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[[clipping 1 is printed on yellow paper]] BY PERMISSION, AND UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF THE MOST WORSHIPFUL The Mayor. -------------- [[IMAGE: striped balloon with gondola holding two people]] -------------- GRAND BALLOON ASCENT!! From the Yard of the BEDFORD GAS COMPANY, MR. GYPSON Will make his Sixteenth Ascent IN HIS MAGNIFICENT NOCTURNAL BALLOON, On FRIDAY Afternoon Next, May the 1st, 1840, at 4 o'clock. ----- This extraordinary Machine, in which Mr. G. made his Nocturnal Voyage, on June 3rd, 1839, is composed of 1800 yards of the richest Silk, in alternate colors of Crimson and Gold. It stands 60-feet high, is 36-feet in diameter, and contains 20,000 cubic-feet of Gas,--and is calculated to excited the astonishment of every beholder! ------------- [[image-graphic of a hand pointing right]] An excellent Band is engaged for the occasion, and the Police will be in attendance. ------------- ***Admission to witness the Inflation and Ascent On the Elevated Stage, 2s. 6d. Fore Ground, 2s. Back Ground, 1s. Tickets for the Elevated Stage may be obtained at the Printers. ------------- The Balloon, partly inflated with Atmospheric Air, will be exhibited at Mr. KING'S Long Room, New Inn, Tavistock Street, on Wednesday and Thursday next, together with the Car and Appendages. A Glass will be inserted to exhibited the Interior of the Balloon. Admission 6d. each. Children Half-rice. ------------- HILL & SON, PRINTERS, SILVER-STREET, BEDFORD. [[END CLIPPING]] [[clipping 2 is printed on blue paper]] BY PERMISSION, And under the Patronage of the Most Worshipful the Mayor. -------------- [[IMAGE: striped balloon with gondola holding two people. Same image as first clipping]] -------------- GRAND BALLOON ASCENT! From the Grounds of the BEDFORD GAS COMPANY, MR. GYPSON Will make his Seventeenth Ascent IN HIS MAGNIFICENT NOCTURNAL BALLOON, On SATURDAY Afternoon Next, May the 9th, 1840, Doors open at Three, Ascent at Five o'clock. ----- A Lady and Two Gentlemen will accompany Mr. G. --------- This extraordinary Machine, in which Mr. G. made his Nocturnal Voyage, on June 3rd, 1839, is composed of 1800 yards of the richest Silk, in alternate colors of Crimson and Gold. It stands 60-feet high, is 36-feet in diameter, and contains 20,000 cubic feet of Gas,--and is calculated to excited the astonishment of every beholder! ------------- [[image-graphic of a hand pointing right]] An excellent Band is engaged for the occasion, and the Police will be in attendance. ------------- Admission to witness the Inflation and Ascent, 2s. Reserved Seats for Ladies. ----------------- Tickets may be obtained at the Printers, And at the Bar of the following Inns,--the Swan, George, Red Lion, Rose, New Inn, Kings-Arms, Horse-and Jockey, & Hop-Pole. ------------- HILL & SON, PRINTERS, SILVER-STREET, BEDFORD. [[END CLIPPING]] [[clipping 3]] [[IMAGE: striped balloon with gondola holding two people]] ^[[1840]] GRAND BALLOON ASCENT. ----- UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF THE MAYOR. ----- MR. GYPSON, HAS the honour to announce that he will make his second ascent with his magnificent Balloon from the grounds of the Bedford Gas Company, THIS DAY, SATURDAY, May 9, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, precisely, accompanied by a Lady and two Gentlemen of Bedford, it being his seventeenth aerial voyage. Doors open at three--ascent at 5 o'clock. An excellent band is engaged for the occasion; and the police will be in attendance. Admission to witness the inflation and ascent 2s. Reserved seats for ladies. [[end clipping]] [[begin clipping 4]] THE BALLOON ASCENT.--Another ascent of Mr. Gypson's balloon is advertised to take place this day, which we hope will be well patronised. We have received an account of the aerial voyage from the aeronaut, Mr. Gypson, which we give in his own words:-- "All our preparations for the voyage being completed, I entered the car (accompanied by my friend, Mr. W. Adams,) for the purpose of trying the ascending power of the balloon, and finding the car somewhat too heavily laden, I put out nearly 40 lbs. of ballast, and gave the word to let go; upon which the machine immediately darted upwards, but being acted on at the moment of starting by a brisk breeze from the N.E., her course was more inclined to the horizontal than the perpendicular direction, passing over the beautiful and highly cultivated grounds of Dr. Brereton, and bearing in the direction of Kempston, it was very evident that the lower current would have carried the balloon to Newport Pagnell, but wishing to attain a higher elevation, I relieved the machine of another bag of ballast, and she winged her way aloft in the grandest style imaginable. From the position of the Gas Works, I perceived that we were now changing our course, in fact, the wind above was full east, and we were driven in a direct line towards the setting sun with singular exactness, for as the car revolved round the vast element in which it was floating, it invariably presented a straight line with the great luminary of the universe. 15 minutes had now elapsed in attaching the grappling iron and cable, and arranging the safety valve, to be prepared for the expansion of the gas; the view at this period was beautiful beyond description, and defies all the language of many to convey the least idea of its perfect sublimity--and equally with the tongue of man must fail fthat silent utterer of sounds, the pen, or that effective sketcher of scenes, the pencil, all are in fact unequal to the task where-- ^[[Bedford Mercury. May 9, 1840]] 'We gaze, and turn away, and know not where: Dazzled and drunk with beauty, till the heart Reels with its fullness.' We were now over Olney, in Buckinghamshire, the balloon still ascending, and gainining additional power, in consequence of following the course of the sun, which caused a great expansion of the gas.. Our voyage was perfectly cloudless, and to the very verge of the horizon the same undiminished beauty and magnificence prevailed, and that with all the sensations of ease and safety; for it s in the car of the balloon alone, entirely isolated, that all symptoms of giddiness disappear, for a single rope connecting the balloon with the earth would case the same sensations as are felt from church steeples and other high eminences. We had now the elevation of two miles, and I began to think of effecting a descent, but the country throughout our voyage was very woody and unfavourable. I had up to this time, 7 o'clock, parted with seven or eight hundred feet of gas, in order to check the expansion. Our voyage had now lasted 35 minutes, and the dew was falling heavily about the balloon, car, and cordage, so much so, that we could wipe it off in a stream; my fried, Mr. Adams, in the hurry of the moment, left his coat behind him, and felt the cold considerably. The balloon, which had been swelled to its utmost extent by the expansion, now became suddenly condensed, and gave us what is termed a descending power, during which Lord Northampton's seat, at Castle Ashby, was seen very plain in its circle of beautiful lofty trees. We now lowered the irons to effect a descent, which took hold in the centre of a large meadow this side of Little Houghton, in Northamptonshire, but the persons in the meadow being very timid, allowed us to drift several meadows further, in one of which I crippled the power of the balloon by opening the valve, and reached the earth in perfect safety on the farm of Mr. Tallent, at Little-Houghton, by whom we were most hospitably entertained, and reached Bedford at 12 o'clock the same night, when Bedford had resumed its accustomed quietness, and the thousands of individuals that cheered our ascent had retired to repose.--I beg to state no fault can rest with either the engineer or company in consequence of the balloon not being full, for had I commenced three hours earlier the inflation would have been a full compliment, which I intend to be the case this day, and ascend at 5 o'clock precisely." [[end clipping]]
