A hundred years ago
From the 'Spectator,' I October 1870—M. Darouf, the first balloon-postman of Paris. gives a very amusing account of his expedition. No sooner was his balloon, with its three sacks of letters, fairly outside the enceinte, than he was fired at by the Prussian cannon and then by their rifles. Some of the shots caused the balloon to vibrate, but none of them hit. It is said f•Nr M. Darouf—but his own narrative omitted this feature.—that in answer to the shots he dropped calling cards upon the Prus- sian marksmen,—a capital after-thought. When many miles beyond all signs of the Prussian Army—he was running westwards before the wind—he caused the balloon to descend, and found himself near Evreux, whence he went on quietly by train the next morning to Tours. We cannot understand why our newspapers should not get Paris letters by this balloon post Nothing can be easier than to manage a balloon post from Paris since the country on all sides is French, and the German armies are only a ring round Paris. From Metz, of course, there was great danger of floating into German tern; tory and so losing the despatches; but there is no fear for such a misfortune in the case of Paris. It would, naturally, be much more diffi- cult to get a balloon into Paris than out of it.— with the very small /Sower as yet possessed of guiding the balloon.
Previous page
