The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-11-22
THE AERONAUT'S STORY.
1t Was About the Disposal OF Falling
Bodies Without lettering the Earth.

1t Was About the Disposal OF Falling
Bodies Without lettering tho Earth.
From the Washington Star.
did o see anything in any of the
paoers about q man falling out of a
pailoon five or six miles hlgh and
never hitting the ground?" inquired
an old aeronaut Of a Star reporter.
What did he hit?" was the inquir-
ing reply.
Nothing. according to the theory Of
h man making the statement. You
see. II was one of those QUESTIONABLE
ing cranks who wants to know every
thing. He had said that by calculation
he had discovered that II a man fell out
OF a balloon at that height he would
be going so fast by the time he got
near the earth he would be vaporized
by the heat forming the friction"
That's a fool notion. isn't it?"
"Um-um." hesitated the aeronaut,
II wouldn't like to say that 1t was, al
together"
why not? Did you ever try it?"
mo; but / tried 1t on a dog once"
did he hit bottom?"
LET me tell you about 1t, and you
can answer the question to suit your-
self. Twenty years l had a repu-
tatiOn in aeronautics as a high flyer,
SO to speak. and I guess I have been
farther away from the earth than any,
body that is still alive. One day I
made an ascension to a distance of over
five miles. and the next day l proposed
to beat my own record, and / took a
scientific chap along as a witness. We
also took along a dog weighing about
eight or ten pounds. Well, we went
up for all there was in 1t. and / expect
we might be in heaven by this time;
the professor almost froze to death and
/ had to turn back to save his life. Al
the point registered highest by U
barometer l let the dog jump out. 1t
spotted the field where he ought to
light with my glass, n watched him
go down as long as could see him. A
couple of o later we descended and
the balloon grounded within half a mile
of where the dog should have lit, the
wind having changed ana swept US
back toward the starting place. We
q brass collar On him with our address
on 1t. so If anybody picked the body up
1t could be sent to us. That Is because
we had nc idea of landing anywhere
near where 1t would light. We looked the
field over carefully, but found no sign
of the dog. Then we made q more
careful search, and all at once the pro
fessor stopped down and came up with
something that looked like a dog COL
lar that had been through a fiery fur
race. 1t had exactly the appearance
of brass that had been in the fire, but
u tag was not on It, and we were
about to throw 1t away when the pro-
iesSor took another look and fOund my
initials there. but almost obiterated.
That settled 1t. The dog hadn't lit at
all. He g been burned clear out of
his collar. as nothing was left of him
but vapor. just as the professor said
when we let the dog go, and a more
pleased man you never saw than that
scientist. 1t was q notion Of his, this
vaporizing theory, and he thought he
would make a great name by It,"
And did he?"
mo, because he vent up with me
again the next day with a sheep and he
fell out himself when we were up about
a mile"
WAS he vaporized?" asked the Star
man. with great scientifce interest.
He was pulverized," smiled the
aeronaut grimly, and was silent.