ast of Labrador.

[Illustration: THE BUFFALO IN MONUMENTAL PARK, CLEVELAND.]

Mr. King first brought large balloons into use in this country, and has
thus been able to share the pleasures and perils of most of his sailings
up and down with one or more companions, generally journalists. Few of
the balloons in use twenty-five years ago would hold more than twenty
thousand cubic feet of gas. Of the large balloons the Buffalo became
widely known on account of its size and the number of notable voyages it
made. Capacity, symmetry, lightness and staying quality considered, it
was probably the best balloon ever built in America. When fully inflated
it contained ninety-one thousand cubic feet of gas, and would carry up a
dozen passengers. It was the Buffalo which on the memorable
press-excursion from Cleveland, September 4, 1874, gave the reporters
such a realizing sense of the pleasantness of dry land, the greater part
of the day being spent in sailing to and fro over Lake Erie, the voyage
being farther extended in the darkness of night across Essex county,
Ontario, Lake St. Clair and into Michigan. The writer happened to be on
the Cleveland steamer with the returning party, and had occasion to
notice that the amateurs were too busily engaged in writing up their
notes to thoroughly enjoy Mr. King's waggish allusions to
"sea-sickness."

A night-trip made from the city of Buffalo in its namesake on July 4,
1874, was noteworthy for the magnificent success attending the use of
the drag-rope. The balloon took a south-easterly course across the State
of Pennsylvania, going over the Alleghany Mountains and other ridges in
the southern section of the State, being kept close to the earth most of
the way. The relief of weight caused by a portion of the drag-rope lying
and trailing upon the tree-tops enabled the balloon to climb the side of
the mountain at about the same relative elevation. Swinging clear from
the crest of the ridge, the balloon would soon settle into the valley,
to repeat the same manoeuvre farther on. Sunrise met the party near
the Maryland line, and after a delightful sail across a portion of that
State, Delaware and Delaware Bay, a landing was made in Southern New
Jersey, four hundred miles and thirteen hours from the starting-point.
The Buffalo will also be remembered in connection with the ascension
from the exposition-grounds during the Centennial Exhibition.

The failure of the costly experiments undertaken by