled back on their former 

 course, but with a tendency toward the Canada 

 shore. They repassed Erie and Cleveland, and 

 at 7 P. M., after eight hours over the lake, they 

 left it at Point au Pele, on the Canada side. 

 Approaching Lake St. Clair, they were seeking 

 for a landing-place, when, in passing over a 

 piece of woods, the drag rope fouled among the 

 trees. Sand was thrown out to force it io.^e. 

 and after three heavy bags had been disposed of 

 the balloon was freed and rose rapidly to the 

 clouds. Lake St. Clair was crossed in the dark- 

 ness. The tinkle of an occasional cow-bell was 

 then heard, but later they heard the deep-toned 

 voice of a steam gong, descended, and saw the 



lights of a steamer on Lake Huron. Port Huron 

 was at their feet, but they were hurried away 

 from it by a lake breeze met in the descent, and 

 a landing was effected at midnight, eleven miles 

 from the town. 



Two voyagers ascended from Chicago, who, 

 by a circuitous route of six hundred miles, after 

 a nineteen-hours' voyage, found themseho in a 

 dense wilderness. They spent five days without 

 fin M I before a habitation was found, and three 

 days more in reaching Chippewa Falls, where 

 they could telegraph to their friends. 



The " Daily Graphic " Company, of New York, 

 announced that they would send a balloon across 

 the Atlantic. Donaldson and Wise were to be 

 the aeronauts, and a balloon of 450,000 cubic 



AN INHOSPITABLE RECEPTION. 



feet capacity was constructed of domestic cotton 

 and coated with oil varnish. The materials em- 

 ployed were too cheap and primitive for such a 

 great undertaking, and coal gas was deemed 

 sufficient for a vovage of thousands of miles. 

 The parties quarreled when the day for the in- 



