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The rage for ballooning received a fatal check on Monday evening. Mr. Robert Cocking, a landscape-painter, had an invincible desire to descend from the skies in a parachute of his own construction. For many years he had been urging Mr. Green to allow him to descend from his balloon, but never obtained permission until Monday last. His parachute was then attached to Green's balloon ; and it ascended from Vauxhall Gardens, about twenty minutes before eight. The balloon had ascended to a considerable height, Mr. Green supposes
about a mile and a half from the ground ; the parachute was unloosed ; the balloon was observed to shoot up like an arrow, and the parachute to drop, as an eye-witness who saw it from his garden in Norwood described it to us, like a large stone through a vacuum. The fate of its rash occupant was thus described at an inquest, held at the village of Lee in Kent, on Wednesday, on his corpse.
John Chamberlain, shepherd to Mr. Richard Norman, of Burnt Ash Farm, in the parish of Lee, said that on Monday last, about a quarter past nine o'clock, he saw the balloon and something hanging from it, which presently fell. At first it came down like thunder, that is, with respect to the noise ; it frightened all the sheep. It appeared to come down in a lump together, and he thought it turned over and came clown on the slant. By the time it reached the ground, he had got over the hedge, RO that he could see it fall. The basket, or car, touched the ground first, and the other part of the parachute fell par Os upon it. The machinery was broken to pieces, and covered a large space of ground. The deceased was in the basket up to his chest, with his head out ; he was lying on his back, and the basket appeared to protect the body from any weight. He could not say whether the basket came down on the edge, or the bottom. He ran and lifted up the parachute ; but on seeing the deceased there, he became frightened, and let it downvpon him again. He heard a groan when he fist went up to him. The deceased did not move his eyes nor any part of his body ; his wig lay at a short distance from his head. There was no hat. Soon after this Mr Norman came up ; aud he informed that gentleman that there was a man underneath. Mr. Neiman presently di- rected him to get two hurdles; which he did. He should say, that two sr three minutes elapsed between the time the parachute left the balloon and when it touched the ground. A great many persons quickly came up.
Thomas Grisdall, another servant of Mr. Norman, saw the para- chute fulling— The parachute appeared to turn over and ever ; and there was a great crack- ing issued from it. It came down in a lump altogether. He assisted in taking the deceased out of the basket; to do which, they were obliged to unloose various ropes and some pullies. The deceased groaned, and breathed for about two minutes after he got ,up to hint. There was no rope attached to the body that he noticed. He was insensible ; and his master said he was dead, and was about to bleed him, when a surgeon came .up and endeavoured to do so, but without effect. He, in the end, cut him in the temple; from which gash a few drops of blood flowed. He heard no noise, except that which was occa- sioned by the fall of the machine. The parachute was extended at first, but when the cracking took place it closed, and then it came down more rapidly. The deceased had both eyes open, but they did not move.
Mr. Finch, a surgeon, said that he endeavoured, without success, to bleed the deceased, in several places. He saw the parachute falling ; it came down aslant, like an oyster-shell diving through the water— It appeared, on an examination of the car, that the deceased pitched on his feet. The deceased had a wound on the right eyebrow of about one inch in length ; but that wound did not occasion death. The wound might have been caused by the machine falling upon him. Nearly all the ribs were either fractured or displaced. The sternum seemed to have been broken and fractured the ribs. He should say this was done by the weight of the deceased, the body doubling over the car. The right collar- bone was also broken, and there seemed to be something the matter with one of the legs; but that, he had been in- formed, was an old complaint. The cause of death he should say was the internal injuries to the chest, and the general shock to the nervous system. He had no doubt that there was laceration in the interior. The injuries were re- ceived when he reached the ground. Indeed, he did not see what was to kill him before. His moral life might have been gone, but not his physical life. They knew of cases on a railroad where there was an enormous speed without loss of life. The railroad at Manchester, for instance. There it had been no uncommon thing for persons to travel at the rate of sixty miles an hour, with- out loss of life. Now, according to the statements, it was clear that the de- ceased descended only at the rate of thirty ; and therefore it must be perfectly apparent that the velocity of the journey could not have caused death.
Mr. Green was examined at great length. He mentioned his own reluctance to the experiment ; and the desire of the Vauxhall proprie- tors to prevent it, although they should have had to return the money to the visiters. He had nothing whatever to do with the construction of the parachute. The parachute was in shape an inverted cone, not very
unlike an umbrella turned upside down. Its circumference was 107 feet 4 inches. From the bottom of this machine, which was constructed of fine Irish linen, a basket of wicker was suspended, in which Mr. Cocking placed himself. The distance between this basket and the car, was between 40 and 50 feet. Mr. Green gave the following ac- count of the voyage— "Upon their arrival over Kennington Common, witness was desirous of throwing out loose ballast, but was prevented from doing so in consequence of the canvas tube attaled to the balloon arid parachute, to assist the descent of the ballast, having become disordered. He was fearful of damagingproper% or of iujuring individuals by throwing out the ballast in bags, until after-64 had cleared the metropolis and suburban districts. Over Kennington Comm% the balloon was stationary for some time; and the deceased here addressed wit: ness and his companion (Mr. Spencer) by inquiring their altitude. lc Green replied, that they were about a thousand feet from the surface of tl% earth. nie deceased said, 'Very well ; but let me know when we arrive about fifteen hundred feet, and at every additional five hundred, until we assi,--" at five thousand feet (near a mile), for that is the altitude at which 1 wish %- descend.' Mr. Green replied in the affirmative; and continued affording the deceased this required information, until they arrived at the before•inentainen altitude, when the witness said that be did not think he could ascend high from the weight that was attached to the balloon. The deceased then saie: Very well, I shall soon leave you.' After the lapse of a couple of minutes, the deceased again spoke and said, 'Good bye, Green ; good bye, Spencer.' wit, ness and Mr. Spencer then seized hold of the ropes of the car, to prevent' sudden jerk, as they expected momentarily that the deceased wools! literate him, self. They shortly after felt a slight jerk. Witness was about to quit his sess for the purpose of looking over the car, when, all of a moment, the shock renewed, and the balloon commenced ascending with the velocity of a road. and then witness and Mr. Spencer became convinced that the descent of tl; parachute hail taken place. Such was the rapidity of the ascent of the balloon after it had been relieved of its additional weight, that for a few minutes the aeronauts were placed in imminent danger, and narrowly escaped suffocation from the deecent of the gas by the pressure after the valves of the balloon sat been thrown open."
Mr. Green felt convinced that, as the parachute had resisted the pressure of air in the ascent, it would descend safely ; and sne surprised as well as horrified when he heard of the dreadful accident. Throughout the whole of the expetimstit, Mr. Cocking was quits composed and fearless. He was sixty-one years of age; married, Ma without children.
The inquest, which adjourned over Thursday, was resumed yesten day ; and a great deal of additional evidence was given, by Professor Airey, Mr. alonck Mason, and Mr. Gye of Vauxhall Gardens. Ths Professor described the construction of the parachute, and went into' scientific argument to prove that it could not possibly have resisted the pressure of the atmosphere in its descent. Mr. Mason concurred with Professor Airey. lie his opinion,
Whether the machine hail broken in the descent or not, the main rook would have been the Caine; the insufficiency of the parachute to support the iudividual within the limits of velocity required by nature for the preservation of life, was the real cause of the catastrophe. The rupture of the machine was merely an accident, which had occurred during the consummation of his fats"
Mr. Gye stated the terms of the bargain with Mr. Cocking. For the first descent he was to receive nothing ; for the two next 21/, each; for every subsequent descent 301., to be made when and where the Vauxhall proprietors should require. In reply to a question from the Coroner, the keeper of the public. house at Lee admitted that he had received 10/. (in sixpences) from persons wishing to see the mangled body. The Coroner said that he understood the man had given out that the money was to go to Cock. ing's widow ; and he advised him to let her have it. The following is the verdict-
" We Sod that the deceased, Robert Cocking, came to his death casually and by misfortune, in consequence of serious injuries which be received from a fall in a parachute of his own invention and contrivance, which was appended toe balloon; and we further find that the parachute as 'moving' towards his death is deedand, and forfeit to our sovereign lady the Queen."
The balloon itself descended, about nine o'clock on Monday evening, in a field near Maidstone.
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