MY CROSS-CHANNEL BALLOON TRIP. .

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 179, 24 April 1908, Page 9

MY CROSS-CHANNEL BALLOON TRIP. .

430 MILES FROM LONDON. (By Philip Gardner, in tho "Daily Mail.") It was a cloudy afternoon, with ,1 gale from tho north-north-west, when a friend of mino rang mo up on tho telephone suggesting that we should cross tho Chahnol in my balloon, tho Kismet, should tho clouds lift towards evening, and wo arranged to meet at Short's balloon works between fivo and six ' to i?discuss : tho weather , then. . Uy this .time tho clouds were just beginning to break a and seemed to liavo risen.to a bigger altitudo; so, .after returning homo to mako a fow preparations, wo gave tho word to begin filling shortly after 8.30. A few minutes boforo ten, mv friend —who has, by tho way, ci'osscd the Channel eight times and niado ope hundred and six ascents —and I arrived at tho balloon ground to find tho Kismet swaying to and fro in tho-wind, as though eager to bo released. Wo spent some minutes in stowing nway tho basket containing food • and tying 011 tho instruments; then wo ensconced ourselves in tho car, and afterwards waited for, a slight drop in tho wind. At 10.15, •with a suddoii cry of "All hands off; give her a shove up," wo shot upwards at a great speed. This in a high wind, is necessary in order to avoid tho largo .gasholder at tho south-east: corner of tho balloon ground. Above a Sea of iSiiver. At 2000 ft. wo stopped ascending, and wero flying towards the coast at forty miles an hour. London was left behind in . a . few minutes;' at' 11.35 wq crossed tho coast-lino to tho left Of 'Hastings, and wero speeding across tho Channel, leaving tho Dnngencss lighthouse, behind 011 our left. At 12.15 tlio French lighthouses near tho coast! wero Sighted. I feel powerless to describe tho magnificent spectacle below.us and above; the moon was shining brightly, tho stars wero out, iind not a cloud Was to bo seen. Tho sea, though very rough in reality, l looked from a height of 3000 ft. like a huge expanse of'dull beaten■ silver, and the glow from tho distant French lighthouses deemed ito welconlo us to France. I'Thon as we.approachbd tlio coast the roar of tho waves beating against tho shore reached us very distinctly, on our right was the small town of Treport, on our left tho largo bay 011 which St.,Valery_is situated. At 1.15 we crossed tlio coasMihe, : and. I was in France (or, rather, I should say alioVo Franco) for tho first tinlo'in-my life,-.. " ', Wo passed over largo woods, TVitli patches of well-cultivated land.;/Here and there wo saw small, farms, and now and then a small town or village, looking weirdly deserted in the moonlight./ The only sounds that reached us wero those made by the wind in the trees' or an occasional/chime,from a clock in some church-tofrcr, and sometimes a dog barking. After wo had travelled some littlo'distMioc from the coast, and had discovered our direction, my friend said ho would go to sleep for a wliilo, leaving mo in charge, which was— though at first I felt' a little nervous—li delight to me, as I had only once, bofore piloted my balloon, and tlidn only for a' short, distant® in England. Soon alter my friend had gono sound asleep I found on looking at my aneroid.and. statoscopß that tho balloon was, owing', to 'a ■ cold ; current of niiy falling 1 rapidly ; so I began', throwing' ballast out,as quickly 'as 1... could.., At first this 1 seemed, to, liavo 110 effect whatever, but fit last'l managed to .check our downward course,- iind : wo wero again between 3000 ft. and'3sooft. high, at about which • height' -I kopt her till ,my friend awoke. Over the Gloud-Mountains, " V-/ Wo began to.'seo. largo banks of clouds gathering nil round us, and though .wo ; ivere above most of them wo occasional); went through one, emerging agaiiv into the'riiooni light, which was: so, briglvt that We "did not need: to.' uso| tho electric- lights in order .to. read our instruments.,; The clouds were, now gradually becoming massed up together, and 'wo could see ; the, earth sufficiently to, take our .bearings, , As dawn approached we—now 7150 ft. above the'earth—witnessed, a most gorgeous scene. : On one sidoof us was tho mooii, still high in tho heaven, throwing a silver light, on tho tops of the clouds, formed liko a liugo range of snow-eovercd mountains,' towards'the base of which tho silver shaded to a dark blue. On the other, sido, tho tops of tlieso clottd-mountain3' wero tipped' with brightest ,gold,- which greliv, rcse-coloured lower-down,'and fought for supremacy with' tlio blub," and silver, light thrown :'down'. liy tho moon. Gradually, however, tho rose and gold gained..tho l . day, and slowly Wo ..wero onveloped in thoir mist till we sank through thorn into full view of tlio earth again.,' v SOOll on our right appeared , a large, forti- , fled town, .ironi-/which ' ascended the. sound of bugles. '.'This'town'wo discovered 'on: our. map' to bo' Dijon. Then a 1 large river, the. Rhone, in full ;■ spate,' appeared "winding through tho country,'.flooding its banks' on either side. After, leaving it behind we de-. oided to descend, and did_ so. closo to the town of Arbois, behind.'which'''.stretched tlio Jura mountains. ■ My oompanion pulled tho valve-cord for a moment, and wo rushed towards tho-earth at a great speed. , To our, amazement we saw, just before 'our. first, bnmp, that 1 the field on- to which \yo were descending was in reality a 1 vineyard covered with'short, sharp-pointed sticks. ; ,We bumped, my 'friend* valving; ; hard. ill tli6, time, and immediately bouiiced up Just high enough to jump a high'wall and land in the second vineyard, through which .we-dragged s with;-our' anchor, hero and there, but- taking no real hold in ~tho soft clay soil. My friend began to rip:'. At-.that, moment tlio basket . Was turned over on to 5 its; side, and while'Vd'. wero being slowly dragged-along in this posi-; 'tion I' seized the red cord, finished the ripping, and the Kismet quietly sank, an. inert' mass of balloon cloth, just as wo wel'o crossing over a licdgo into a third vineyard. 7 Claims for 'Damages. t . Soon, a largo;crowd' assembled, laughing., ' talking/ gesticulating, and asking a thousand questions, while we worked away putting the balloon carefully to bed ill her own basket. Tho cart which wo had sent for immediately. 011 landing arrived, and with- the balloon- in it we slowly proceeded down a very rough - road. into, tlio town of Arbois. -Among -the cro\Vd who had' given us such a charming welcome, and had helped; us to tlio l>oat or/ their ability,' wore some men in long blue smocks, who did not seem to, bo quite, so cheery—in . they regarded us with' looks of smouldering anger. Oil our way into the, town a.card with some writing-oil it was giyen us, after reading which we found'that the writors. were owners of one of the vine-/ yards who • wanted to claim damages. They politely but firmly asked 1110 to stop at theHotel do/Villo to sott-lo the claims. However, I persisted inygoiiig to. tho station first to' send tlio balloon away. -■ Returning from tho station, I heard.of two men who spoke English, one a teacher of English at tile college and tho "other a',kind of justico of the peace,'both of whom lunched with us and proved to bo the best of company. We told'thorn our trouble, aud at tho end of luncheon, whilo having our coffee, a gendarme- arrived, . saying that • fifteen claimants waited outsido and would wo receive them! Three,. came in, but the others wero dismissed, as their vineyards were somo 'distance'from tho spot where wo landed. An amusing sceno followed. Everyono. aroso and bowed 0110 to the other and sat down again, tho magistrate, with the gpndanno besido him, at tho head of the,table, tlio three plaintiffs 011 his left-, tho profossor 011 his right, "then myself, and then my friend. After a long paper had been written out stating what had occurred and giving among othor things my parents' names, my birthplace, age," address, and occupation, we settled solidly down to an hour's argument and gesticulation, finally settling our damago for £10 to one man and lGs. cach to tho other two, the former having claimed £50 and, the latter £10 each. At last wo wero again on good terms with ovoryqno in Arbois, and after muclr bowing, making polito speeches, and shaking hands all round wo had only, time to jump into tho hot-el omnibus and go to the station. The distance covered in oiir trii> from London to Arbois is about 430 miles, and it forms, I' boliove, a record for two, amateurs starting from London.