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A terrible adventure of two men up In the clouds

Balloonists did magnificent work in tapping the secrets of the upper air. They revealed the fact that air lies ’ in layers, and that over our heads in what seems an even atmosphere there may be winds one above another; that while a balloon is sailing serenely in a blue sky from east to west with a low wrind, it may meet a terrific thunderstorm coming up on a higher wind from west to east. A great body of knowledge these men accumulated for our flying-engine men; and they risked their lives and often gave them.

Many magnificent feats of endurance stand to their honour also. The achievement of a scientist named Glaisher and a daring and skilful balloonist named Coxwell has never been forgotten. Before we had ever heard of cylinders of oxygen for the use of airmen at great heights these two splendid fellows, one day in 1862, rose seven miles. They wanted to descend, but the rope connected with the valve was fouled, and Coxwell had to climb into the rigging to clear it. The temperature was below zero, and as Coxwell touched metal his hands were frost-bitten, and his task proved long and difficult. Glaisher found paralysis stealing over him. Power went from his limbs; his sight failed; he could barely breathe; yet his mind remained intensely active till the last. Then he fell unconscious in the car of the balloon.

Coxwell had at last secured the rope he had gone up to disentangle, but when he descended he found that his hands were useless. There was the balloon mounting up into the sky and two men near death rising with her, like the phantom crew of the Flying Dutchman. But the immense will-power of Coxwell saved the situation. He gripped the rope between his teeth and tugged and tugged at it with his last gleam of energy. The valve opened; the balloon began to descend; they dropped rapidly into a warmer layer of air. Glaisher recovered, and they were saved. All honour to the men of the balloons ! They worked and worried on for generations.