A Balloon Catastrophe.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3184, 3 May 1879, Page 1

A Balloon Catastrophe.

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE OF THE AERONAUT.

The ssnsatienal event of Monday waa ; the balloon aicent of M. Henri L'Estrange, i and the marvellous escape of the aeronaut \ from destruction. L'Estrange was advertised to ascend in the balloon " Aurora," and a large number of persons assembled at the Agricultural Society's ground to witness the erent. In order to secure a full inflation of the balloon, the Metropolis tan Gas Company .laid on a special 6in. main. Shortly after 11 o'clock the operation of filling ,the Wtyoon was commenced, and so' strong was the. pressure on the main that without any assistance from the,centrifugal pump which was in readiness, th* balloon was inflated in the course of about 30 minutes. It is known, however, that in conreying the balloon from the Horticultural hall to the grounds several holes had been made in the calico, and these had to be repaired by M. L'Estrange before the balloon was fully taut and ready for the ascent. He mad* the repairs hurriedly, and used a plaster to effect them, but he said he would •' chancejit." • A- few minutes after 3 o'clock, the work of attaching the ear or basket in which the aeronaut takes his I plade was commenced, and at 23 minutes to 4 o'clock, the adventurer took his place in the car, and proceeded to tie up the orifice of the balloon with a pockethandkerchief, the valve check passing through the, orifice so secured into the car. This proceeding has been much commented on a~s, i unusual, ■ and to it, some people attribute the accident. M. L'Estrange ;at once 'gave the signal to let go, and almost immediately the balloon shot up into the air with surprising velocity. The aero, naut, however, did not appear to bo at all alarmed, and waved,' his adienx to the assembled multitude-with perfect sang froid. When about half a mile from the earth he threw out'of the car a number of hand bills, which floated in the atmosphere for a considerate distance, and when he had ascended to a still greater height, he was observed to throw out the contents of a bag of,sand. The balloon still continued to ascend, and the car and its' occupant were' quite unrecognisable without .the"''aid' of,a glass, when the balloon itself was seen to suddenly open on^one.side and. commence to descend with terrible velocity. , Almost instantly the silk parachute attached to the centre of the - balloon opened and checked the speed' at which - the. balloon was .descending, but still it was of -«Ov rapid a, nature thatithj^ majority of those^loojting ; _pn opinion that M. L Estrange -^^WS^P^"" dashed'to pieces. The erow4Up^M|id the descent with.bre»Al#M,ij«Wr»•n<* liteetngr'the, direction in whjieJpiueJballoon fell,»(rush' was made fojrjjtoapot. On reaching the place it waijp^nd that M. L'Estr«nge'>as buried bljj&jh^hedefo-v of the balloon, the netting and portion"' of 'the.linen.of which wa#«i»glit in a fir-tree .at the-rear'of v .<Ll4Jii«Oinifittti:house. car had~ fallen to" Ihe " ground'" by" the side of the tree,;', and M.' L'JEstrange, overcome by the 'viplenca of the shock, (waV unable toVx'tricate'b.Hiise.lf ,fr.bm the folds of the material of ;whjoh the balloon waa constructed.' This'Cwa^;., Jojowever, promptly' remedied, ,and,, r tlio fearless aeronaut *" rescued; apparently, but little injure^. The; time vpceupied m this rapid ascent a.nd still more speedy.desoent was as nea* impossible, nitfe mioutei. Amonrtt'the «cc>ted'*rowd ,there wera soon circulating at Ic?«t a ,do»« .statements as to tfo< ekuse\6f Ttfae f .^'dent. M. L'Estrang«'« story^ "is 1 as .'"follows :-le states that having in,Sydney tJ becn'sup. plied with gas of iuct inferior,qualiLji,bo had not been «l)le tp adequately calculate the buoyancy,of the balloon wliou inflated with the Melbournegaa. When starting, he weufc up with remarkable rapi lit/, and everything appeared "to h& going well, when ho parsed through a stratum of clouds, and thiaUing-ttfut lie would meet with further atmospheric resistance, lie emptied outr* a bag 'of ballast. The effect was. to cause (be balloon to shoot 6p iwith- great ei'lerity, and almost! 'immediately ttfter wards -. he heard an,«tplo«ton as if Qf a laxg^cun-"" tion; and on loiaking: up herssw"that the balloon- hadi-bursf^He then co«aniettced to descends with* terrible vetecity, 'but-'the parachute opmed out,- and aomeyvhnt checked his speed. Ho had the presence of mind to throw everything out of the car, and liaviiig done so he quietly "awaited his fate. ' Expecting every minufo to be dttshed to piecos' ho'Svriftly"'desC(Midt'd, and the car struck'the earth, giving him a violent shock, while-the balloon was caught upon a tree.' MvL'Estrange explains that immediately 'after throwing one'the bag of pand lie found' liimieif iv a^ew and highly Rarefied atmofiphtre'. He Vas.7jUSt X to op«n tlie vulre and allow^'a quantitf^bf gag to escape, when the baWoon exploded. •'■ -Under ordinary circumstances, when inflated the balloon was Supposed to carry a weight of 1,4691b., and that with the weight of the material 1,0701b.', left 3991b; to spare for ballast and passengers, but with the Melbourne gas it is believed that there was at least 7001b. to spare, and the consequence was that when the balloon was let go it shot up-with unexpected . force and speed. M. L'Estrange attributes the disaster to the fact that the gas Was df a much lighter quality than that for which his calculations were made, and also that be miscalculated the density df the higher atmosphere into which he ascended. His sensations after the balloon collapse^ were, as may well be imagined,' of a dreadful nature. - He had ascended to a height of nearly a mile and three-quarters from the earth, and he felt that, tailing from that height, death would" be' inevitable; but having thrown out the ballast, and endeavored as far as possible to gather-up i the remains of the balloon he commended j himself to a higher power.' Consequent

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