Rock Island Argus., 1896-11-24
Head down IN MIDAR
lmpromptu Aeronautics BY q
Young Bricklayer.
CARRIED Up BIZ A BALLOON ROPE.

Jefked Skywafd with Heels Cp, but Man.
eyed to Crawl Into the Ropes Of the
Balloon and Descend In sa6ety-His
Story of the Ahhir.
In Birmingham, Ala, not long ago VIII
liam Whitfield, o young bricklayer, gave
an impromptu exhibition in balloonatics
that will never be forgotten by the horror
stricken witnesses Of the performances.
Professor McSheen was about to give q
balloon ascension and parachute leap.
Whitfield was one of the men who held
the ropes of the balloon. and when the or
der was given TO let go his foot was caught
in a moose and he was instantly carried
skyward Here is Whitfield's own story
of his experience:
Il must have been standing with my
right foot in a Moose in the end Of the
rope. At any rate as the balloon shot uo
the loop caught around my ankle and so
quickly was IL done that I was jerked
clear Of the ground and straight up with
out my head striking rs l tripped The
balloon must have shot directly upward,
as we were carried safely between the
wires of q network of telegraph poles with
out touching them.
Il must have been thousand feet from
the earth when l recovered consciousness.
You see, the sudden jerk took my breath
away, and the ascent was 50 rapid that
was high in the air before realized what
had happened. could hear voice that
seemed indistinct and faraway, and it took
me some time to locate the speaker.
From my position l could catch
glimpses of the houses and fields away
down below me, and it made me deathly
sick as l took in the situation. My body
was twirling around and around, and the
air rushed past me like hurricane, while
the pain in my ankle was agonizing. AT
last observed the parachute about ten feet
below mo and recognized the voice as that
| of Professor McSheen in the parachute
Gradually overcame the confused feel
| ing sufficiently to comprehend what he was
| saying to me. He motioned to rope that
hung down from the balloon within my
reach, and at last reached out my hand
| and grasred it. He told me to climb M
and get in tho nest of ropes that formed a
| network below the car and to fix myself
| firmly there, where l would be perfectly
safe
Then began the toughest task of my
life Professor McSheen kept telling me
over and over, without betraying the least
| excitement in voice or gesture, how to
manage, and his manner encouraged me.
Slowly and painfully pulled myself up,
straining with all my might to get my
head above my heels and after what seem.
| ed to me hours and hours / succeeded.
Then with the small grass cord cutting in.
to the flesh of my hands and feeling like i,
| was redhot rod of iron began to pull
myself up little by little, as had no 'pur.
chase until reached the point where the
ropes crossed.
| 1T required all my strength to get my
feet a-straddle of the crossed ropes, and
was ready to faint with exhaustion when
l relaxed my hold ON the rope and rested
| my weight in the network just under the
car. l did not know how high we were AT
| the time, but Professor McSheen told me
afterward that we were at least 3, 600 feet
above the earth.
| about the time I got myself firmly
fixed in my airy seat / heard him calling
me again. He was telling me that he was
going to cut loose the parachute and fol