The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-05-30
SHOT UP INTO SPACE.
AN UNEXPECTED BALLOON RIDE BY
a VERMONT FARMER.


the Earth In Safety. ..-..
Eugene Mccarthy, q tall, slender Irish
Yankee who lived at Waitsfeld, VT,
made sensational voyage at the Mad
River Valley fair on Sept. ], 1897, In a
hot air balloon. Tangled In tho car ropes,
a prisoner by accident, he shot Into the air
to height Of 5000 feet, and after strug.
Cling and dangling in midair helpless be-
low the car he returned to earth, not q
corpse, but the same rugged Green noun.
tain farmer.
More than 1900 spectators had Assem-.
bled ut the fair grounds in order to wit.
ness the balloon ascension. To make the
ascension as advertised the professor called
to tho crowd for volunteer workmen.
Eugene Mccarthy responded and took his
assigned station inside the canvas balloon
car On the outside, by this time, the
huge bag had been raised and supported
securely by guy ropes on all sides. A fire
had been started In tunnel In order to
furnish the necessary hot air. Fed by
kerosene, the flame ran through the tun-
mel and came up inside tho uplifted bag
with stream Of sparks MCCARTHY and
the professor were there to prevent these
sparks from firing the cloth. Gradually,
as the current Of hot air swept into the
car, the top part swelled forth until the
airship became restless ip Its attempts to
leap heayenward. BY the faint applause
outside Mccarthy knew that the young
woman performer, who WAS to mako the
descent in parachute was ready to start
At given signal, in order TO escape en-
tanglemont In the ropes fastened from the
balloon car to the parachute, Mccarthy
jumped to the center Of his small circle
space. But he caught the hot air from
the tunnel full In his face Half blinded
by smoke and flame, he naturally stepped
back and unintcntionally placed foot
across raised parachute rope. So when
the balloon car, freed from guy ropes,
jumped upward, the volunteer workman
. felt tho rope tighten under his leg. BY
natural impulse he grabbed the rope over
head In order to keep himself from falling
head downward. He accordingly soon
found himself, not on the ground where
he belonged, but In midair, swinging 20
foet above tho parachute performer and
rushing skyward at express train speed.
In the first confusion Of the start up
ward the spectators did not recognize Mo-
Carthy in the balloon. They saw stranger
in the rigging dangling below the big
canvas bag and naturally thought, as
everything went up noiselessly, his pres
enoe there an unadvertised part Of tho
programme. What made the double as
cension still more interesting to them was
the everyday appearance Of the man. He
was dressed, not in stage ballet costume
like the woman, but In modest farm
CLOTHES. Therefore, when a short, thick.
set man suggested yell Of approval, the
1000 men, women and children sent up
mixed cheer to the balloon. In answer
the young woman, who rested comfortably
on a trapeze bar, bowed and threw kiss
to her admirers As for the other perform
er, tho man in shirt sleeves, he seemed
frightened He neither bowed nor waved
his hand, but held ON tight and took no
notice Of tho spectators They watched
him rise to height of $500 feet, where,
like his companion, he was merely a dot
at the end Of thread.
MCCARTHY, at the start, heard and obey
ed tho sound advice Of the professor to
hold on tight. He felt the earth sink rap
Idly as In an express elevator in q tall
office building, and at 1000 feet began to
feel himself more at homo. His car then
began to go slower and steadier. So he
examined his position In the balloon For
seat, half way between the hot air bag
and parachute top, he had small iron
ring, to which were fastened the ropes Of
the hot air car and parachute. He at
tempted to look downward, bit as tho
thought of falling unnerved him he grew
dizzy. Then he remembered faint cheer
and wondered why his friends seemed 80
much pleased at his dangerous position.
His musings in midair continued until he
heard tho voice Of his companion per.
former
"Hellol" said she. -
"Hellol" said Mccarthy.
fare you safe?"
II guess 3d."
Hold on, for I'm going"
"Goodbyl" said MCCARTHY.
"Goodbyl" said the girl.
Although at a height of $500 feet, Nc
Carthy by this time had begun to be en-
couraged by the presence OF his airship
companion. He further had hoped that
because Of his accidental trip she might
not make her drop in the parachute. Her
announced start homeward therefore gave
him some uneasiness. He naturally pre-
ferred her company. But with true Green
mountain grit he held on to the ropes and
patiently waited for her departure.
From his boyhood Mccarthy had lived
on farm and had never studied at the
little white schoolhouse on Waitsfeld com.
mon such questions as tho behavior Of
hot air balloons in the sky. Therefore he
never expected when his friend left him to
shoot higher In the air. Personally he
was satisfied with $500 feet, but no was
forced to obey tho law of nature. Freed
of the weight Of the girl and parachute,
which dropped toward the fair grounds,
Mccarthy and his airship leaped skyward
again. For the next few seconds the SOIL
tary prisoner closed his eyellds, held his
breath and grasped the ropes tighter. He
quickly rose 500 feet, and there, at an alti-
tudc of 5000 feet, foated lazily in the still
mountain air. Far above Bald mountain
he took panoramic view of the scenery,
which showed the Montreal mountain In
Canada, the white peaks In New Hamp-
shire, the whole sweep Of Vermont to the
south and Lake Champlain and the Adj
rondacks in New York state But the man
in tho balloon soon tired of his view. Ho
then waited for tho hot, smoky air In the
car to cool and take him home.
On the trip homeward Mccarthy equal.
led in grace the parachute drop Of the
Young woman. As the hot air cooled no
slowly descended and finally disappeared
not half mile from the park behind
slump Of trees in Fayston valley. On the
ground again, he lodged tho falling can
vas and Immediately started for the fair
grounds. There Mccarthy found himself
a hero In few words he told the story
of his wonderful experience in Jnidair,
then hitched up his horse, jumped into the
wagon and started for home.-New York
Sun.
Fresh Laid.
McCormick-l want two poached eggs