Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-08-01
FALLING TWO MILES
A YOUNG AERoNAUTs r,n.
LING EXPERIENCE, Ii
A Rapid Ascent and stu :,
Rapid Descent He Causad O's
Balloon TO Collapse. 10

~ N-OitetiiSC.
The performance of Profeeso, "
yern Hill Allen, the vouno aeron error. -uat
Providence, is considered one Il r1 ~ =
most remarkable in tie whole bisio h ~ y
balloon ascensions. He started
Providence on his aerial trip in HI wv w
balloon, "What Cheer" which Nv uss
capacity of 1900 cubic feet Al a las
the afternoon. The crowd abon. 4 =
anchorage at Crawford street h. b,,s ~
gave rounds of cheers as the N, Ivy
golden balloon, with its eayIy ~ '
rated car, rose quickly mp through 4.
damp air. Higher and higher Il wen,
until it became n mele speck in tbosl.l
and drifted of TO the eastward T,.ai
1t was buried in n hinge cloud All
when 1t was next seen, thrill Of horn,
shot through the crowd of speetata,s
The round shape had gone. TIE i'll
sphere had vanished, rs though an 4.
buoyancy had been let out into H.
clouds, and in its stead was bao fan ~
ping and swinging wildly in tie II
Almost at the same instant Il ho -,
shooting downward, and in twipkins
it had descended through hundreds z
feet Of space. The sight made tbe IN
servers dizzy to look at.
The thug has bursted, " was the orv
that quickly circulated through M
crowd.
On it came, still falling, falling, tax.
ing on different forms, but always roeE.
ing and swaying fiercely from side "a
side. The young wife Of Allen. vbo
had place in the enclosure At Aa
bridge, fell in dead faint as She heard
the terrible cry, and people turned ausy
from the sight with blanched faces
When they looked again the balloon hal
shot below their line of vision. Ver
| quickly there was general movement
OF the crowd toward East Proyidenee
where 1T was presumed that the occn.
pant OF the balloon was already living
mangled corpse. The movement crew
into rush, and the rush into STAN.
pede, such was the intense anxiety on
the part of the throng TO know the
worst. Mr.. McJlvane was in the front
of the crowd.
On William Daggett's farm, six miles
away, he found his friend Allen, pale
but smiling. He had landed in the
middle of a soft bottomed meadow, and
this had undoubtedly saved his life.
After few drinks OF milk from his
pocket cup and brief rest the young
man gave an explanation Of his rapid
fall to the ground.
II pulled the explosion cord myself"
said he. 1.-The balloon did not burst.
The collapse was my own work. / had
to go up quick to get out Of the way Of
the buildings about the bridge. Hence
! had to have tremendous ascending
power and but little ballast. had only
one bag of sand, in fact. went up last
and my balloon began to expand. The
more it expanded, the f;istcr | went
was shooting up through tie clouds and
going fast for open water The gas was
pouring out of the neck Of the balloon,
aud nearly choking me. | Ind not
enough ballast to navigate with. II it
had been a pleasant day should have
thrown ont oil ] had and stayed up all
night. But ii was too rainy, The bal
loon, basket, cords, and all were soaked
with wet. There was no use Of opening
the valve at the top, for that would not
let the gas out quickly enough. and l
was afraid of the effect the water on the
balloon might have upon it. 50 |
climbed into the coneentric ring and
pulled the explosion cord, ripping the
balloon open. Then, as the balloon
collapsed. ] got hold Of what ! could
and pulled it ont as fiat as possible, 50
as to resist the air. came down pretty
fast, but expected that | landed all
right, basket first. )"
Allen was a trihe more than twomlles
above the city when he caused his bal
loon to collapse. The onlookers at the
Daggett farm tell much more exciting
etorv than he. One man who was !
the balloon with glass as u
came toward the ground, says, Alien
was trying to get on top Of the balloon
IS soon as it collapsed. When he came
near, he was crying wildly for help ana
,linging in the rigging. The man says
hat Allen was In the ear when the BAL
DON exploded.
The ''explosion" has been the talk o.
ever since it occurred II
S hard to convince most people that tae
was intentional. The hole ID
he balloon shows rip in the middle o.
breadth of cloth from the top near inc
alive to the neck.
Allen is only q years old. dc comes
rom family of aeronauts his iat ne
S Prof. james Allen. Since 1886 tne
'oung man has made ascensions nom
Pa, Carlisle, Pa, Fitehpnlg,
lass, and seven other p laees, nIs
,rother, James K, was the navigator 9.
,ampbell's air ship at Coney Island las'
ear. His father did good service as .
alloonist in the civil war and was DECO,
ated by Emperor Don Pedro OF bfa1u
Or services there. A cousin, Prof. Y.
|. Allen, made an ascension at BOSOM
n the Fourth, and the wife OF the NV
81 also made successful aerial assens
/ Pautucket on the same day.
0,-lr SIM