The morning times., 1896-11-29
PLUNGE Of HUMAN METEOR
A5rOnaut'S Daring Leap From
Balloon to River.
A BLAZE OF FIREWORKS
"It Was Simply Glorious" He
Says-An Exploit With
out Precedent.
A BLAZE OF FIREWORKS
Copyright, 1850

A display "a fireworks with human
being as the cenJerpiecc, hundreds OF feet
from the earth, is the marvel that Is TO
be witnessed throughout the United states
ItiS the most astonishing combination that
AL acrunaut has ever conceived. To he
sure, it is fraught with greater danger
than even the balloon man ordinarily en-
counters. hut 10 many that ma kes 1t
more attractive. Not only does the
acrunaut appear in the midst of a won
deTful combination OF fireworks, but he
dives from great heights into the river,
lake, or ocean, as may bc selected, fam
ing ike d human torch, anu leaving a
trail of fire behind him in his pcrl.ous
flight
1t is not "A mere experiment that oscar
Norm. the aeionauJ who conceived the
idea, is to make the country over He
IrIru iGa uian Al lew nays go at private
exhibition near New Haven, Conn, and
achieve a distinct success. Nurin's
apparatus consists of the ordinary balloon
and parachute, ana some fireworks. When
lie prepares to make the ascension and
subsequent dive, he clothes himself in a
ugft-T fitting suit of scarlet, which gives
linn the appearance OF an up-to-date Ne
plnstophclcs minus horns and hoois- He
is a fine-lookIng man withal, and com
hines something of the appearance of an
Buckied tight to the waist of the aero
maui is a strong and somewhat peculiar
looking belt of leather, from which de-
pend numerous leather strings. These
are used To tie to the belt dozen tubes
of strange appearance, from which de-
pend small fuses.
So much Tor Norin's attire. Presently
balloon and parachute are reported to
lc in readiness for the ascent. Norm
thereupun takes his seat on the bar at
tached to cables which extend downward
from the parachute, grasps one of the
ropes firmly. and .oOks for moment at Ills
audience. Then 1T is noticed that in
each hand he carries tube similar in
appearance To troSe which hang, fuse
downward, from his belt, This is just
how the Young man looked when he made
his trial ascension as a fireworks display
at New Haven
on this occasion, after Norm had seat
Ell himself upon the parachute bar, he
explained to the persons grouped about
him just what he intended to accom-
pliSh. IL was, he declared, the frultlon
OF an idea over which he had pUndcred
for years He expressed the utmost con-
fidenCe that he would succeed, because,
v Nhiie the exploit might appear both diff
fiCult and dangerous to the Inexperienced,
to the derunaut, familiar with the periis
of aerial navigation, it seemed fraught with
very little more danger than that which
j. ordinarily faced.
Then Norm revealed the use to which
those queer looking tubes We're to be put
They We're nothing more nor less than
Roman candies, and II was his purpose
to fire them off at a certain time during
the ascension. I he candles would be light
ed before the daring aeronaut made his
dive, and the fuses We're made long, SO that
plenty of time would elapse between the act
of lighting and the moment OF firing them
In this manner, all danger OF spark
of fire reaching the balloon was avoided.
After this explanation, the anchor rope
WAS unreeved, and balloon, parachute, and
aeronaut began their eyentful voyage
into space As the curious throng watched,
the trio grew smaller and smaller, until at
last they merged in one dark blot against
the background of clouds. The blot seem
ell to remain stationary for a moment, then
swung like the pendulum of an immense
aerial clock. Soon faint space was visi
bic between two portions of the blot
and this rapidly widened. A second later
q spark of light shot out from the lower
half of the divided blot. Another and still
another followed, each brighter than itl
predecessors. Then came "A dazzling blaze
of fire, with flaming tail streaming be
hind it, like that of n comet of high degree
Nearer and nearer the earth this strang
sight sped. until about 200 feet above then
and a little to one side, those who hat
followed the course of the balloon saw tn
figure of Norm seated on the bar of al
opened parachute, and surrounded by
fountain of fire, spraying from the throat
of the Roman candles attached to his
waist
When the parachute was within Axt.
feet of the river toward which it wa
rapidly descending, the spectators wer,
Mortified by seeing the n eronaut apparentl,
fan from the parachute bar on which h,
had been seated, lunging headlong at 6