Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1890-09-10
A Battle With Death.

heuer, he started in the balloon Stoll-
werk at / o'clock on a cloudy after
noon. The balloon few one mile al
most straight upward into the thick
of storm. Wolff, fearful of the
strong winds and hail around him,
decided to make landing as soon as
possible.
"There was nothing but woods and
woods under U.s." he said subsequent
ly. "The balloon descended with
violent rapidity. l finally discovered
a little clearing on steep mountain
side and prepared to anchor. The
balloon descended more slowly, and
the people who had observed us hur-
ried together underneath and tried
to help us land. l drew the venti-
lator little further open and motion
ed to Schmitz to get out. Depenhen-
er alighted and all was we'll, when
suddenly a whirlwind struck us. A
terrible jerk sent me on my back in
the car. jump up to find all things
swimming down, down below me, and
two men clinging helplessly to the
edge of the car. l catch at the near
est one, a peasant who tried to assist
in the landing. Too late His
strength is gone he lets 60, and l
hear with horrible distinctness the
mutiled thud of his body on the
ground.
"My heart sickens, but rally to
save my friend Schmitz, who still
sticks to the cars side. Already the
clouds are sinking beneath us. We
are at least two miles above the earth.
l try to rise Schmitz into the car, but
he has sunk so far down from the
edge that can hardly grasp his
wrists, and he is too weak to make an
effort for himself. Both Of us groan
our despair, for all seems over.
Slowly and painfully l raise him
little, set my teeth fin the back of his
coat, and endeavor to bind him fast
with the storm line. A few moments
go by in hope and despair and l fin
ally succeed in fastening the rope un-
der his arms and tying him to the car.
There is no safety in the device, how
ever, for were Schmitz to lose con-
sciousness for an instant his body
would relax and he would slip away.
l call to him: Spread out your
arms Spread out your arms ! I
hear his body move in response to my
admonition. but his voice is lost to
me.
Cali this has occupied 25 minutes,
and we have in the. meantime been
slipping upward. Everything now
depends on our making a quick land
ing. draw open the valve and we
begin falling. We plunge into
great storm. The balloon spins
around in circles and sways about
like drunken man. Rain, hail,
thunder and tightening sweep over us.
The balloon reels SO that | must lie on
my face to remain in the car.
"'Peter Peter' l call to my
friend. Hold fast Only hold fast !
"No response, for he cannot hear
me. The agitation Of the balloon had
loosene ed the rope and he had sagged
back again, down the side of the car,
so can only see his finger-tips on the
edge. l creep to the side of the car,
seize his right hand with my left one
and with my right hand and teeth l
tug at the valve.
al cannot hold out longer comes
in weak voice from Schmitz 4 am
slipping away
"'One minute, only a minute more.'
! cry back, and we will be there.'
"The nearer we come to the ground,
however, the more violent becomes
the oscillation of the balloon. Final
ly we slip over a house, barn and
then drop like shot to the ground.
"'Let CO., / shouted to Schmitz,
and jump away from the anchor
HE obeys and the balloon, 1876
pounds lighter, scars upward. pull
at the valve with all my strength till
the anchor catches small tree. But
the tree gives way, and with the re-
bound the car springs up to the bal
loon, and for moment hang on al
most by my teeth. The anchor
catches against tree. Again jerk,
crack, a rebound and / am tossed
about like ball. l find myself just
above the top of dense old cedar.
Head first dive into the branches
and fall from bough to bough till
reach the ground. The anchor rattles
near me. Another tree breaks and
the balloon sails off to the northeast.
II had landed near Give. In an
hour / had the whole neighborhood
out looking for Schmitz. He was not
to be found. Presently a group Of
women hurried toward US from side
street. Three of them were half
carrying man. hastened to them
as fast as ] could and had Schmitz in |
my arms.