Safe Descent in a Parachute
This feat, of very rare occurrence, was accomplished in September, 1838, when Mr. Hampton ascended with a parachute attached to a gas balloon, from Cheltenham, to the height of 9000 feet. At this altitude, he cut the connecting-cord, when the balloon rose for some hundred feet, and burst; Mr. Hampton safely descending in the parachute, within thirteen minutes; the collapsed balloon having reached the earth before him.