Omaha daily bee., 1888-09-24
THE BALLOON r
How the Most Experienced Aeronaut
i'm the World Met His Death.

W. Nv 'Vtfa Ns1t hhfe u
The coroner's inquiry into the death
a few days ago in Essex, England, of
the famous %aeronaut, Simmons, has
brought out n singular feature OF the
accident by which he lost his life and
his two companions we're dangerously
injured, and indicates a new danger in
ballooning. The evidence shows that
the accident, which followed an attempt
to land, during which the anchor was
caught in n toll, was caused by the
bursting of the balloon.
The silk was unusually large, and
correspondingly heavy, but it was not
ripped with one large rent, as would
have been the case had it caught on
n tree, but was found torn in several
distinct pieces. Besides this, the burst
ing was accompanied by a loud report,
which was heard not only by those
near by who were watching the balloon,
but by persons a considerable distance
away, who knew nothing OF the balloon
until afterward.
Mr.. Simmons was an %aeronaut Of
thirty years experience, and this was
his i95th ascension. When he landed
from his last previous ascent "a few days
before, an old lady said to him: You
men cannot have much care for your
lives, and he replied, II have made
! tJt uSttUbS. anu L uOuI ltcI very lluCll
fear now
The balloon was the Cosmo, one OF
the largest ever made, holding 81, 900
feet of gas. and capable of carrying
2,i0O pounds. The basket was OF iron
wire network. instead of wicker. He
carried a th~irty-onc pound grapnel and
ninety-one feet of rOpe-too light an am
Choir and too short IL rope. some experts
say. He went up about the middle of
the afternoon with w. l.. Field and
Mr.. Meyers, the latter Of the South
Kcusington Natural History Museum,
both of whom had made previous voy-
ages. 1t was intended to cross the
channel to France, but darkness coming
on, the party decided to descend for
the night. The country was somewhat
wooded, and two or three attempts
were made to land, but each time bal
last had to be thrown out and the bal
loon sent up again. y field that seemed
fairly clear was at last chosen and the
grapnel let out. IT dragged through a
field OF wheat and then caught in a
large tree. In an instant the huge bal
loon pulled up short, swung to the
ground. and began to bump up and
down, straining at the end OF its tethcr.
Simmons pulled desperately on the
valve rope and shouted to Field to help
mum. VI htAt " DNtE vi DNillai5O
awaiting an order to throw it out. Three
times in scarcely more than as many
seconds the great balloon bounded up
and down, struggling frantically like
some immense wild beast, at h. end of
a long y Each time it spraug sixty
feet IN the air.. AS 1t rose the third
time to that height there came a
sudden report, the silk collapsed.
and the car with the three men in it
fell to the ground. Men from the fields
running up found it battered into n
shapeless wreck and its three inmates
unconscious. Simmons skull was frac-
tured and he had suffered other inju-
ries. He died in three hours without
regaiuing consciousness. Mr.. Field had
q simple fracture of the right thigh and
IL compound fracture of the right leg,
besides innumerable bruises. Mr.. Mey-
ers had Internal injuries, and was COW
cred with bruises and cuts.
Aeronauts can give no satisfactory ok
PLANTATION Of the bursting OF the bal.
loon. 1t was undoubtedly caused by the
sudden stoppage, but why the strain oil
q quantity of gas should become ex.
cessive on that account has not been eX.
planned. 1t is said that there is one
similar case on record.
Simmons, during his life as n bal
~loonist, had made ascents in India
Egypt and the United States, as well as
in all parts of Europe, and it is said that
no man in the world had had more eX.
perience in aerial navigation than he
In 1873 he assembled with De Groof. the
Belgian flying man. who was to de.
scend from "a great height by means o
a parachute. Something went wrong
and the Belgian was dashed to pieces
In 1882, with Colonel Brine Of the Roya
Engineers, he started to cross to France
but dropped into the channel, and after
a perilous time was rescued by
steamer. A few months later Sir Claud,
de Grespigny, ascending with him, wa,
thrown out aud badly hurt. Simmon
stuck to the car, and after an exciting
time made a safe descent. The mex
year Sir Claude and he succeeded il
crossing the channel, and he has re