The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-08-12
The Sixteenth of August

The preparations for the picnic of the
Father Matthew T. A. B. Society, Au-
gust 10th, are completed and the indica-
tons point to very large attendance.
The railroads are to give reduced rates
and if the weather is favorable there will
be great crowd of people in town.
The grove is in fine condition and
there will be everything done that is
possible to accommodate and please the
people. The bills give the principal pro-
gramme.
The morning parade and inspection of
the Fire Department, one of the very best
in Vermont, will attract the attention of
visitors. They will be surprised at the
excellent showing this fine body of men
are sure to make, however much may
have been expected of them. The pa
rade, etc., will be under the direction of
Chief Tiffany and assistants.
Following this the crowd will HE away
to Hunts Upper Grove, and the sports
of the day will begin, under the auspices
of the f. NJ. L. A. B. Society.
At the grove the principal attraction
of the day will be Prof. La Roux's mar
velous demonstration of aerial naviga-
ton. We have before us half-column
account of recent performance by the
5000 people. They were all delighted,
at times during the exhibition hundreds
alternaterDately screamed with delight,
or held their breath as the 8ronaut APP
peared to be in danger. The writer of
the article aforesaid was an eyewitness
to the scenes he describes, and the de-
tails embrace gymnastic and acrobatic
feats as the monster balloon shot up into
the heavens. He says:
First he remained for instant sus-
pended by his hands, then loosening one
hand he waved it at the people below,
while with the other he chung to the
trapeze bar. Reversing his body, he is
now suspended by his legs, and in an
other instant loosens one leg and hangs
from the bar 1000 feet above the earth
by one leg. Next he is standing erect,
and it puzzles the eye to follow his rap
idly changing positions. Sitting calmly
upon the bar, he throws himself back
ward and catches by his ankles at the
juncture where the ropes and trapeze
bar meet, while a scream escapes from
thousands of upturned faces. y
The air ship has now reached height of
5000 feet and appears the size of Bart
lett pear, while the intrepid 9ronaunt,
suspended from below. is but speck in
the atmosphere 1t is now seen that he
is preparing to jump, and not murmur
is heard i'll that vast concourse of people,
but all eyes are rivited upon the object
above. % Calmly grasping the parachute
bar, and without a moments hesitation
he leaped off into space. The figure
dropped downward toward the earth
with the velocity of lightning, while a
cry of horror rent the air from the multi
tude below. AS the distance between
the object and the air ship widened and
the velocity increased, many faces were
turned away fearing that an awful TRACE
dy was being enacted, but soon the
white folds of the parachute began to
flutter and then expand and fill with air
and at the end of 400 feet the terrific
speed slackened, and the canvas oscih-
tated slightly to and fro, gracefully ap-
preaching the earth with it's living
freight, landing the fearless eronaut in
safety mile away"
The days doings will concluded with
a social in Library Hall in the evening.