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The Press.
Tuesday, July 6, 1875.
THE BALLOON ASCENSIONS.
THE THREE AERONAUTS – ALMOST A DISASTROUS ACCIDENT.

  Shortly after 6 o'clock P.M. three successful balloon ascensions were made from Promontory Rock, near Girard-avenue bridge, in the presence of an almost countless multitude. Lizzie Ihling, niece of John Wise, made her first lone ascension in the "Commonwealth;" John Wise, grandson of John Wise, tempted the ether in the "Quaker City," and John Wise himself, on his four hundred and fifty-third ascension, sailed in the "Republic." Some excitement was caused by Miss Ihling's balloon collapsing when some distance from the earth and falling almost at the spot from whence the ascension had been made. The balloons sailed away in a northeasterly direction, and as they disappeared in the distance their occupants were observed to let fall a considerable quantity of the Centennial circulars, with which their baskets were well stored. The following self-explanatory despatch was recieved at this office at 10 o'clock P.M.:
HOLMESBURG, Pa., July 5–8.50 P.M. 
Landed on Blue Grass road, between Holmesburg and Bustleton, in my balloon.
John Wise,
Youngest aeronaut in the world.

The Philadelphia Inquirer
PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING (SUNDAY EXCEPTED), BY
WILLIAM W. HARDING.
Inquirer Building, 304 Chestnut St.

THE BALLOON ASCENSIONS.
Accident to the Lady Aeronaut – An Unwelcome Descent.

  These took place half an hour earlier than the hour names, and many who had counted on witnessing the sight were thereby disappointed.
  Nothing remarkable occurred in the departure of the balloons, everything going off very quietly. Prof. Wise made his ascension in the "Republic," in company with Mr. Schneck, of the St. Charles Hotel; Miss Lizzie Ihling, a niece of John Wise, in the "Commonwealth," and John Wise, Jr., grandson of the veteran, in the "Quaker City."
  Fortune proved, very ungallant, and the lady came to grief, the balloon collapsing near Township lane and Summer road. Fortunately the descent was not very rapid or sudden, so the injuries sustained by the fair occupant are not supposed to be of a very serious character. She was taken to a house in the neighborhood and kindly cared for.
  Professor Wise descended safely after remaining in the air some fifteen or twenty minutes. Concerning the descent of the grandson the following despatch was received at this office last evening:–
  HOLMESBURG, July 5–8:50 P.M.–Landed on Blue Grass road, between Holmesburg and Bustleton, in my balloon. JOHN WISE,
Youngest Aeronaut in the World.

BALLOONING.
MISS IHLING'S FIRST LONE ASCENSION–HER OWN DESCRIPTION OF THE TRIP–YOUNG WISE'S EIGHTH BALLOON VOYAGE–WHAT THE PROFESSOR SAYS.

  Among the features of Monday's celebration was the ascension by Miss Lizzie Ihling, niece of Prof. John Wise, the veteran aeronaut, in the balloon "Commonwealth." The following recital of the details of the trip, told by the aeronaut herself, will be found interesting:–
HER OWN STATEMENT.
  Having been honored by an invitation to make a balloon ascension from the Park by the committee that managed the celebration of our ninety-ninth anniversary of national independence, I deem it proper to give the public a narrative of my first lone ascension. I had company, to be sure, in the ascension of two other balloons, but really, drifting in mid-air, such company does not amount to much when you are in need of some friendly aid.
  I left the ground at half-past five o'clock, as Mr. Keyser said I might go when it suited me, and I was afraid that if I did not go then a half hour later my friends coming to bid me adieu would become so numerous that it would keep me busy until sunset.
  My ascent was rapid, but as smooth and graceful as [[?]]
THE EAGLE'S FLIGHT.
  I waved my flag in response to the salutations of the tens of thousands of people who cheered me upward and onward, and especially did my lady friends below give recognition of woman's rights in these latter days of true independence, independence all around, without regard to old fogy notions that woman is only fit for the prison house of corsets and the drawing room.
  A little enjoyment of the upper air is as good for the woman as the man, and if, as the sequel of my trip will show, there was a little rough and tumble in the outcome, the public will pardon me in that part when I tell them it was
A PECULIAR EXPERIMENT
By an inexperienced hand.
  When I had attained the height of 7000 feet my ears began to ache a little from the thinness of the upper air, and I made up my mind to come down a few thousand feet, so that I could enjoy the beautiful scenery below the more. I made an effort at drawing open the valve, but found it to stick very fast, and I gave it up, because I was afraid that something was wrong in its fixtures.
  Now, I took a general survey of the scenery below, and, as my eyes ran over the Park, it seemed as though the world was a great beehive. Clusters of human beings here and there and everywhere. Girard avenue bridge was a bridge of beings, of living beings, all huddled together, struggling for room and air.
  Now, again, I tried my valve. This time I pulled a little harder, and presently I felt as though I was caught
IN A WHIRLWIND,
And lifted up suddenly. I threw a sheet of paper overboard and it show upward past the balloon, and immediately a rushing noise was heard, like the noise of a tornado. Now came a violent surge. I looked up at the "Commonwealth" to see what was the matter, and saw that she was bursted, and before I could think much it made such a violent plunge sideways that admonished me to crouch in the car, holding on to both sides for dear life. Now came another plunge and a twist, and I really began to think that there were such things as demons of the air, and that one had fished me up to devour me. Really, I must confess that I got
A LITTLE SCARED
About the matter.
  While I had been taught to relieve a violent concussion of earth and balloon car by throwing one's main weight upon the hoop overhead, I was afraid to resort to the on account of the fearful swings the car was making every moment. So I concluded I would rather take the risk of a thump from mother earth than run the risk of being tilted overboard, and so I finally landed on the farm of John H. Mayne, Twenty-second and Clearfield,
STUNNED TO INSENSIBILITY
For a few moments, Mr. Mayne and his kind wife thought I was killed, but I did not believe them, and do I proved it as soon as they bathed my face with cold water. In a few moments I rallied all my woman life again, and said, where is my balloon? Mr. Mayne said, we have brought it in the yard for you, and in thirty minutes after my landing I was busily engaged in packing up my aerial paraphernalia, as Mr. Mayne was ready to drive me to my home. On my return I sought out the cause of this premature explosion, and found it in the entanglement of the 
VALVE CORD
With that intended for the exploding purpose.
  Everything in the rigging was new, and these cords were kinky. While I think the exploding cord a great help in ballooning, I never intended experimenting with it in mid-air; but now, since it so happened, I would not hesitate to repeat it, as I would not become alarmed over the manner in which a balloon capers when it is subjected solely to the action of gravity and a resisting medium. 
  I have, however, made up my mind that the novelty of
EXPLODING BALLOONS
In mid-air belongs to the sterner sex, while ladies should trust more to the grappling iron and trail rope.
  It is a trite saying that "Faint heart never won fair lady," and so I think that fair lady can best win faint heart by sliding over the meadows green with a trail rope, and, if needs be, a good anchor. LIZZIE IHLING,
  July 6, 1875.
HIS EIGHTH BALLOON VOYAGE.
  The following is the statement of John Wise, Jr., of his aerial trip on Monday:–
  I started from Promontory Rock at the east end of Girard avenue bridge in the balloon "Quaker City," at twelve minutes before six o'clock, making a fair start with my larger consort, the Republic, in which was my grandfather and another gentleman.
  Being so close that we could converse together, I thought I would challenge them to a square race in an open field, and called to them that I would go them 100 to 1 that I would beat them going up, staying up and going further than they would, to which they replied that it was a "good bet even if they lost."
  As soon as the challenge was accepted I commenced to "unload," and at six o'clock my barometer market 5000 feet elevation. I now made a general observation, and the scene in the Park, with its immense multitude in all its varied colors, looked to me like a huge kaleidoscope in its ever changing beauty, Girard avenue bridge, with its human density, being the centre. It was a sight not often seen, and never to be forgotten.
  After straining my eyes in every direction I at last got a glimpse of my huge consort apparently wallowing in the
"BASE DUST"
Far, far beneath me. My spirits now began going up faster than the aerostat at the undoubted certainty of my winning the bet, and I heaved overboard everything dispensable, going up faster and faster, until at length I caught up to my spirits, the barometer marking 12,000 feet and the thermometer 36°.
  I now looked in vain for the other entries in the race, and I came to the conclusion that they were distanced, as I was far above the clouds, and the temperature
TOO COOL FOR COMFORT,
With a ringing and buzzing in my head and ears, and the immense "Quaker City" lost to view, and a wide expanse of Jersey desolation looming up around me, and the race won without my steed sweating or blowing, I came the the conclusion that my part in the grand ninety-ninth celebration of American Independence might be brought to a close, which I did at ten minutes of seven o'clock, on the Blue Grass road, midway between Bustleton and Holmesburg, arriving back home at half-past ten in the evening, safe, sound and hungry, but ready again to enter the list against all comers.
JOHN WISE, the younger,
North Eleventh street.
WHAT THE PROFESSOR SAYS.
  Professor John Wise, the aeronaut, relates his scientific observations thus:–
  An observable feature of the ascension was the dodging of the balloons immediately on their release from the earth. That is incident to all balloon ascents from high ground, caused by the downward wave of atmosphere after it sweeps a summit. Young John Wise's balloon ascended far above his grandfather's despite all the latter could do to reach him. Speaking of Miss Ihling's voyage and descent, the Professor says:–"The balloon formed itself into a perfect parachute, but soon began to gyrate and plunge considerably. Its hemispheric form and air-tight resisting surface would press downward on its column of air underneath until it was brought to a momentary stand, when, in another instant it would sway aside, disgorge, and lurch off with a downward swing, and this is did several times as it squirmed its way downward. Miss Ihling says that she well remembered the directions I gave her for any emergency of a collapse while afloat, but the swaying was so great she preferred to keep close to the bottom of the car than to run the risk of being swung topsyturvy, and, to use her own words, the world came up against her with a considerable bump."