St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-05-26
A THRILLING RIDE.
Adventure of a Parachute Man
Whose Parachute Got Away
From Him.
London Standard.

FROM Him.
London Standard
Great excitement was caused at Croy-
don, on Saturday afternoon, in connec-
ton with the ascent from the old fair
field of Prof. Higgins, the parachutist,
and for several hours doubts were en-
tertained as to his safety. The balloon,
which had thatday been named The
Dukes Motto" and was of the capacity
of 1900 cubic feet, was fully charged
by 5 o'clock. Higgins said the direc-
ton of the wind, which was northeast.
would necessitate his travelling to con-
siderable height, but he hoped to re-
turn to the field in about half an hour.
When he gave the signal to the attend
ants to "let 60" the machine gradually
rose, and appeared to go in the direc-
ton of Norwood. Upon reaching
an altitude of something like
1000 feet, the parachute became de-
tached from the net of the balloon.
which was evidently proceeding up
ward at a great rate, as the parachute
was fully expanded, although inverted.
1t was now evident that something was
wrong with the apparatus, and. amid
GREATNESS excitement, the parachute
dropped from the balloon and fell in a
RdIuSll Ill CdSG OiOyuO IiO UdllOOiI
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 s o'clock. however. all
fear was dispelled by the receipt of a
telegram stating that Higgins had land
| ed safely near Tunbridge. Higgins and
his balloon arrived at East Croydon by
| the 9:20 train.
In an interview with a correspondent
| Higgins stated that he had experienced
the most wonderful of all his aerial voy-
ages. When he had reached a height Of
| 1900 feet he began to get into a strong
current. and the balloon twisted right
round. The current 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 it was impossible for him to de-
scend into the middle of the town with
anything like safety. He therefore
opened his peh-knife 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 he
| passed through some sleet and snow.
He could hear, however, the sound of
trains.
All of sudden ne found himself in
darkness, caused, he presumed, by the
snow and the thick atmosphere. He
was in this snow storm for at least ten
minutes, and when he had passed
through it the sun was shining beauti-
fully. Below him he could see what ap-
peared to be snowy mountains rising
up and down for miles. He could see
distance of some forty clear miles, and
was able to discern the sun glistening
Oh the water at Brighton. 1t was evil
dent to him that he was going toward
Tunbridge Wells. He found the air
getting very sharp and keen. Icicles
were hanging from his mustache, and
he had no sooner rubbed them off than
others formed. For few minutes he
| descending on the mountains of snow,
and he thought he was getting near
Hastings 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 around three
times, and he felt he was descending.
He did nothing more to the balloon,
merely sitting on his trapeZe 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 tray
eled 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
2.G00 feet from the earth he prepared
to descend by hanging by one arm to his
trapeZe rope as if he were using his
parachute. When his feet touched the
ground the balloon, which was in front
of him, dragged him for ten yards, and
then rebounded some sixty feet in the
air, between two trees. Two laborers
ran from opposite directions, and. in re-
Spouse to his signals, they arrived just
as he came down second time, and
held the balloon until he let out the gas.
He found that he had landed on farm
in the occupation of Mr. Nash, of Pen
shurst, 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. BE added that the bal
loon had no escapevalve.