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LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

"THROUGH THE AIR."

RETURN OF THE VOYAGERS TO LANCASTER—A FINE PASSAGE AND A SAFE LANDING—INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP—A LANCASTER REPORTER'S OPINION OF BALLOONING—WHAT MR. CHAS. E. WISE HAS TO SAY OF THE TRIP. 

  The balloon voyagers are again at home, safe and sound; or at least two of them, Messrs. Wise and Johnston, are back in Lancaster, and all are safe -- but at this writing, nine o'clock, Master Wise has not reached Lancaster. The other two arrived here at 3:40 this morning. At 4:40 yesterday afternoon one of Mr. Frank Howell's pigeons returned from the balloon to the roof of Mr. H.'s residence, No. 221 East Walnut street, with the following despatch attached to its body:
  NEAR SAFE HARBOR -- 4:10 p. m.
  Fifteen hundred feet high; thermometor 75 deg.; all comfortable; grand scenery.
WISE AND JOHNSTON, Balloon.
  It will be seen from the above that the pigeon made the distance (eleven miles) in about thirty minutes; very good time, and Mr. Howell may well feel proud of his bird.
  The next despatch was from York, Pa., dated 5:27 p.m., and read as fellows: "Wise and his balloon several miles south of this place, moving southwest."
  The next despatch was also from York, dated 11:30, and read as follows: "Prof. Wise is on the Cincinnati Express, having landed about one and a half miles this side of Shrewsbury Station, York county."
  This was all the information received until this morning, when Messrs. Wise and Johnston arrived. The balloon, in excellent condition, without a rent or a scratch, also arrived, and was stowed away on the fourth floor of Locher's building, Centre Square, where it will remain until shipped to Mr. G. T. Bell, of Altoona, who has purchased it from Mr. Wise and will make an ascension with it on Saturday.
  We called at an early hour this morning on our friend Johnston, "the hero of the hour," who had locked himself up in the private law office of A. J. Steinman, esq., for the purpose of writing out, without interruption, his account of the voyage, a privilege he could not have enjoyed in the sanctum of a newspaper office, where interruptions are only too frequent. We remained with him only long enough to shake hands, convice ourselves that it was Johnston "in the flesh," and not a ghostly spirit that we conversed with, and that he was "too full for utterance," the beauties of the voyage having far transcended his imagination--and that is saying a good deal, for he has a pretty lively one. Our next interview was with Mr. Charles E. Wise, whose statement was substanlially as follows:
  "We left Lancaster at precisely 3:29 p.m., and as we neared the flag-staff on the City Hall, my son remarked, 'Papa, I believe we'll strike the flag-staff, but I guess we can push it away.' We did not strike, however, but passed about and safely over it. It could not in the least have affected us had we struck the staff. Seven minutes after starting we had attained an altitude of 7,000 feet, having sailed in a south-west direction. At 3:47 we passed over Millersville, at an altitude of 2,000 feet, and at 4:30 we reached the Susquehanna, being then 1,500 feet above the earth. Here, between the villages of Washington and Safe Harbor, we released on of Mr. Howell's pigeons with a message attached to him. The bird seemed loth to depart, and when he flew he descended almost directly for a clump of trees, as though he intended to alight there; but my subsequent knowledge of the time spent in reaching this city leads me to believe that it could not have stopped long (if at all) by the wayside. From this point we gradually rose to an altitude of 7,800 feet, with the thermometer marking 43 degrees, to which it had fallen from 85, the degree indicated at the time of starting. At 5.25 we effected an easy and safe landing in a buckwheat field on the farm of Mr. F. A. Beatty, in Chanceford township, York county, where we remained for half an hour, and where we indulged in some of the refreshments so kindly furnished by Messrs. George Miller and Jack Copland, who had provided lunch enough to supply the new hotel. In this matter of innocent amusement- eating and drinking- we were assisted by some of the people who had flocked to see us. An amusing incident occurred here. As we were descending we threw out great numbers of printed circulars, some of which landed on the back of a dog- and a more frightened animal I never saw. He started on a run, and, meeting another dog (and doubtless supposing he had done something to his back) he 'went' for him, and a fearful fight ensued, which was soon made worse by the arrival of another dog, who joined in the fight and made it triangular. How long this battle might have continued it is impossible to tell, but the crazed animals stopped long enough to take a look at the balloon, and then they ran away like something possessed, and up to the time of our departure their owners had heard nothing of their whereabouts. Mr. Beatty and his neighbors assisted us in getting the balloon out of the buckwheat field into a pasture field adjoining. After making two or three unsuccessful attempts to reascend, I was reluctantly compelled to leave Master John behind, in the care of Mr. Emanuel Smith, who promised to convey him to the nearest railroad station, in good order. But we were not yet ready to ascend. The people of the vicinity went a considerable distance and filled the bags with sand, being very anxious to see an ascension; and as Mr. Johnston urgently requested that I should again ascend, I concluded to gratify him, as well as the people. We at last got off, and immediately ascended to an altitude of 7,800 feet, and at that height witnessed on of the most glorious sunsets (I venture to assert) that mortal eye ever gazed upon. My companion, Jack, was filled with enthusiasm, and could only give utterance to his joy and surprise in expressions like these: 'Isn't this grand?' 'Isn't it sublime?' 'I want to go up higher, and stay up; I never shall be able to describe this scene.' After our mutual enthusiasm, exhausted nature demanded some artificial sustenance, and we 'went for' the baskets. I took a copious draught of water, with a little whisky, and my friend Jack took a copious draught of whisky with a little water. I concluded next, that fried chicken would suit me best, but Jack thought he'd try hard-boiled eggs. After the eggs he felt like trying chicken, too- and he did. The repast over, and nothing but the bones of the chicken remaining, Jack gave me this conundrum; 'Professor, how is this? We've lightened the baskets of considerable cargo, and have made ourselves somewhat heavier; now, what effect will that have on the balloon? Have we discharged ballast- or how is it?' My reply was that I would leave the matter for scientific investigation hereafter. He was satisfied, and dropped the bones over the side of the basket. By the way, speaking of lunching, our generous friend Copland must have original ideas about ballooning. He had provided a package of cigars and a box of matches, and on the cigars was the label- "to be smoked 500 feet above the earth." It might be pleasant to smoke above the clouds, but we certainly would not remain there long should a stray spark reach the balloon. And now we thought of descending, and, in hunting for the valve rope, I found that it had become twisted above the concentrating hoop. Here was an emergency, and here Johnston showed his nerve. He at once exclaimed, 'I can fix all that; a la Blondin, I'll mount on the edge of the car and undo that'- and he did mount. Standing astride the basket, in a moment he had everything properly adjusted. This act of coolness on his part I thought deserved a treat of Copland's egg nog- and we went for it. It was better than the eggs, by Johnston's admission. And now, as the shades of night were gradually excluding our vision and casting their lengthened shadows on the ground, we commenced gradually to descend. Seeing Shrewsbury not a great distance ahead, we concluded to land. I expected to land in the village, but the lower current of air drifted us somewhat to the north. The drag rope, which has been thrown out, was seized by a young man, who, a moment after, turned the quickest and at once the loftiest somersault I ever saw. It would have done credit to a gymnast. The man was badly scared, as was also a horse attached to a plow in an adjacent cornfield. The horse gave one leap; detached himself from the plow, and then made the best time through the corn- field that I ever saw a horse make. I threw the grappling iron out and a minute after we landed in a corn field, about 50 feet from a dense wood, on the farm of Christopher Schroder, 1 1/2 miles north of Shrewsbury, which is on the Northern Central railroad, about 19 miles from York. Time, 6:45. Here we hired a team, and were soon landed in Shrewsbury, from which point Mr. Johnston and myself took the cars, arriving in this city at 3:40. I forgot to mention that, after liberating one of Mr. Howell's birds, at the Susquehanna, we left out three of the Philadelphia birds, at intervals of twenty minutes, before effecting our first landing. Each bird had a message, and I expect in the course of the day to hear of their arrival at their home. Just twenty minutes before landing at Shrewbury we released the remaining Philadephia bird, and when we were descending we also released Mr. Howell's other bird, each bearing a message. Taken all in all, this ascension was one of the grandest and most successful of my life. To the citizens of Lancaster, who assisted me by their subscriptions, and the recollection of whose generous aid on my former ascension from Centre Square is still fresh in my memory, to say nothing of their life of devotion in aiding many ascensions of my father, I feel especially grateful; no less grateful do I feel to the press of the city- THE EXPRESS, Intelligencer, Examiner and Review, for their words of encouragement and untiring support; and I would also return my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Queen, of Philadelphia, for the use of his barometer, which worked most admirably; to my friends Copland and Miller, for their bountiful provision for the "inner man"; to the Lancaster Gas Company, for the generous terms on which they gave me the gas for inflation; to Mr. Hugh Corcoran, for his valuable aid in the work of inflation; and last, though not least, to my friend (and Lancaster's former citizen) Charlie Bitner, who came from Philadelphia to assist in my preparatory work, and rendered me such invaluable aid."
  We do not know that we can add anything to this pleasant and particular report furnished by Mr. Wise. We regret that, at this writing, we cannot record the safe return to our midst of the gallant little aeronaut, Master John Wise, who doubtless missed the connection last night, and was obliged to remain in York county until this morning- in which event he could not possibly reach Lancaster before three o'clock this afternoon. There is no doubt, however, that he is "all right," and if he arrives before we go to press we shall make a note of it.
  -Since writing the above we learn that the other pigeon belonging to Mr. Howell reached the residence of the latter between the hours of ten and eleven o'clock this morning. He had a message attached to his neck, which was dated Shrewsbury, York county, 7 o'clock p.m., and read as follows: "Have landed safely. Will be home in the morning. This is about forty miles from Lancaster."
  -Daily Express of Thursdoey.

SAFE ARRIVAL IN LANCASTER OF MASTER JOHN WISE
  -WHAT HE HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE RECENT VOYAGE.
  Master John Wise, who was one of the voyagers in the balloon "Conostoga," arrived in this city last evening. He is the youngest aeronaut in America- perhaps in the world- being only thirteen years old. This was his fourth voyage, having ascended twice with his grandfather (Prof. John Wise, the head and front of aeronautics in this country) and twice with his father. We had the pleasure of a visit from Master John this morning, who made the following statement, in which we shall try to use his own language as nearly as possible:
  "When we ascended over Lancaster the scene presented was one of the finest panoramic views I ever saw. When sailing over Millersville we could distinctly see the surging mass of people in Centre Square, and could even distinguish the Lancaster Driving Park, the race course of which looked like a little ring. As we passed over Millersville we threw out thousands of circulars, and we could distinctly hear the shouts of the people and see them scrambling for the bills. In sailing over the Susquehanna the bed of the river was plainly visible, looking like a great rough road, with the rocks projecting here and there. The low condition of the water produced this effect. At one point, in crossing the Susquehanna, I called at the top of my voice, and had the pleasure of hearing a very fine echo. After Mr. Johnston and my father made the second ascension the dog fight (referred to in your paper yesterday) continued and resulted in one dog losing a part of his jaw. As the balloon rapidly and gracefully went up on its second ascension the people shouted vociferously, and I yelled as lustily as any of them. Mr Smith, in whose charge I had been placed, said he would like to make an ascension, but feared he would grow dizzy. I told him he need have no fear of that, as dizziness was induced partly by the motion of the earth, and the balloon- being cut loose from the earth- produced quite the contrary effect. The people of Chanceford township seemed very solicitous about the voyagers, and fears were entertained by them that they might land the next time in some wild place among the York county hills. I was taken to the house of Mr. Emanuel Smith, who kept me over night and treated me very kindly. I got up at five in the morning, washed myself in the run near the house, and got an early and first-rate breakfast, after which Mr. Smith took me to York, where we arrived at 9:30 a.m., and remained at Dale & Hart's drug store until the afternoon train left for Columbia and Lancaster. Mr. Dale is the gentleman who bought the balloon in which my father and mother ascended from Lancaster some years ago, and he has, I understand, made several ascensions with it. A great many people flocked to see me at the drug store, and Mr. Smith told them I had dropped from a balloon when it was a thousand miles high, landing upon his farm. With regard to Mr. Johnston, I believe he has coolness enough to manage a balloon himself. I think there would be no danger in his making an ascension. I like ballooning as a mode of travel and regard it as safer than railroading or steamboating; but I don't think it pays as a business. If father permits me I intend making an ascension alone this fall, either from Coatesville of Lancaster. I would prefer Lancaster, if I am encouraged; and when I return from my voyage, I will give my first account of it to THE EXPRESS. If I should go up along I would depend on my anchor in landing; if that should fail, I would leave out all the gas; and if I should be dragged over fences or trees I would hold fast to the ropes, for that is all you can do under the circumstances. I forgot to mention one amusing incident: As we threw out circulars at one point I heard the report of a rifle, and have no doubt the hunter mistook the handbills for birds!"
  Master Wise is a very modest, pretty little fellow- unusually bright and intelligent for his years. In a word, he is "a chip of the old block;" in fact we might say he is "a chip of two old blocks"- his father and grandfather.- Daily Express of Friday