AMERICAN ITEMS.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 386, 26 October 1868, Page 3

AMERICAN ITEMS.

ACCIDENTS AT A BALLOON- ASCENT. On July 6th. a large concourse of people assembled at New Bedford, Massachusetts, to witness the ascent of a balloon. Every thing was at last ready, the rope to which was attached the grapnel, being properly coiled, and the latter safely placed in the car ; but in some way the guy, by which the balloon was held, caught and displaced the grapnell, which fell from the car, and in its descent struck a little boy upon the head, thereby fracturing his scull. The rope which held the balloon to the earth having been' cut, the grapnel was dragged along, and it caught a French boy under one arm and the chin, and another little fellow on the hip, and thus the poor children were lifted into the air. For a moment the agony of the spectators was intense, but the gentleman in the balloon, hearing the cry of the boys, with great presence of mind, cut the rope with his knife, thus giving the children their only chance of escape. They had reached an altitude of about forty feet, and fortunately fell into a tree upon the Common, which br ike the force of their descent, and saved, not only their Jives but their limbs. Both suffered from the concussion, and were insensible for some time; but both are likely to recover. The accidents were attributed to the crowd invading the space appropriated to the balloon. A large number of both men, women and children kept about the balloon, though the aeronaut warned them repeatedly of the danger they were in.

AN ENOCH AKDEN CASE. Some years ago, a man named Paris Shirley, married a Miss Tate, near Bloomington, Indiana. Some time after his marriage, Shirley removed to Illinois, where in the course of time; he bought a drove of cattle, and after sending his wife and children back to Bloomington to remain with their friends until his return, he started for California with his cattle. A little distance beyond Salt Lake City he was captured by the Flathead Indians, and his cattle confiscated. He was kept in captivity some eight or ten years, and during the whole of that period his friends heard not a word from him, and he was supposed to be dead. In the meantime, his wife sought and obtained a divorce, and was married about a year ago, and removed with her husband to Illinois. Now comes t!ie sorrowful part of the story. On Thursday, the .16th of July last, Shirley returned to his father's house in Bloomington, in bright anticipation of a happy meeting with his beloved wife and children, and when told the story of his wife's second marriage, the strong man broke down, and he wept like a child. Immediately he wrote a letter to his late wife, claiming her heart and hand, and alleging that he had the ■oldest claim to them. So closely was Mr Shirley kept in confinement by the

1 ndians, that he never heard a word of the American civil war, until the time he made his escape. His person bears unmistakeable evidence of the harsh and severe treatment he had been subjected to, but these he considers a small matter when compared to the loss of the mother of his children, and the law courts can iifford him no relief. A New York paper states : "( n July 20th, seven young girls went to bathe at the foot of Fifty-sixth street, East Kiver ; one of them got beyond her depth, and in her • struggles to escape drowning, dragged three others into like danger. A boy, 14 years of age, named Frank Beck, hearing the screams of the girls, came to their -cue, and succeeded by persistent diving in rescuing three of the four • the o;her, named Powers, was drowned."