BALLOONING IN AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5255, 26 January 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

BALLOONING IN AUSTRALIA.

The most successful .balloon ascent ever madh'in : the'cpffihic3'>vas : tnade atithe Eastern Oval!' Ballarat; oh Now Year's Day, by Bro:fosaor,:,ifenianu4,' Jack3orii I 'under 1 en'gagemeut tb Mri‘ Allisbp. The Professor,, says the, Star, has just arrived from Derby, in',England, and possesses ho less than five balloons.' ' The aerial oonvoyanoelie has'brought, but here is, capable , of .containing '20,000 cubic feet f bf gas; and of carrying' 1 froth 1 '; three Tb fbur ■hundredweight. The,-car.will hold four persons pt.a though bn -Now- Year’s .Day only one daring ,ypung''man accompanied -the aeronaut, j Thp gas-bag is constructed of. a material composed pf silk and flax,, well, varnished, -pud odvpted ’with strong netting. - A,pipe, laid to the Oval, from ‘lhd’ gas main supplied' the , buoyant gas,and, by five, , p,’clock, the vast bag.was inflated/ '• and looked . like „ a great pear that ,had sprung from the ground like ihagic. The "car ‘ was strongly'secured, ...and then the last preparations for ascent were made. This is the 278th ascent t made i by ./Professor Jackson, so that; nothing[was; likely;, to bp forgotten.A Mp Drew, hairdresser; of Bridge-street, who [has (before ithiß/yv'entured his life in situations i- that ,most 'ipen;/would shrink , from, had arranged to/accompany the laeronaut,, and,now stepped into thp;Oar:i A-brisk.wind was bloving , towards the porth, and. the, word : being; given to let'go, the band struck up “Upin a Balloon," and the vast cpnvpyauoe glided from -the ■ .ground, likenp; bird taking .wing. It was ifeared; that l the; par, would,.strike,the pavilion,’ ' but , the-lose bf,> some ballast evaded ithjs, and [the balloon./glided,over safely.;;, Messrs.; Jack;, son 'ftud Drew waved their hats, somebody audsgrowing rapidly pwo distant, and , ascending slowly,„ the, „ balloon. was,; visible a) couple of miles from earth. It. then seemed ,to, ,descend•,slowly, and .faded, fi’pm,,sight.; Bro,'fesspri Jackson informs ua-that,never in all the, 1 2 74 , .ascents, he has, made, has. he had, aj better journey, than on Now, Year’s day, and, never a more useful companion, j Ascending gradually, u,i. j»4bi -u , ' •* !

they reached a height of ' two and a half miles, and travelling at ; tbe rate of about twenty-five miles an hour, saw at a glance the whole of thou .Ballarat,;; Disfriot., n Pulling )the valve | they., drank the), QupenV health,- and descended,untilwhen, over ,Creswsck, - they frofn-jearth. . Here!the people ,a.aw,theip',( and. .the, streets , were/filled with, gazers. At; a. quarter ,to six the ,aeronantsfbegan to'descend,-and; ‘sweeping/.gently, down,i,struck, (when /about [fifty yards/from earth, a rather strong current pf air, .which .swayed the car about a good,deny, The flying gi ; aphel'jsfruclt the earth and ’gripped,, 1 and: the swaying balloon,was*brought .to ri standstill at. a .spot .about ,four niilps' this side Pf 'Chines;' hear the [waterworks bridge. . The' travellers stepped out, opened the'valves, arid the huge bag sighed, wrinkled up, 1 and 1 collapsed intp'-'a cotifrisecl 1 heap 'of "netting' arid silk. It was packed'into : the car'safely, and'aooriple’ of' farmersj'who rode - furiously up to'see'what' 1 ’ the 'strange'ohject was, werri asked what. they ’ at -first'thought tWhalloori l was 1 . ‘ One said “ a "crow,” arid the 'pthef ‘ s a ' beagle,” but both agreed; that they couldn’t think of lending a : cart ’ to" take ' it to 'the railway Station.. -A "party of 1 picnickers,- ’however,' did this, and balloon and aeronauts arrived in Ballarat safely arid without a scratch shortly, after' ten b’rildok, having travelled about [eighteen' miles through,-the’air: ' Mr. "Drew"informs""us that he'never felt sit all frightened; l 'When! the" balloon‘rose’ the earth seemed to slip away land 'sink'b'eripath" him; but he felt' no motion: | He cheered 1 vociferously, and; lost liis hat, u which; is probably cherished by some family iu ; tlie vicinity of-Creswiok as a relic of. an aeronaut,/ When over Ores wick f the ' people seeined to' be ; running about like arits, and from that spot 1 Ballarat - could be seen, arid'the Eastern Oval plainly discerned. The l scenery was; magnificent as far as the eye could reach, 1 rind the air very! warm ■ indeed. ' Both travellers seem 1 to" have enjoyed themselves. 1 ' " Mr. Jackson is highlyiple'asbdv with the ascent,: the; most 'successful* in fact the 11 only [thoroughly successful orie hverimade in-.the'[ colony, and: Mr.; Brew declares'! he, wouldilike nothing so-much as lanother, trip. On descending the; motion; was imperceptible, but the i earth seemed. to rush up to; meet .the balloon, and ; the prof essor, too,lost hiS; hat. ,1 rHe leaves iagain for, England in, a fortnight, and‘only came to the colony for private reasons,' as. .he has . more business in England.than he can manage:, ■