The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-08-20

away. It was his first and last spectac-
ular exhibition in the presence Of a great
assembly. He was twenty-five years
old
E NJ. EAST WAS NEVER FOUND.
Edward NJ. East, q years old, met
similar fate in a Minnesota lake one
pleasant evening in the first week of
August. He began the hazardous work of
kiting balloons and jumping with para
chutes early this season, hoping to make
a pot Of money and. to win the plaudits
of admiring multitudes, but unfortunately
his meteoric career was cut short at his
fifth ascension. w.
It was in the town of Walker Accord
ing to advertisements the young -aeronaut
made his ascension in the evening, and
there was a big crowd on hand to watch
the performance. Everything was made
ready and the hot air balloon shot
heaVenward at the rate of mile min
ute. At an altitude of several hundred
a strong wind caught the balloon and car
ried it out over the south arm of Leech
lake. Soon the aerial vehicle, with the
young man still sitting on the trapeze
bar, was lost to sight A sense of i'm
pending danger spread through the
crowd. Then a steamer fastened to the
rescue. and, although the balloon was re-
covered, the aerOnaut was not to be
| found. A search was kept up all night, but
no signs Of the body were seen. 1t was
! supposed that the parachute failed to do
! its work properly, and that East, in at
I tempting to cut himself loose became ex-
| cited and fell headlong into the lake.
HOW KEEF MET HIS DEATH.
Charles Keef Cleveland aeronaut, met
death in that city July 10 in the presence
! of several hundred persons who had as
! sembled to witness his balloon ascension
and parachute jump at Euclid Beach
| park The balloon and parachute were at
| tached to a guy rope, which in turn was
! fastened to a stake. AS the balloon be-
came inflated it swayed and tugged so
powerfully as to pull the stake from the
ground. Released from it's moorings the
airship shot upward with a sudden jerk,
and the trapeze bar was broken by com
| ing in contact with the flying stake.
/ AerOnaut Keef frantiCally chung to the
ropes of the balloon. Almost before any
one realized the situation he had been
lifted to a height of $50 feet from the
ground. At this point he glanced down
I ward over his shoulder, with a look of
terror on his face He probably felt that
it meant certain death to cling longer to
the ropes and allow the balloon to carry
him higher, so he took the one chance in
. a thousand which remained to him and
released his grip for fall. He landed
squarely on his feet The crowd stood
!
ward like a plummet Both his legs were
broken and his internal injuries were
very severe. He died without regaining
( consciousness.
One of the most thrilling lights for life
/ in mtdair this season was that of Bal
/ loonist w. A Thayer, at Streator, Ill,
! July q. He fought bravely, but the odds
were against him and he lost the battle
Thayer went to Streator from Collins,
/ Mich, to make an ascension at the picnic
! given by the local camps OF the Modern
/ WOodman of America. Early ia the aft
I erroOn, everything being in readiness, he
. started on his aerial voyage The bal
Icon rose rapidly to height of about
LOCO feet, and then drlfted toward the
| southwest.
THAYER'S FIGHT FOR LIFE.
Suddenly the balloon began to descend
quickly and the parachute opened. Thou
sands of spectators were watching every
! movement. They were seized with a
panic of terror when they saw the frantic
but unsuccessful attempts of Thayer to
loosen the parachute from the balloon.
Time and again in the short space of a
few seconds he could be seen using every
effort and straining every muscle and
nerve to free himself and his parachute,
until all of a sudden the balloon col
lapsed. A few seconds later Thayer
struck the ground. He was dead when
the first man reached his side. He fell a
distance of 200 feet, landing on his back
on a railroad track. His back, neck both
legs and both arms were broken. 1t seems
that when he attempted to make his
parachute descent the balloon turned
over and the gas escaped. The big bag
fell faster than the parachute. Thayer
had not yet cut loose from the balloon.
The result was that the balloon caused
the parachute to turn upside down and
the aeronaut was left helpless. Thous-
ands were shocked by this sight. but none
more so than one of Streator's popular
young women TO whom Prof. ThaJer was
soon to have been married.
The city of Streator furnished another
balloon sensation this season Mime. Car
mon, professional aeronaut. had a mar
row escape from death In a b1rning bal