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THE WONDER

"WONDERS WILL NEVER CEASE." - Old Saying

No. 6] SATURDAY, JULY 29, 1837. [Price Two Pence

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ASCENT OF THE BALLOON FROM VAUXHALL AND DESCENT OF THE PARACHUTE

Vauxhall Gardens were crowded during the whole of Monday afternoon by an immense assemblage of persons, drawn together to witness the hazardous, and, we regret to add, fatal experiment of Mr. Cocking, to descend from an altitude of upwards of a mile in a parachute of his own invention. No attempt of a similar description has been made in London, we believe, since the experiment of Monsieur Garnerin, upwards of thirty years ago; and the greatest curiosity was naturally excited as to the result. Thousands of persons filled all the streets and avenues in the neighbourhood of Vauxhall, and a joyous crowd swarmed on every eminence and open spot that commanded a fair view of the horizon. The time fixed for the ascent of the aeronaut was five o'clock, but on our entering the Gardens at that hour we found that the process of inflation of Mr. Green's Nassau balloon was not yet completed. This afforded us an opportunity of inspecting the parachute in which Mr. Cocking contemplated his awful descent, and we had some conversation with the unfortunate gentleman on the principle of his contrivance, and the altitude at which he proposed to sever his connexion with the balloon of Mr. Green.
Mr. Cocking, who was a gentlemanly man, short in stature, and somewhat stout, and apparently of the age of fifty-two or fifty-three, gave us the most obliging answers to our queries, and explained that his parachute was constructed on a totally different plan from that of M. Garnerin. The latter he described as of the form of an umbrella, closed at the very moment of descent, but expanded by the atmosphere as it approached the earth, and forming a sort of canopy over the aeronaut. His parachute, on the contrary, was in the form of an umbrella reversed, the cavity containing the air being turned uppermost, with the view, he said, of preventing the oscillation which proved so disastrous to M. Garnerin.
As the parachute stood upon the ground, we were unable to see very exactly the place to be occupied by the aeronaut, but shortly afterwards it was raised to an altitude of about four feet, when we perceived a circular orifice of about a yard in diameter, surrounded by a hoop, to which a basket or car was attached by several cords. Mr. Cocking expressed by words the utmost confidence in the result of the experiment, but it appeared to us that it was a confidence he did not feel. His restless looks and nervousness of manner seemed to belie the bravery of his speech, and we thought more than once that his mind was ill at ease, and that he would willingly have postponed the attempt until a less hazardous trial had assured him of its safety. When questioned as to the danger, he remarked that none existed for him, and that
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the greatest peril, if any, would attend the balloon when suddenly relieved from the weight of himself and the parachute (about five hundred weight). Notwithstanding the confidence of this assertion, an uneasy twinkle in his eye convinced us that he was not so sure of this as he appeared to be.
Towards six o'clock, Messrs. Green and Spenser entered the balloon, which was allowed to ascend to an altitude of about forty feet, that the parachute might be brought directly under it, and securely fixed. It was seven o'clock before all the preparations were completed, at which time the whole apparatus was distinctly visible to every one in the gardens. Considerable impatience had been manifested at the long delay which had taken place; but as the position of the parachute became more closely defined, a general clapping of hands expressed the joy of the multitude. Another half hour passed away, during which time Mr. Cocking was engaged in earnest conversation with several of his friends. The band of the Surrey Yeomanry suddenly struck up the national anthem, which being considered the signal for the cords to be loosened, a loud huzza proceeded from the gardens, and was re-echoed by the impatient mob outside. At this moment a tube or pipe of linen was lowered from the car of the balloon through the orifice in the parachute, and past the basket in which Mr. Cocking was to sit. This, we soon discovered, was for the conveyance of the ballast it is found necessary to discharge on the ascent of a balloon, and which, if it had been thrown out in the usual manner, would have lodged in the parachute. All the preparations having been completed, Mr. Cocking (having previously stripped of his coat as too cumbersome, and put on a light jacket) stepped into the car, amid the acclamations of the company. Some of his friends offered him a glass of wine, which he drank, and having shaken them all cordially by the hand, little knowing that it would be for the last time, the cords were loosened, and the balloon and its attendant parachute mounted into the heavens amid the renewed cheering of the crowd. The early part of the afternoon had been remarkably fine and clear, but about this time (half-past seven) the sky had become somewhat overcast, and a breeze had sprung up. No apprehensions, however, were entertained, and the scene at that moment was as gay and cheerful as it is possible to imagine. Above was the majestic balloon, sailing rapidly aloft, its inmates waving their flags in triumph; below was the gaily-dressed multitude mixing their acclamations with the music of the band, and clapping their hands to the adventurous voyagers, little dreaming that the death-hour of the principal actor in the scene was rapidly approaching. The balloon had hardly attained and altitude of two hundred feet,

Printed and Published by HENRY JOHN HOWARD, 137, Fleet-street, London.