80 



BALLOONING, MODERN. 



flation arrived, and poor Donaldson, with the 

 experience of scarcely a dozen ascensions in a 

 little one-man balloon, found himself in sole 

 control of the immense aerostat. In his efforts 

 to fill it, all control was lost, and the bag itself 

 was saved only by a judicious use of the knife. 



THE ONLY WAY OUT. 



Another aeronaut, of more experience, was sent 

 for, with no better results ; but at last one was 

 found who succeeded in starting Donaldson and 

 his two companions on their journey. Fortu- 

 nately, they did not go directly out to sea, 

 though Brooklyn was their point of departure ; 

 but they kept inshore, and at the distance of 



about one hundred miles a descent, which they 

 could not govern, brought them in contact with 

 objects on the ground. Becoming demoralized, 

 they abandoned the ship. The landing was 

 effected at East Canaan, Conn. 

 Long Voyages. The longest voyage ever 

 made in this country was that 

 of John La Mountain, from St. 

 Louis to the vicinity of 'Water- 

 town, N. Y., July 1 and 2, 1859. 

 The distance, as measured on 

 various maps, is from 825 to 

 835 miles in a direct line. The 

 aeronaut had with him as pas- 

 sengers Mr. 0. A. Gager, of 

 New York, Mr. Hyde, a jour- 

 nalist of St. Louis, and the 

 well - known aeronaut, John 

 Wise, of Lancaster, Pa. The 

 balloon was of oiled silk and 

 had a capacity of about 90,000 

 cubic feet. The voyage was 

 made in about sixteen hours. 



Paul Rolier, one of the im- 

 promptu aeronauts of the 

 siege of Paris, and a sharp- 

 shooter named Deschamps, as- 

 cended together in a balloon 

 of 70,400 cubic feet capacity, 

 and landed in Norway, it is 

 said, 600 miles north of Chris- 

 tiania, the capital of that coun- 

 try. If this is correct, it would 

 appear to be the longest voy- 

 age on record. The voyagers 

 during the night descended 

 over the sea, and, their drag 

 rope bein,g insufficient, they 

 were dashed into the waves ; 

 but by throwing out some Gov- 

 ernment dispatches they rose 

 again, finally effecting a land- 

 ing in a forest where the snow 

 was knee-deep. They were 

 fourteen hours and forty min- 

 utes on their journey, suffer- 

 ing much from cold. They 

 slept alternately till the follow- 

 ing morning, menaced by the 

 vicinity of wolves. They found 

 a cabin and some Norwegians 

 next day, and soon reached a 

 neighboring village, whence 

 they were carried on sledges, 

 and finally by rail reached 

 Christiania. They were not in- 

 cumbered with their balloon, 

 for, in their haste to land, the 

 balloon, with a portion of their 

 dispatches, escaped, coming 

 down again many miles away 

 and frightening the inhabit- 

 ants. 



The New York " World " re- 

 cently undertook to break the record of long 

 voyages with a balloon of 160,000 cubic feet capa- 

 city, and employed an amateur to do the work. 

 The undertaking was too great for a person of 

 limited experience. An older aeronaut sent the 

 balloon and party aloft, but, with everything 

 favoring a long and eventful voyage, the inex- 



