The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1900-12-18
TALES OF PLUCK
And ADVENTURE


(" hhilE WAS more eASise
ment than dots and
dashes on that trip." said
the Rev. j 81. Bacon to
a London Daily Mail representative.
referring 10 a recent balloon voyage
from Newbury. which ended at Saver
make.
"The drenching which you antiei-
pated came a few minutes after we
began 10 see Newbury sklddlng away
below us. Directly / had finished sig
Mailing 20 our friends at Newbury gas
works / saw Hungerford looming In
the distance. and at once began mes
age-'Bobs Is eoming'-as arranged
Before that message was half
finished ye found ourselves in the
midst Of a terrific hailstorm. which
filed the paraphernalia inside the ear.
"For the next half hour the scene
was beyond description. Imagine
yourself 2O00 feet up IN the afr with
dense London fog an around Through
this fog imagine a score OF snake-llke
lightning forks flashing past an
apparently aimed from an invisible
battery OF artillery somewhere above
the dense gas bag which blotted out
all chance OF looking upward. With
each fash came the report Of a thun-
derclap
"How soon we thought, would a bet
ter aimed discharge hit the face OF the
big balloon and send us al like a peb.
BILE from a catapault back 10 earthf
Fully ten minutes after entering the
thundereloud not a word was spoken
by the occupants Of the ear. the sur
roundlngs being TOO awesome for con-
yersation,
"Mr. Spencer. the aeronaut. finally
broke silence Wed better get down
out of this. be said Il was the first
lntimqtion from official expert sources
that our unspoken fears were scientif-
cally warranted.
Cannot we get above that cloud 2
said Admiral Fremantle. who. ! must
confess. seemed 70 be enjoying the ex-
element more than any one else. As
he spoke a storm Of fery ribbons shiv-
cred around o.. Mr. spencer's judg
ment however. was against attempt
ing 70 penetrate further upward We
wlll be lucky Il we can drop before
passing over Snvernake Forest, ne
said opeing the valve
"With the abandonment Of the trip
OF course an idea Of further signaling
20 earth was out OF the question In.
deed, il was more than doubtful 10 as
whether anybody had even seen us af-
Ter we left Newhury gas works The
only postcard we dropped nt Hunger
ford appears 10 have been found. and
the only bomb we expiaeed seems 10
have been unnoticed. except hy cur
friends who saw us on However.
having decided 70 stop. IL became a
question Of finding q favorable spot
Fright Ia our track was sayernake
Forest. about two mil wide, and ex-
tending ten miles each way 20 cur
right and left Fortunately for us.
Mr.. Spencer discovered a clearing
about 100 yards IN circumference. into
which we dropped with scarcely a
mlshap
How did you manage 10 miss that
ilehtnlngy was the first salute we got
from the countrymen who rushed 20
meet us. when we saw you in the
midst OF Il IL looked as II nothing
could save you. You were just framed
In lightning
''Alr. Pcrcival Spencer. one OF the
most experienced aeronauts in Eng
land. declared that never had he been
through such an ordeal He has fire.
quently assembled IN thunderstorms
ana seen lightning playing around the
balloon. but the terrifying experience
Of Friday surpassed anything be had
seem
Mr. Bacon is by no means disheart-
cned at the result eve win try
again. he said. and his daughter. Miss
Bacon. who had a fearful experience
In a balloon trip last November. de-
clared that next time she win 60. too.