The Opelousas courier., 1899-08-19
MYSTERY OF A BALLOON.
FATE OF A MAN WHO WENT Up
ON THE TOSS OF A COIN.

Mysterious Fate OF His Companion.
A balloon incident, which recentl,
happened in the metropolis, saws tn
New York Sun, prompted q man VIII,
witnessed it to tell the following ex
perience:
ST came very near being thrown GU
If O balloon once myself. Did 70,
ever hear of Wash Donaldson? 81,
was the balloonist for the Barnum ant
Bailey show more than twenty year,
ago. Donaldson was an athlete. H,
was Of perfect physique and was a maj
Of travel and q captivating talker. 81,
was the hero of more than a hundred
trips to the skies. The ascension,
took place just before the Afternoon
performance. He opened the season
in the summer of rs on the lake from.
in Chicago. I was invited to 20 III
with him. There were three others
The basket party consisted of fou,
persons. Donaldson took his place on
the bar between the basket and the
neck of the balloon. The day was hot,
Donaldson was in his shirt sleeves.
Part of the time he was bareheaded,
The day was perfect. As we took ou1
flight and sailed out over the lake,
reaching IN altitude of nearly a mile,
the intrepid pilot, looking down upon
his passengers, chatted about his
travels and experiences while the air.
ship above turned slowly and at times
seemed to stand still.
r 'This, my first ascension, was acct
dental. The arrangement for my trip
was for the second day. But two other
persons, also invited to go up on the
second day, appeared on the first day
and asked to make the ascension then.
This occasioned a parley. It was set
tied by the toss Of a coin. By this I
won. The two who lost then threw
for the ascension next day, for Don
aldson had said that after the first as
cension he would take. only one per-
son.
r ''This first ascension was without
incident, save for the novelty of it to
those who had never before been I'D
in the air. The ship landed eabout
where the Auditorium Hotel new
stands. After we had left the basket
I went with Donaldson to his hotel
and dined with him. A woman at the
table, n of the profession, was DON
aldson's affianced bride. They were
to have been married at the close OF
that season. He had promised her to
make no more ascensions after their
marriage.
II asked him what he would do if,
in an ascension with only che person
it became necessary in order to escape
in safety to unload the basket. He
said, in a matter of fact way, that the
law of self-preservation was the same
IN midair as it was on the earth.
"'Would you throw a man out of
basket of your balloon?' asked the
woman, to whom the possibility of
such a thing had occurred, apparent
y, for the first time. Donaldson re-
piled that he would be justified in
such an act, where his own life was
involved, and he told me afterward
that he had consulted a weli-known
criminal lawyer in New York on that
question, and that the information was
accordance with what he had said
n reply to the woman.
1.-The next day Invent to the grounds
% see Donaldson make his second as
OF that engagement. The sky
vas threatening. The lake was a sea
It ~whitecaps. A storm came up out
the southwest. The two men had
ossed with me the day before were ct
he side of the basket, The younger,
rho had won the toss for the second
lays ascension, was q mere lad from
n interior town of Illinois. His name
.as Grimwood. The other was a
He wanted the young
aan to toss owe again, but the young
IAN replied by quoting the old adage
bout a bird in hand. Donaldson said
D me, in an aside.
ct hate to take that boy to-day,
this balloon, which is not the one
e had yesterday, is patched, and not
$ safe as the other, and, besides, it
,oks dark over head. How would
on like to take his placer
Il do not know what my answer
light have been. There was no occa-
ion to rely, for the young man, evil
afraid he might lose his place, |
ad jumped into the basket before I
ould speak. Knowing Donaldson as
did, with faith in his courage and
dmiring his intrepidity, I think I
nould have gone with him in his SEC
nd fight.
Donaldson followed Grimwood and
allied to cut the rope. The balloon
ent up in the midst of lightning and
lunder. Not q cheer followed it's
;ormy fight. The spectators looked
from under umbrellas in 81
mt awe. The balloon crossed the
Ike in . northwesterly direction and
as soon lost from sight by interven'
clouds. The afternoon was stormy
i'd the fury Of the gale increased dur
lg the night. No tidings were re-
lived of the voyagers on the follow
g morning. That afternoon the first
alloon was inflated on the circus
and an ascension was an
ounced. None took place. Donald
IN had not yeturned. Messages were
mt out If towns in the Northwest
king for Say news of the balloon, the
rcus mana cement offering to pay
feee such information. No
,swers We . received. The next day
ID the next and every proceeding day
lille the circus remained the balloon
which we made the first ascension
rs inflated, but the ropes were never