1887 LETTER - BALLOONING. 4 pp pen manuscript letter, Kansas City, Mo., Nov 7th, 1887,  in which a gentleman writes to his wife  (or sweetheart) ,that includes two pages devoted to seeing a balloonist.  In part:
...Today Prof. Baldwin made a leap from his baloon, coming down by aide of a parachute. I witnessed the sight- it was a novelty in baloon assensions. I was close by at the start - and as he gave instructions to the men at the bags- let go! I am off- the baloon sailed upward very prettily.
The prof. stated before that the gas was very poor tho' he would try it. He was advertised to jump at 10000 feet high. When about 1500 feet high the baloon failing to rise higher he jumped- at first he came down very rapidly and as the parachute began to fill with air, it appeared like a large umbrella, then his descent was much slower. The prof landed three blocks away from the starting point, in a vacant block./
It was his intentions to make an assension on Sunday P.M. but it was not possible, about 100000 people were out to see him jump yesterday, and 1000 today.
Overall good condition and clarity; first hand account of a very scarce subject matter. (Tr.19 ); $225.