Evening star., 1897-03-06
Up IN A BALLOON.
The AerOnaut Tells a Story Out of
His Experience In the PrOfe ssfOn.


His Experience In the Profe ssion
From the New York Sun
Something or other suggested the sub
ject. and the tall man who sat at the hotel
tabls where he couldn't see the man oppo-
site owing to the caster which stood be-
tween. stuck his fork into potato and be-
gan talking.
Il suppose he said, that when Elijah
went to heaven in hand basket he liked it
and 1t was all right, but as for me- I'd
rather go by land"
The man at the foot of the table looked
up questioningly.
BY the graveyard. of course. I mean."
hastily explained the talker. You see, this
aerial navigation business amt any good
after you've had rassle with it that pulls
all Of mans nerves out by the roots,
twists them around stump and then be-
gins to yank and saw on them. Y'under-
stand what 1 mean? l used to be an aero
naut, did. 1 guess 1 must have made a
thousand ascensions. Out in my state for
long time no county fair was complete
without me- and 1 got the topography Of
the state down. SO fine from my bird d's-eye
view of 1t that could draw a map of the
whole layout with my eyes shut. Great
thing 1t was to be sailing through the air
In them days. and thought never would
get enough of it, until one fine afternoon a
rope broke in ticklish place. and it gave
me a kind of nervous fit, just as It does e.
railroad engineer when he has an accident
and isn't hurt that anybody can see. Just
the same, he is hurt, and so was I, but l
kept on; so does the engineer
After that though. didn't go up feel
ing quite as sassy as l used to feel. end
sometimes as L would go shooting upward
Id wonder how hard the ground was in
case man haG to light sudden. 1 always
done trapeze act in connection with my
performance. and. If do say 1t myself. it
wasn't any Slouch of a trapeZe show. And
1 didn't like that half as well after the rome
broke as 1 did before, either Indeed, 1
begun to think the whole dern balloon bus
mess wasn't what 1t was cracked up to be.
L was thinking about tying a rope around
my waist, so as to catch hold of things if
fell, but l didn't like to do that though
there was about hundred feet of rope l
had hung out as an anchor, or grab. with
a hook on the end to help me to land " hen
the show was over.
1.-The day l retired from business there
was state fair going on that week, and
went up every day. 1t was fine day, with
just enough wind to move the balloon along
majestic, as the papers said, and when l
shot up l was SO nervous that 1 actually
said my prayers as l saw the ground drop
ping away under me. But l took a brace
on myself and begun my trapeze act, the
balloon going up faster than / ever felt it.
By this time was up half mile, and my
turn was to swing with my knees around
the bar. which looked mighty dangerous
but it really wasn't any worse than If
had been in a theater without a net. Well
| l give myself the swing. and I never did
know why. but l lost my grip. and with a
| swish felt myself fly out into space. The
Lord knows what l thought about, but 1t
wasn't for long. for / didn't know any
more until came to In the room at the
hotel where I was stopping"
"Come off," interrupted the man at the
| foot of the table. You can't tell this crowd
you fell half mile and didn't get killed.
You are plain, unvarnished liar. that's
| what you are"
You're another If you say said fell
| half a mile" responded the retired aero
naut. and 1t looked as IL there might be a
| scrap.
what 1 did do" he continued. when
peace was restored. was to strike that
| anchor line within ten feet of the end of it
| as 1t trailed under me, and by some act of
| a merciful Providence the anchor flew
around my body and caught the rope above,
| thus looping me in. There I hung until the
| balloon came down. and as everybody be-
| low saw the accident you may imagine tkat
| had a big reception when landed, though
/ 1 didn't know anything about 1t. l did
| know, though. that couldn't tempt Prov
| fdence twice, and SO / quit and went to
| editing country newspaper. which is more
lingering than falling out of a balloon