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Jan. 1909
MY FIRST AND ONLY (THUS FAR) BALLOON ASCENT
By Blanche Vignos.

After I saw the first balloon ascension under the auspices of the Canton Aero Club, I had a great desire to take a trip into the clouds. When my friends asked me in jest "Wouldn't you like to go?" they were surprised at my enthusiastic reply. 
My brother and I had long looked forward to an aerial trip, and when late one afternoon Mr. Leo Stevens asked if we would be ready to make an ascension the following morning we were glad to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity. 
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THE ALPS FROM A BALLOON
November twenty-first, the day of our ascension, was a beautiful Indian-summer day. With little breeze stirring, the balloon ascended evenly and calmly from the park, and before we realized it we were several hundred feet in the air, our friends appearing to us as indistinct blurs on the landscape. We leisurely crossed the city to the north and were able to distinguish the various buildings and residences of our friends. We were traveling almost directly north, at the rate of ten miles an hour, chasing our shadow. We at once came to the conclusion we would land at a point east of Cleveland on Lake Earie. Although we traveled the distance 50 miles in a zig-zag course, upon landing as we were within 22 miles of our destination. We hadn't learned how fickle our craft was nor how easily it was lured from the direct path by the different currents of air we encountered. This is one of the delightful features of ballooning. 
A heavy mist hung over the earth which prevented us from seeing a great distance, but when we had risen above it we saw the fulfillment of the old adage that there is a silver lining to every cloud. It was a glorious sight, the sun shining from the clear expanse of the heavens, which was of the deepest blue, such as I have only seen in Southern Italy or in our own state of Colorado. There was not a vestige of cloud in all directions- nothing but the clear deep blue of a bright spring morning. On the horizon there appeared the most delicate tints of rose and heliotrope. Such a beautiful sight, together with the perfect stillness, can not fail to inspire the soul and uplift the heart in praise of He who has done all things well.
We were not always so far above the earth. Soon we dropped below the clouds. The sight of the earth below is as inspiring as that of the sky above. It spread itself out like a huge map-only more real.
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