The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1895-07-04
CAUGHT on THE FLY.

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'ioiis " DE- - i,'',g i t''''-',' - 10,
sion "heii l. ''eoiSe H"'''' "V''" u
this, l made up my mlnd that would
90 up III that balloon
Twill say rlght here that never cared
for the society Of young ladies; consc-
anently | was called confirmed old
hae6alor nj tbe aae If 9S yours had
norelativost Ia dissnado mo tro,, making
erch = fool of mvseIf os lavish IN 0o mn
in n balloon. and no one to care whether
oa,na down aoaIn ,r nnt ssv did
nor care for the se,.iotr of vmug Indies
hnt there was oua-.Indge Wells daueb.
tor SaIlie-wbo tbmrht WAS the hest
lool,,n,, md altoeotbor tbe incest girl
had ever known was not acquainted
viii har ba,.o,.a, md uevnr evnected
to he hnt liked her all the same
I cav, tho owner of the b,lloon Pro.
fessor Scars and be agreed to carry me
nm fer &loo AsIwas in good circum-
stances financially did NOT consider this
n,,ea too bigb and Mt once agreed To 90
The lonoea fer Fourtb of .Iulv arrived
and ahont 2 o'clock | stepDed into the
balloon with Professor Scars
Ar inst five minutes mast 3 the signal
c,,n was fred and Professor Sears lean
ed ont md ent tbe cable that held ms
AZ he did So the grapnel sliDned ont of
tLe car He tried 70 catch il. Int lost his
halanea aud fell ia the ground leaving
mo ne snnnosed alone in the balloon.
was terribly frightened. for | had not
fhe slightest knowledge of the workings
of the hinge gas bag. as | had never seen
one CLOSELY before
looked over the car to see where
was going. when noticed that there
was n p,rl hanging bv her clothes to the
srrannel the line If which was attached
to the ear while the balloon was sailing
randy toward the clouds
What WAS to do? | made up my
mud IN . eerond I mnst draw fine child
M INTO theear Preached out and caught
hold Of the lone could not move it.
The >peed with which the balloon was
go,np made 1t impossible to raise it an
inch There We're some double tackle
blocks III the ear. and | at once thought
of a WAY to get the girl up Hastily rig
ONO the hlocks | tied the rODe to the one
holding the girl and found that | could
hoist her up. l had to fasten the rope as
low down as | could reach and then
hoist till the blocks came together They
were hitched to the ropes that held the
car to the balloon on top. and of course
It was slow work. think it took 5
minutes to get her into the car, when
nudge of my surprise to find that what
| had supposed to be little girl was
Judge Wells daughter, "a years old, and
the belle of Georgetown.
A few moments after got her into
the car she regained her senses, and her
first words were, "Where am II"
Il don't exactly know" | replied,
but you are somewhere between heaven
and earth in a balloon. "
How came | here-oh | remember
now | felt myself suddenly pulled up
into the air. and then guess tainted. -
Il should have thought YOU would. "
replied, and then | told her how Pro
lessor Sears had tried to catch the grap-
mel as ii fell and had fallen out in try
ing to do SO, and how got her into the
car
''rhen Won have saved my life. "
No, only prolonged it, "
"How is that"
1--WE are going RAPIDLY upward, and
don know ANYTHING about the manage.
ment of the balloon. We shall both be
killed "
Il don t think that You surely can
find a way to stop 1t Have you tried?"
No, have been so busy getting you
INTO the balloon that | have not Thought
of it | will try now examined the
different PARTS. and finally found the
rope that opened the valve The balloon
mnch 60 thongbt and fonnd another
rono which wonId close tha yaIve Win
these rones rognlatod tho descent vory
n,oolr Aftor 9,ott,ro tho th,n,, ,ndo,.
oont,ol 1nol.od do,,n toward rho oorth
II was tho first IooL since had nnllod
Miss Wells INTO rho balloon We were n
Iona vay ma hnt ,yo voro oror tba v,o'
for told Miss Wells Gu and she lool,
cd ont
I'm that case think we had hottor
on down till we strike dianront cnr
rent of wind. dom vonY"
ItoId bar yes and vorr COON ,vo st,,,ol
d;eforopt c,,r,ont and s,,rnoeod ,ro
wore he,no CARRIED IN tho diroc,iou from,
which ,va came Tbon 7 closed tho val,,e