A BALLOON CATASTROPHE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5369, 30 April 1879, Page 3

A BALLOON CATASTROPHE.

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE OF THE AERONAUT. (" Melbourne Argus," April 15.) The sensational event, of yesterday was the balloon ascentof M. Henri L'Estrange, and the marvellous escape of the aeronaut from destruction. L'Estrange wap advertised to ascend in the balloon Aurora, and a large number of persons assembled at the Agricultural Society's grounds to witness the event. In order to secure a full inflation of the balloon, the Metropolitan Gas Company laid on a special 6iu. main. Shortly .after 11 o'clock the operation of filling the balloon with gas commenced, and so strong was the pressure on the main that without any assistance from the centrifugal pump which was in readiness, the balloon was inflated in the course of about 30 minutes. It is known, however, that in conveying the baliouu 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 made the repairs hurriedly, and used a plaster to effect them, but he said he would "chance it." A few minutes after 3 o'clock the work of attaching the car or basket in which the aeronaut takes his pkee was; commenced, and at twenty 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 pocket handkerchief, the valve check passing through the orifice so secured into the car. This proceeding has been much commented on as 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 aeronaut, however, did not appear to be at all alarmed, and waved his adieux to the assembled multitude with perfect sangfroid When about half a mile from the earth he threw out of the car a number of handbills, which floated in the atmosphere for. a. considerable distance, and whence had

ascended to a still greater height, he was observed to throw out the contents of a bag of sand. The balloon still continued tos 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 aide, and commence to descend with terrible velocity. Almost instantly the 1 silk parachute attached to the centre of the ballson opened and checked the speed at which the balloon waß descending, but still it was of so rapid a nature that the majority of those, looking on were of opinion that M. L' Estrange would be dashed to pieces. The crowd watched the . descent with breathless anxiety, and seeing the direction in which the balloon fell a rush was made , to the spot. On reaching the place it was found that M. L'Esfcrange was buried beneath the debris of ; the balloon, the netting and portion of the linen of which was caught in a fir-tree at the rear of Government House. The car had fallen to the ground by the Bide of the tree, and M. L'Estrange, overcome by the violence of the shock, was unable to extricate himself from the folds of the material of which the balloon was constructed. • This was, however, promptly remedied, and the fearless aeronaut was rescued, apparently but little injured. The time occupied' in this rapid ascent, and still more speedy descent waa as near aa possible nine minutes. Amongst the excited crowd there were soon circulating at least a dozen statements as to the cause of the accident. M. L'Estrange's story is as follows :— He states \ that having in Sydney been supplied with gas of such inferior quality he had not been able to adequately calculate the buoyancy of the balloon when inflated with the Mcl- ; bourne gas. When starting he went up with remarkable rapidity, and everything appeared to be going well, when he passed through a stratum of clouds, and thinking that be ' would meet with further atmospheric resistance, he emptied out a bag of ballast. The effect was to cause the balloon to shoot up with great celerity, and almost immediately afterwards he heard" an explosion aa if of a large cannon, and on looking up he saw that the balloon had; burst. He then commenced to descend with terrible velocity, but the para,chute opened out, and somewhat checked his speed. He had the presence of mind to throw everything out of the car, and having done so, he quietly awaited his fate.' Expecting every minute to be dashed to pieces, he swiftly ; descended, and the car struck the earth; giving him a violent . shock, while the balloon was caught upon a tree. M. L'Estrange explains that immediately after throwing out the bag of sand he found himself in a new and highly ratified atmosphere. He waa just going to open the valve and allow a quantity of gas to escape, when the balloon exploded. Under ordinary circumstances, when inflated the balloon supposed to carry a weight of 14691 b., and that, with the weight of the material, 19701 b., left 3991 b. to spare for ballast and passengers, but with the Melbourne gas it is believed that there was at least 7001 b. 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 of a much lighter quality than that for which his calculations were made, and also that he miscalculated the density of the higher atmosphere into which he ascended. His sensations after the balloon collapsed were, as may well be imagined, of a very dreadful nature. He had ascended to the height of nearly a mile and three-quarters from the earth, and he felt that falling from that height death would be inevitable V but having thrown out the ballast, and endeavored, as far 'as .possible, to gather up the Remains of the balloon, he commended himself to a higher power. Consequent upon the velocity with which he descended, the wind came whistling and screaming through the bottom of the car, and he feared that the parachute would fail. him. It split in several places, but still remained, tolerably effective, On reaching the ground, although sustaining a fearful shock, Jie realised the fact that he had escaped with his life. The folds of the balloon, however, pressed closely upon him, and he was in dread of suffocation, but finding a small hole in the linen he " placed his mouth to it, and was enabled to obtain air by that means sufficient to .sustain himself until assistance arrived. On being rescued M. L'Estrange was . placed in a cab and taken to his residence, and later in the evening he visited several places in the city. In consequence of the rumors circulated as to the fate_ of the aeronaut — whose escape the eye-witnesses i 1 of the disaster could scarcely be induced | to believe — Messrs Hiscocks and Hayman induced him to appear on the stage of St. George's Hall, where he met. with a most enthusiastic reception.