Ground and Lofty Parachuting

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The Paris correspondent of the Washington Republic gives the following account of a tumble—it could not well be called a descent —in a parachute. They do strange things in Paris:— M. Letar—a new name in aeronautics—announced his ascent underneath the balloon of the Hippodrome, in a machine which he called a navigable parachute. He himself was designated in ! Si i.al as the i; man that flies." Everything was so pompous ar.d so promising that the Emperor and Empress were unfortunate enough to be taken in by M. Letar, (not into his parachute—Heaven forbid !) but tiken in in the sense of befooled. They attended the representation in grand state — After the usual equestrian and military ma-ncEuvres, the balloon went up, dragging up a very unwilling looking contrivance, which was the navigable parachute in question. M. Letar was invisible, being completely shrouded in the falling folds of this remarkable invention. He was to be cut down at the height of three thousand feet. I believe that' generally when men are cut down it is with an idea of resuscitating them ; this time the object seemed to be rather to put him beyond resuscitation altogether. At the height promised the balloon gave out, and a rapid descent was the consequence, the cord was cut at an elevation of two hundred yards, and M. Letar came down, and M. Fontain went up. The navigable parachute, tippped up on one end, refused to open, and thus resist the descent, and, aiming at one end of toe Champ de Mars, it swooped down, taking Mons. Letar along with it, in something of the style that would be adopted by a hungry hawk having descried a sparrow on a stone wall. To the spectators the concussion seemed terrific, but the man that flies minded it very little. He was stunned for a moment but actually got up and walked home.

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