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noon had finished firing the Royal Salute, the R.C. Rifles fired a Feu de Joie, marched past and left the ground early. With the exception of Major Flanigan's Volunteer troops of Cavalry, none of the Active Force paraded with the Queen's Troops. As there is no Military Band in Kingston, a Yankee Cornet Band from Henderson, N.Y., which had come over to enjoy the day, stepped forward in front of the Troops, and did their best to supply the want.
  There was no Balloon ascension after all the fuss. Mr. Keenan's great Balloon, 'The Prince,' within the Market Battery, was early filled with 35,000 feet of gas, but the gas must have escaped as fast as it entered the balloon, for it had no ascending power, and after a great many attempts to supply it with more gas, up it would not go, and about six o'clock it was given up as a bad job. Much indignation was loudly expressed--cries of 'humbug,' 'Yankee shave' were numerous, and threats were made against the balloon and its owner, but prudence prevailed, and the immense crowds congregated both within and without the grounds, slunk away under the agreeable impression of having been 'sold.' Much as we have condemned and do still condemn the conduct of Mr. Keenan, in rashly and improperly interfering with the business of an Æronaut like Professor Wise, still we must acquit him of any design to humbug or shave, for he most assuredly would have gone up if he could, and of all the disappointed people, he was perhaps the most.
  The Bay and Harbor were crowded all day with yachts, sailing boats and row boats, all filled to repletion with well dressed people. Several steamboats, with bands on board, were also steaming round and about the harbor, all crowded; and never did Kingston Bay or Kingston Harbor make so gorgeous a display as it did yesterday. As many Americans and country folks visited Kingston yesterday as during any of the Provincial Fairs.
  In the evening there were several entertainments of a quasi public nature. The Mayor and Mrs. Strange entertained their friends at a Ball. Col. Jackson, of the Volunteer Artillery, dined his Officers and some of his friends at the British American Hotel. And the Officers of the Third Frontenac Militia invited their commanding Officer, Lieut. Col. Ferguson, to dinner at the Anglo-American Hotel, where he was entertained most royally, for Mr. Millsap put on table a dinner, that would have been good enough for the Queen herself. At this dinner, all the officers were present, with the following guests, viz:--Col. Cameron, commanding the Third Division of Militia, Col. Corbett, commanding the First Frontenac, Militia, Major O'Reilly, commanding the 2d Company of Volunteer Rifles, Capt. Burleigh, commanding the 3d Company, do, and Captain McIntosh, late of the Highland Company, do. The usual loyal toasts were drunk, and the usual complement of speeches made; and and the company broke up shortly before eleven o'clock. Major Baillie presided, and Major Wolf officiated as Croupier. 
On the whole the day was a great day, though full of disappointments.

The Daily News.
SEE FIRST PAGE.
SATURDAY MORNING MAY 26.

THE BALLOON
  The promised balloon ascension was the main feature of the day. While the fixed bayonets of the riflemen glittered in the sun the spectators talked of the balloon, and speculated as to its ascent and descent, its size and power, &c. Balloons and aerostation were, in short [[?]]


of provisions, an overcoat, and an India rubber life preserver. When the balloon was let go, instead of rising rapidly out of the yard, it traversed the square at the height of a few feet, with every probability, had the apparatus been allowed to proceed, of the aeronaut being dashed against the northern wall of the enclosure. The car was seized and conveyed to its original position, and it was pronounced impossible to ascend without more gas. More gas was accordingly put into the balloon and the ballast taken out, but with no better result. The ascension proved a decided failure. When it was found that Keenan could not be carried up, a lighter man entered the car and was let up a short way by the rope, when he descended by his own gravity. The anchor was then cut away and a small boy put in the car and allowed to ascend to the length of the drag rope---a most puerile exhibition certainly, but which did not last long, from the deficient buoyancy of the balloon. Meanwhile Mr Keenan's friends from Watertown were loud in their denunciations of the bad qualities of the gas---denunciations which were echoed from others as to the "Yankee sell" and "humbug" that had been practised upon them. The gas was permitted to escape from the valve, and the spectators, like the balloon, gradually collapsed. Thus ended the first balloon adventure in Kingston.
THE FAILURE--ITS CAUSE
  Since the Americans seems disposed to impute the failure to the quality of the gas manufactured at the Kingston works, it may be well in this place to investigate the cause, with a view to test the truth of their imputation.
  The balloon is not of silk, as is the usual case, but of twilled cotton, varnished with a preparation of linseed oil and camphene, and is, with cordage and paraphernalia, of the great weight of 469 pounds. Its estimated capacity, however, is 47,000 cubic feet. According to the datum of Professor Wise the ascending power of carburetted hydrogen gas, such as is manufactured for the purpose of illumination, is thirty-five pounds for every thousand cubic feet--the balloon therefore when inflated with 30,000 cubic feet of gas, the quantity estimated to be supplied to the balloon, would be capable of lifting 1050 pounds. Deducting the weight of the apparatus and 200 pounds, the weight of Mr Keenan, there remains an overplus of power of 387 pounds, sufficient to carry an additional man.
  Theoretically, then, the balloon should have ascended rapidly even with a large quantity of ballast--practically there was some defect. In-
[[?]] gas for illumination, if free from atmos [[?]] air, is excellent for ballooning purposes, [[?]] [[italicized]]ce versa.[[/italicized]] Adulteration of coal gas with [[?]] a source of profit is impracticable, we [[?]] , to any great extent. Coal gas is comp- [[?]] of two atoms of hydrogen and one of [[?]] ; its illuminating power depends upon [[?]]ndance of carbon, while its buoyancy is [[?]]ed by an excess of hydrogen, at [[?]]xpense of its light giving quality, [[?]]gh advantageous to the aeronaut [[?]]s no just reason to attach blame to the [[?]]pany, since had they favored the bal- [[?]]hey would have injured city consumers [[?]]money into their treasury. The buoy- [[?]]ty of the gas was demonstrated beyond [[?]] the success of the pilot balloons. The [[?]]weight of a balloon as to capacity is [[?]] the smaller the superfices of the en- [[?]]nd an experiment on a small scale is [[?]] with a greater chance of failure than [[?]] a scale of greater magnitude. The [[?]]e of non-success is to be looked for in [[?]]gement of the balloon after it was in- [[?]] Before the gas was shut off, the balloon [[?]]dered to be sufficiently buoyant; it [[?]] considerable force in its efforts to as- [[?]] was only held down by the assistance [[?]]ber of men. After Mr Keenan had ta- [[?]]osition in the car a good deal of the time [[?]]sumed in preparation for flight an in [[?]]nd statements to his friends. During [[?]]od the [[italicized]]soi-disant[[/italicized]] professor held the [[?]]he balloon loosely in his gloved hand, [[?]]mes he relaxed his hold of it altogether. [[?]]g, therefore, the varnished material to [[?]] perfectly gas-tight (which is a matter of doubt), and the valve perfect in its action, the contents of the balloon had ample opportunities of escaping from this orifice. After the first attempt the smell of gas was so overpowering as to lead to an inspection of the valve, which was pronounced "all right." No great effort was made to prevent escape from the neck. The balloon at this time, owing to a rising wind, surged violently from a vertical to a horizontal position, and was only steadied by the breeze dying away. After the re-inflation the management of the machine was little different from the previous attempt. During the [[italicized]]quasi[[/italicized]] ascensions with the drag-rope the neck of the balloon opened freely, and the gas, compressed by the hemispherical net-work, and the weight of the loaded car, undoubtedly escaped much faster than it had been forced in. The steady escape of gas was shown by the gradual decline of its lifting power. We believe the failure is solely to be attributed to the escape of the gas in the manner we have pointed out, a piece of mismanagement due to the inexperience of Mr Keenan, who by his own admission is an entire novice in the art of ballooning. This was his first attempt. At the outset it was contemplated to secure the services of Mr LaMountain, a professional aeronaut; but failing in this, Mr Keenan undertook the ascension himself. If Mr Keenan and his friends were conscious of this escape, which from appearances we scarcely believe, the arrangement was a subtle evasion; otherwise it was an ignorant blunder. 
  Another thing deserves to be remarked. There was too little order or organization at the time of the first start, an indeed throughout the whole proceedings. The aeronaut seemed to exercise no control, and at times the confusion rendered it impossible to conduct matters methodically. Mr Keenan had too much assistance and too little organization.
  The luckless [[italicized]]finale[[/italicized]] has been the theme, probably, of more town talk than a favorable ascension would have been. The American visitors, no doubt, "felt flat," and our citizens---the prophets excepted---were disappointed. The whole affair has ended in chagrin.