The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-05-19
Five M1LEs HIGH ON A TRAPRzB.
Adventures of Man Whose Para
chute Got away from Him.

Adventures of a Man Whose Para
chute Got away from Him.
Fron, rhe London Standard.
Graat excitement was caused at Croydon
IN Saturday afternoon in connection with
the ascent from the old fair field of Prof.
Hiprius. the parachutist, and for several
hours doubts were entertained as 70 ms
safety sThe balloon, which had that day
haen named''The Dukes Motto" aud was
of the capacity OF 1900 cubic feet, was
fnllv charged by o'clock. Higgins said
the direction of the wind, which was north
east would necessitate his travelling a. con-
siderable hight, but he hoped to return to
the field in about half an hour. When he
gave the signal to the attendants to Let
Ton the machine gradually rose, and APP
reared TO 90 in the direction of Norwood.
iJnon reaching an altitude of something ike
1000 feet the parachute became detached
from the net of the balloon, which was
evidently proceeding upward at great
rate as the parachute was fully expanded,
although inverted. Ii was now evident
that something was wrong with the appa-
ratus. and, amid breathless excitement the
parachute dropped from the balloon and
fell into garden in East Croydon. The
balloon rapidly disappeared In the clouds.
When darkness set in and no news had been
received of the parachutist much anxiety
was evinced as to his fate Shortly after
o'clock, however, all fear was dispelled by
the receipt of a telegram stating that Hlg-
gins had landed safely near Tanbridge.
Higgins and his balloon arrived at East
Croydon by the $50 train.
In an interview with a correspondent
Higgins stated that he had experienced the
most wonderful of all his aerial voyages.
When he had reached hight of 1900 feet
he began to get into a strong current, and
the balloon twisted right round. The cur
rent then caught his parachute causing the
wooden ring of it to catch him very tightly
under the arms. The test cord which held
the parachute then broke. Directly that
happened he saw that the parachute was
hanging below him fully inflated, and the
pressure on him was so great that 1t was
impossible for him TO descend into the mid
die of the town with anything like safety.
He therefore opened his penknife with his
teeth and cut the parachute away. This
caused the balloon to shoot up 5000 feet
higher, and on reaching that altitude he
met another current, which brought him
back, and he saw nothing until be passed
through some sleet and snow. He could
hear, however, the sound of trains.
All of sudden he found himself in dark
ness, caused, he presumed, by the snow and
the thick atmosphere. He was in this
snow storm for at least ten minutes, and
WDon ne UdQ DdSS6Q OLS oQh was
shining beautifully. Below him he could
see what appeared to be snowy mountains
rising up and down for miles. He could
see a distance of some forty clear miles,
and was able to discern the sun glistening
on the water at Brighton. 1t was evident
to him that he was going toward Tunbridge
Wells. He found the air getting very sharp
and keen; icicles were hanging from his
moustache, and he had no sooner rubbed
DffT ha oil formal EnF q faV
minutes he was quite deaf. He now seemed
TO be descending on the mountains of snow,
and he thought he was getting near Hast
ings or Brighton. He could smell the sea.
Thinking he was coming down, he took
hold of four of his guy ropes and pulled the
balloon partly over on one side to allow the
gas to escape at the mouth.
The balloon then turned round three
times. and he felt he was descending. He
did nothing more to the balloon, merely
sitting on his srapeze watching for terra
firma, which he did not see for some time.
At length he saw plowed fields, and close
by there was what he took to be large
park, with white roads across it. He then
Travelled about five or six miles at very
rapid pace, and saw more plowed fields,
which he thought would be a suitable place
to land on. When he was about 1000 feet
from the earth he prepared TO descend by
hanging by one arm to his trapeze rope as
if he were using his parachute. Whom
his feet touched the ground the
balloon, which was in front of him, dragged
him for ten yards, and then rebounded
some eighty feet in the air, between two
trees. Two laborers ran from opposite
directions, and, in response to his signals,
they arrived just as he came down a second
time, and held the balloon until he let out
the gas. He found that he had landed on
farm in the occupation of MIR. Nash of
Penshurst, about thirty miles from Croy-
don. In reply to questions he said that at
one time he must have been five miles
above the earth, the highest he had ever
been. He added that the balloon had no
escape valve.