The Daily Cincinnati Republican, And Commercial Register

BALLOON ASCENSION
Union Hall, Louisville,
April 16, 1835.
Messrs. Editors: In conformity to established usage, I have concluded to furnish for your paper an account of my late aerial excursion, which, I trust, may prove of some interest to your readers.
I had advertised to ascend at 3 o'clock, P. M. on the 14th inst: but in consequence of the state of the wind and weather, I did not hasten the inflation of the balloon or the arrangement of my apparatus, and did not ascend until half past five o'clock, by my watch. In consequence of the delay, (which was protracted with the hope that the wind would lull,) a larger quantity of gas was generated and carried into the balloon, than was absolutely necessary, and my ascent was unusually rapid.
The wind blew from the north, northwest, consequently my course lay east southeast. In fifteen minutes the barometer indicated an altitude of something more than a mile. The cold at this elevation became intense, and I experienced the want of my overcoat, which I had unfortunately left behind.—The view of your city, as I was rapidly borne away from it, was exceedingly beautiful. The Falls, or rapids of the Ohio, can only be seen in all the beauty and grandeur with which nature has invested them, from a position of considerable elevation.—They, together with the noble canal which begirts their southern shore, and the gracefully bending woodlands which form a landscape of great loveliness. When seen from the height of a mile, they constitute the indistinct, and miniature elements of a most imposing and beautiful spectacle. The city too, with its long and regular streets, filled with a busy and active population, fading into indistinctiveness by the greatness of my elevation and the rapid whirling of my car, constituted a view in which heads and houses were blended together in pleasing but indescribable confusion.
In thirty minutes, I was between Middletown and Jeffersontown—nearer the latter place than the former. At this time I was at my greatest elevation, which the barometer indicated to be about two miles. My view of these two villages was very indistinct; indeed, the only indication of houses was the appearance of dingy and sombre looking boards, somewhat elevated from the earth's surface. I gave them a cordial wave of "star-spangled banner," but could not see from such an altitude whether any one recognized this aerial exhibition of our country's ensign.