Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-17
IN PERIL n THE AIR,
What an Aeronaut Thought During q Half
Minutes Fall


Minutes Fall
From the Detroit Free Press.
There is some kind of fatality pursuing
me in Detroit" remarked. Prof Bartholomew
to a reporter of the Free Press Yesterday.
First, Cole was hurt, by his own folly, how
ever, in monkeying on his parachute when he
was coming down; then Hogan was killed:
Miss Carmo drops within ten feet Of an un-
fathomable abyss of mud in sulphur marsh,
and today have met man who witnessed
the most narrow escape from death ever had
THE incident referred to occurred two
years ago at Terre Haute, Ind. shall never
forget my experience on that day. number
of outsiders held the ropes Of the balloon while
it was being inflated, and one of the men
amused himself by tying big knot in his guy
did not realize the danger from that knot un-
til 1t came near being the cause of my death
My ascent was unusually high on that day, and
1t was the means OF saving my life.
Il straddled the bar Of my parachute and
launched myself off. l felt the cord which held
the parachute to the balloon snap and a second
later there was another tug" from above.
i looked up, and there was that knot on the
guy swung around six OF the parachute
cords, forming as neat a half hitch as
you ever saw in your life and holding me to
the balloon. You have noticed that there is q
weight attached to the top Of the balloon,
which turns the bag upside down as it is
released of the weight Of the aeronaut.
The guy rope which was half hitched
around the strings OF my parachute
was also fastened to the top OF the balloon, and
the latter turned up and began discharging the
hot sir instantly as jumped. The air escaped
as you see it every day here, gradually, and of
course my parachute descended very gradually
at first and not initiating. Down 1 kept com
ing, the guy rope preventing the parachute
from initiating, and gave myself up as lost;
wound my legs around the ropes Of the para
chute trapeze and shut my teeth. The speed
commenced to be fearfully accelerated, and ]
WAS sure that had to die, but was cool and
retained nv senses.
soon the balloon had emptied itself and
commenced Tapping its huge tail in the air
with awful swishes. The balloon weighed
over 200 pounds and was also pulled down BY
the sixty-pound sand bag. 1t came down past
me, and as the knotted guy rope slipped down
the lines the parachute opened with such a
fierce snap that it seemed as if the ropes which
supported me would give way. The spreading
OF the parachute saved my life, for the 200
pound balloon kept on down and broke the sir
cords held captive by the guy rope as if they
had been pack threads. 1t takes q long time ia
tell the story, but it oil happened in half a
minute. was within 400 feet Of the ground
when the balloon tore away, but my fall was
checked and landed all right.
Everybody thought was goner that day
and more excited crowd than had gathered
around where l was to have fallen you never
saw. There 10 no mistake about my being
scared that day, but folded my parachute and
balloon as coolly as if nothing had happened
and went to bed for the remainder of the week. ~