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worth a whole lifetime of disappointment. They have done a deed which will render their names immortal in the annals of science, even if they intended to stop here; but when it is considered that this is only the first of a series of more startling adventures-such as crossing from the Pacific to the Atlantic seaboard- then sailing over the Atlantic ocean,and lastly, a voyage around the world,the affair begins to assume an unparalleled grandeur.
These gentlemen,who have already astonished the country, will follow up their success with all the ardor of philosophical and poetical minds,that have demonstrated a great problem or struck a rich lead in the golden regions of Fancy,with the conviction before them,that the field is peculiarly their own,by the right of discovery. They will remember,that-
"To have done is to hang,
Quite out of fashion,like a rusty nail,
In monumental mockery."
This aerial voyage,which has just met with the most gratifying termination,can scarcely be realized. To thousands it will seem like a beautiful idea,threading a dream,to which a balloon,when first launched into the air,may be likened.
The telegraph at a late hour last evening brought us the news that the balloon Atlantic landed at 6 o'clock,P.M. on the 2d inst.,at North Adams,Jefferson county,New York.No particulars had then been received.
North Adams is from one hundred and eighty to two hundred miles east of Niagara Falls,from which locality the last intelligence was received of the aeronauts at 12:15 on Saturday. The distance traveled is about the same as between St.Louis and the city of New York,and the only regrets there can be is,that the current did not favor them a little more to the south.
The public will await with [[gteat]]anxiety full particulars of this extraordinary voyage.
[[BOLD]]THE TRANSCONTINENTAL BALLOON VOYAGE.
INTEREST MANIFESTED BY THE PUBLIC.
NEWS OF ITS SUCCESS AND PROGRESS.
THE LAKES TRAVERSED.
[BOLD]Niagara Falls Reached in Seventeen Hours.
It would be difficult to describe the quality and extent of the sensation which was displayed among out citizens,generally,yesterday,regarding the progress and fate of the intrepid passengers of the air-ship "Atlantic"-who embarked on a voyage of discovery and experiment from this city on the evening of the 1st inst.
There were those among the spectators on the occasion of the ascension who predicted that the gigantic enterprise about which there had been some wind and much gas,would prove and absolute and palpable failure,and that the monster balloon would find a convenient and no very remote resting place somewhere in the State of Illinois.Some thought,judging from the direction taken by the Atlantic and its escort,that it might probably reach a point in the vicinity of Chicago, and there, if not exhausted of power,its passengers would most likely become timid of crossing the Lake,and would descend to [[Italicized]] terra firma [[Stop Italicized]] and end the expedition.
Others,with knowing looks and emphatic shrugs of the shoulders,predicted that not one of the adventurers would come down alive or ever be seen or hear tell of again. All these speculations were perfectly natural to the uninitiated or unphilosophical,but there were hundreds of others who not only confidently expected to meet their friends,the aeronauts,again, but were exceedingly sanguine that the aerial voyage would prove a success.
They already saw in imigination [[imagination]] the stately Atlantic and her gallant crew nearing the Eastern seaboard;the saw the upturned,wondering eyes of the expectant inhabitants of cities and villages on the route. They saw the air ship moving steadily on its eastward course through the heavens,and they almost heard the welcoming shout sent up by some city far to the orient,where the descending vessel should be wafted by fortuitous breezes safely into port,and proclaim to the world a brilliant victory over that subtle element,the air. They saw the warm-hearted,generous, delighted citizens rush towards the anchored air ship,all anxious to grasp their mysterious visitors by the hand,and gaze wonderingly upon the kind of beings who had dared to hazard their lives on so long and unusual a journey, as a scientific experiment,to accomplish purposes which still lie in embryo in the womb of time.
So far as our telegraphic dispatches inform us,that city or village to be rendered famous by the alighting voyagers has not been singled out from among the Eastern marts,all craving honor;but they have assured us most satisfactorily that the expedition, in all its varied bearings is a most complete and triumphant success,by far the most brilliant in its demonstration and development ever achieved by the science of ballooning. Under its auspices the name of our city, St.Louis, will ring from shore to shore of this continent and also of Europe.
The actual results to flow from successfully navigating the air,have not been,and cannot be at present determined. The results of steam navigation,railroads, and the telegraph,were not determined in a day. Judging from past experience,it has taken years to perfect a new science or art,and the science of ballooning is yet in its infancy. The novel experiments of air voyages have deterred all but the most curious and courageous from making the attempt, and it has often happened that the most capable individuals have lacked the means to render their skill,experience and courage effective. From the result of the experiments of which we write,we imagine that air navigation will receive a fresh and powerful impetus,which,with the aid of well directed enterprise and sufficient capital, will shortly produce the most decided and gratifying results. The city of New York was spoken of as the port into which the "Atlantic" would make its entree, but the exact locality of destination was not fixed by the aeronauts themselves. It does not matter into what portion of the Atlantic seaboard the airship should be waffed. This circumstance cannot detract from the triumph achieved. The aeronauts did not profess,as was wrongly suspected, to be able to steer or guide their vessel. That matter depends entirely upon the eastwards current of air,which fact has been established by long experience.
The paddle wheels with which the boat was supplied could only be used to elevate or depress the balloon at pleasure,without the necessity of loss of power. The direction of the vessel, as arranged at present, must depend entirely upon the current of air in which it happens to be poised. Future experiments and investigation may,for aught we know,suggest a plan for controlling the course of an air ship, but at present the air is the only rudder than can be employed.
We will now proceed to the immediate subject matter of the present aerial voyage,so far as ascertained, and will leave our readers to judge of success accordingly to their several inclinations. 
As we before remarked,the interest manifested yesterday morning regarding the aeronauts was general and absorbing. For a time,but it was only for a short time,there was a marked suspense. Everybody was asking his acquaintance or neighbor in the street if anything had been heard of the balloon. Wonder if it had landed in New York? They had a fine clear night for sailing;have they returned to St.Louis? Have you heard angthing [[anything]] of Brooks? Wonder how far he will go? How did Hyde demean himself at the ascension? And all of such questions everybody asked and nobody answered. Public curiosity was in due time relieved by the receipt of the following:
[[BOLD]]INTELLIGENCE OF THE AERONAUTS
Pana,Illinois,1,A.M.- The first information regarding their course and progress was received about daylight by the in train of the St.Louis,Alton and Terre Haute railroad, which left Pana at the hour named. The Atlantic had then passed that point,with the smaller balloon of Mr.Brooks in company and not far off.
FORT WAYNE,Indiana,4,A.M.- Passes North of the town, with the small balloon visible at the same time,but a considerable distance off to the South.
FREEMONT,Ohio,7,A.M.-The Atlantic passed following a course apparently due East.
SANDUSKY,Ohio, 7:30,A.M.-Atlantic passing;the name on the balloon distinctly seen. The inmates let fall some newspapers which dropped into Lake Erie. Only three persons visible. (The fourth was doubtless sitting down in the car,which act would conceal him from view.)
FAIRPORT,OHIO,9:30 A.M.-This point is twenty miles east of Cleaveland. The balloon,in passing,nearly touched the Lake,but rose again,and went out of sight in a north-east direction.
DUNVILLE,CANADA WEST,11:30 A.M.-Atlantic passed,keeping a steady flight;did not pass near enough to throw out papers.[The dispatch fro this point is dated at half past eleven o'clock; received here at eleven o'clock, St.Louis time.]
NIAGARA Falls,12:15 P.M. Balloon passed here going east. Very low and sailing rapidly.
The above embraces all the information we are able to give our readers this morning. The telegraph line via Cincinnati was obstructed about noon by a storm east of Vincennes;and soon after dark last evening the Chicago line was reported thrown down by the storm then prevailing.Occasionally these "downs" are only constructive ones. A bustling wind or a fall of rain comes on, when operators decide that the wires [[Italic]] ought to be [Italic] broken, and go off to enjoy the leisure it gives them.
It seems that the Atlantic and its escort were in the company at Pana, niety-three mies East of the Mississippi river, at one o'clock, A.M., on the 2d instant. The balloons were six hours in sailing short of one hundred miles; for which slow rate of speed is difficult to account. The only rational conjecture is, that they had met with counter currents of air, and had some difficulty in finding the unfailing eastward upper current, so satisfactorily demonstrated to exist at all times and seasons.
At one o'clock the eastern tide of air must have been discovered, for at 7:30 A.M., we find the Atlantic at Sandusky, Ohio, six hundred miles distant on its voyage. During six hours it must have sped away at the astonishing rate of near one hundred miles per hour, and still bearing east north-east.
The Comet was "spoken" at Fort Wayne, at 4 o'clock, A.M., still near the Atlantic, but a little to the southward.
The Atlantic passed Fairport at 9:30, A.M.m and no mention is made of the Comet. The little balloon had doubtless expended its power by this time, and descended, or it had possibly been driven away from its companion by a counter current, not being able to sustain its altitude in the path of the more buoyant Atlantic.
The Atlantic was reported to have nearly touched the surface of Lake Erie, and afterwards to rise again and disappear in a north-east direction. We opine that this descent was a mere freak of the aeronauts, accomplished without the loss of power, by the dexterous use of the paddle wheels, contrived to regulate the vessel in its altitude. They may have wished to test the efficacy of the apparatus, and also to exhibit their confidence in its efficiency for the purpose intended. The experiment was successful, from the fact that they again vaulted into the air, and were soon beyond the power of vision,
The last telegram, giving intelligence of the navigators, contained the fact that they were passing Niagara Falls--very low, and sailing very rapidly. If the Atlantic had alighted at the Falls, and there terminated its voyage, the aeronauts would have accomplished nearly four times the distance ever before traversed by a balloon in a single ascension. The fact of the small altitude at this place does not imply that the power was exhausted. The voyagers may have determined to have a near view of the Falls, and descended by means of their wheels for this purpose, or they may have been drawn down by a whirlpool in the atmosphere, occasioned by the descent of an immense volume of water. Who knows the mysteries of the untraversed atmosphere?
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but cans't not [[ten?]] whence it cometh, or wither it goeth."
From the unvarying direction preserved by the balloon, and the fact that no dispatches were received after the passage of Niagara Falls, we conclude that it must have crossed Lake Ontario into Canada again, and probably followed the St. Lawrence river for a considerable distance in its course. Continuing its line of movement it would eventually cross the river again, and we might conjecture would come to a halt somewhere in Maine or Upper Canada.
If the air ship had alighted in, or traversed the State of New York, further, we should, in all probability, have received advices to that effect by telegraph, while the lines were operating. The whereabouts of the aeronauts is still a matter of uncertainty to their friends in this vicinity; but we have no shadow or fear for their security or their vessel, and the ability of its crew to manage it. We assert, without positive knowledge of the fact, that such men as Messrs. La Mountain, Wise and Gager are eminently qualified to take care of themselves and prosperous result of their enterprise.
The exploit which, it may now be safely assumed, Mr. Wise and his associates has success fully performed, has very far advanced the science of aerial navigation. Previously it existed in a state of infancy and but little developed beyond the condition in which the brothers Montgolphier of France left it nearly a century ago. Actual ascensions were made in France and great heights attained under the original system of rarifying the air by hear from a collection of faggots of wood swung below the balloon in a net work of iron chains. Two French aeronauts ascended several times with this inflating power, though one of them finally sacrificed his life to his hardihood as did several of his associates at periods a little later.
An Italian nobleman and a scientific com