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• y *.» Or»s*» CftWMr Unto*, OqL iX BAL1COH ASCES8I0H./TLBB2BLE ACCIDENT,ukatu or r«prKs«OB wiLtrra.He Fills TTw HHes.\Ubi of the to0*1 horrible accidents known In the annals «*f bUU*ry, occurred , at till* place Uat Saturday, tho )s«t day of oar Air, resulting in the death of Prof. U. H. Wilbar, on ■ronaut of considerableferns i and tii« serious Injury of Ur. G. H. Kospp, Editor of the Ujunox Cuuxrr Djrox- Prof, Wilbur rood* two or three successful uceoaiou* bore last summer, and th* officen of our Agricultural Society mad* or range meat* with him to return and mnktnn ascenslou cacti day during the fair. During all previous day* of lb« fair bo bad made but abort ascension*, the balloon being confined by topes, *o that it could not riso more thin two or three hundred feet, on account of which there was considerable dissatisfaction manifested, and many objected to paying him the amount agreed upon; but, on BatUTday, the Prof. anuounccd that be would give them uo cause for grumbling, that he, In company with 31 r. Knapp, would roako a complete ascension. To use th* word* of Wilbur, “go high enough to cool offAt the appointed time, on Saturday, 4 o'clock, r. M. tho tallooo was inflated, Mr. Knapp atcpjed into Ute car attached to th* balloon. Prof. Wilbur handed him the valve rope attached to th* top of the balloon—by the use of which the only control over the balloon is had—liils rope la just long enough to reach from the lop of the balloon to the occupant of the car beneath.At the time ft was banded Mr. Knapp, the balloon liad not ascended from the furose* far enough to take up the slack in th* tope*, by which the car was fasten od to the balloon, and the valve rope was handed to Mr. K. •« a coil, which inode It much too short to reach the car, when tbu ropes attached to It were distended. Prof. Wilbur then stepped back tome ten or twelve feet, and cried to those bolding tha balloon “cut bur loose, which they did, and the monster started on it* flight upward with great velocity.Ftotn these facta U seemed to those present that It wo* the Intention of tbe Frof. to let Mr. K. make the aaceunionalone, although it was th* understandingbetween them to make it together. On account of the *Uck in lb* ropes attached to th* car, am! the shortness of tho valve ^ ropu held by Mr. Knapp, when tho Ual \ loou started with such velocity, lie was Violently thrown from the car and be camo entangled in the valve rope, which formed a loop around bis arm, and held him suspended uuliride the car until be waa carried some twenty feet high, when by some good fortune, be loosed hi to self and full to the ground, injuring bimseJf severely but not fatally; bis bands were badly lacerated, nod bis right foot and 7 lag considerably bruised.When Knapp wa* first thrown froto tho car, which wa* when the balloon wm but a few feet from tho ground, and it wasevident that li« could not regain it, Prof. Wilbur made a spring for tho car and succeeded lo grasping Uie ropes Attached thereto, and attempted to awing himself Into It. 11* made several attempts but foiled. The Inst attempt that could be plainly seen was, wbsn the balloon had reached an attitude of, perhaps, four hundred feet, when the daring wrontut succeeded in getting one kaee over the edge of tho car, but, on account of (U light-no**, it swung away from him, and be than appeared to givo up all hopes of gaining ft.All this lime the monster was ascend.log higher and higher Into the bln* vaults of heaven, and poor Wilbur hung sue. p*ad*d by tho slander cords of the car, each moment carrying him nearer to that certain death from which human aid was powetlesa to save him. By this lime the excitement became Intense, as all then re-fllixed that his day* on earth were sum bared, and that be was soon to appear before that awful tribunal that we all, sooner or later, moot appear baton.Many and fervent were the prayers offered for bis safety, but, still the monster dragged him on, on, up into the trackless regions of space, no til be had reached an cJtitsdfl of one mile sod one sixteenth, when it started la a north western direction tbe unfortunate man looking like a nut pigmy. By this time, the most hope* (UhiddespeimLand the cry was, he is doomed, he am posse save himself, dost then hi* hat appearing wo larger than a to foil, and tbe joyfoi cryt op, he bee succeeded!» gaining thecar and has thrown his hat to notify us of hie safety, -But, alas four hope* were short lived. It was a token of his last fearful struggle! A few seconds Utcr tbo balloon was a^cn to creel to the north wetL The top had reached an upper and more rapid current None but poor Wilbur kuswybu extent of that fearful surge t Surely none but him could realize tho fearful ness of that situation when tho last link between him anil eternity wo* broken. My God, he Is full lag! were the thrilling words screamed by some; whispered by others. Tbcp followed s scene iadifcrtbsblc. For forty-seven long seconds endured that fearful suspense between earth ami beuven. It seemed as many minutes to the thousands of breathless spectators. 31 ore than two thousand persons gored motionless upon tho fearful spectacle. Down! down!— How slow! Ten; Uflccu seconds have passed. How nairow tbe dear space yet *cf ms between the si moat motionless ub Jcct and tbe monster balloon He Is erect; his arms extended; oow he turn* slowly, oncCt twice over; be ia somersaulting? now lie comes with fearful velocity; bis face U toward tbe zenith; his Ural* spread; now he whirls, tlret slowly; then rapidly. From the assembled thousand* goes npr nt first an indistinct murmur growing stronger and stronger, until It end* in a loud and prolonged wail or shriek of horror, which rend/# the very heavens; strong men weep like children, women shriek In ogony. Many of lhc«u have fainted, while others arc on Ikcir bended kaccf, praying with all tba fervency of tbeir hearts for the poor unfortunate Wilbur. Still down! down! coracs the Inert helpless moss, with a rutbing, hissing nnjsc, whirling still more rapidly, ui-ljl at last wiui a dull, dead, heavy thud, the body of the unfortunate man strikes tho earth and the terrible suspense is over. But, Its effect* arc trill plainly seen.— Strong cheeks sic still blanched with terror. It seem* incredible (bat we have witnessed the terrible sceue, but Just closed.AfW the spell was broken, a rush was made for the spot where tho body had fallen, which was in a newly plowed fluid, south of town aud about one half mile from ibe place where the balloon was inflated. When reached, tho body was found lying on its back, in tome thing near tbe position it maintained during the latter part of the frightful fall. It had fallen on ground that had but lately been plowed end harrowed, or it would have been much worse mangled than It was.— The head was crushed to a jelly, and other port* of tbe l«ody were terribly mangled,* though mostly internal. The indentation made in tho ground was about eight inches deep, which fully attests the great velocity attained by tho poor mau in his full.Frof. Wilbur's wife and child witnessed tho terrible tragedy, which once rob bed them of a husband and hither. Their feelings can better Imagined than ucscrib-cd,Tho body was at once removed to the Albert House, where It was properly cared for and was decently interred In tbe cemetery at this place, on Sunday, being followed to it last resting place by a very large number of our beat citizens.The boJoon was found some two miles northwest of here, on Ihu farm of Mr. T. N. Braxtan. Thu* ended tnl* terrible tragedy, by wlileh a human being lost bis life under more terrible and exciting circumstance* than ever before witnessed. May we never witness another such.Ax Eye Witness.Tbe Secretary of War, In bit last annual report, page 5, says :“Since tbo commencement of tho pro-sent fiscal year tbeic has been realized from sale* of surplus arms and ordinance to clrizens of the United Stales the sum or $5,000,000.We suppose these are tho arms that went into the hands of the French to shoot Germans. Will onr German Bo-publicans please make snots of it?— There are two questions relating to this transaction which the country would like to have answered: First, how much the French Government paid for these arms more than we received ? and second, what has become of the $5,000,000 ?Hon. D. W. Voorhees baa been re elected hy Uxe Demosthenien Society of tho University of Georgia to deliver the annual address before the* two literary societies of that institution at the commencement, next August.Since May, I860, the Government of the United States has paid premium* amounting to more than twenty seven and a half million dollar* on five-twenty bonds, or oearly twelve millions a year. So mock for wise radical financiering.
Newspaper Details
Paoli American Eagle
Paoli, Indiana, US
Thu, Oct 12, 1871
Page 2
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USA 05 Mar 2023
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