The Washington times., 1901-10-20
man made the dive from the greater

where two parachutes were attached to
the one bar. There was a fancy at one
time for tire balloonist to carry up a
cat, a dog or some other domestic ami
/ nal and set it adrift, attached to q
chute calculated TO carry its weight.
But the trick that caught the popular
fancy strongest was that of the man
who left the ground seated on a bicycle
which ne was pedaling as If his life de-
pended upon it. The rapid working OF
his feet kept up as long as he was in
sight of the crowd, but he stopped ii
when they could not longer see what he
was doing. The secret of the popularity
of this feat, like that of the jump it
self, lay in the fact that it looked dan
gerous. 1t really was not dangerous
and added no new perils to the perform
ance.
The demand of the populace for some
thing new kept the balioonists on their
metal trying to invent some peculiarly
attractive feature to be introduced, and
there was always the incentive of a
preference being given to the man who
had the most tricks to show. The man
a cannon while in midair came in obe-
dience to the demand for a novelty.
This was an exceedingly taking turn
and it had about it a good deal of the
fake. The chute" folded up, was first
placed inside the big tube of tin paint
ed black to make it look like the iron
gun it purported to be. This cannon"
was mounted on stanchions and car
riages of the same iiimsy materials as
itself, every part being carefully made
to resemble the real thing by the APP
plication of the black paint.
Then the performer crawled in. He
had concealed in the breast of his leo
tard," the half coat used by tumblers
and trapeze artists, a pistol. provided
with blank cartridges. The balloon was
released in the ordinary manner and
when it reached proper height the
aeronaut exploded his cartridge, and
the human cannon balr' dropped into
view.
Another enterprising caterer to the
demand for something new devised a
light frame and accessories of a farm
wagon on which he mounted, adding to
the realistic effect by perching on the
front seat with whip in hand and lash
ing at his imaginary horses as the big
balloon SCARED away toward the clouds.
Big balloons capable of carrying a team
of four men each with his individual
chute attached to a long bar was de-
vised. From this the men one after the
other cut loose and descended in order
ly procession in their drop. Other
riders of the bag" carried up pigeons
and other birds, which they let loose
at intervals as they went up.
The sensations of the man who
makes the dive from the Clouds" as
the posters call it, have been described
by them time and again. After a half
dozen short swings to and fro the as
cent is almost directly upward. The
man who is quitting the earth is. curl
ously enough, the only one who doesn't
feel that he is doing anything of the
kind. AS he sits in his trapeze and
gazes downward there is no sensation
of motion or of giddiness. The earth is
dropping away from him. Te is sitting
still, suspended from nothing. 1t is
just as though he had sat himself in a
high swing and dropped a broad object
downward. To the novice it is a won
derful sight. The earth seems to be
saucer shaped. Just beneath seems the
lowest point, while the horizon appears
to be coming up TO meet you. You are
looking at the earth through the small
end of your opera glass and someone is
rapidly turning the focusing bar.
The first two or three seconds after
cutting Soose is the time when terror
is felt. No matter how many times the
parachute jumper repeats the expert
ence, he cannot escape the sensation,
the complete goneness at the pit of the
stomach. When he is ready to let go
he takes a long, full breadth-several
of them, in fact-and sets his muscles
hard. After he does cut loose one dares
not breathe. To do so would cause SUI
location, fainting spell. If the chute
did not open at all he would never feel
the pangs of death. lie would have
lost all scusibility long before the earth
was reached. Sometimes when the
chute is slow in unfolding consciousness
is lost, but it is only momentarily.
AS seen from the bar of a parachute
all things on the earth are grotesqueIy
small, but distinct and clear cut The
thing is the silence that pre-
walls. 4 dogs howl or a birds song is
heard last of all as one ascends. After
that great silence comes If there is
a strong wind blowing the aeronaut
L
He goes with it and Just as rapidly as
it travels. A match can be struck in
miiair in the fiercest wind.
The spectacular part of the ascen-
sion is to be found in the acrobatic
feats while the outfit is mounting. This
is nerve-racking to the spectator, but
not disconcerting TO the peIfOrmer 1t
must be remembered that he feels no
sensation of the rush through the air
To him everything appears stationary,
save the earth, which is dropping away
from him. If he bangles by one hand
he knows though the crowd doesn't |
that the web bandages which secures
him by the wrist will grip him secure.
and if he hangs head downward he
knows that a pair OF horses could not
pull him away from a trapeze in the
corners of which he has planted his
toes.
AT the same time 1t is a hard busi-
ness. The man who faces danger daily |
may say that he becomes 50 accus-
toned TO it that he fears it no longer. |
Externally this may be true, but the |
nervous system has its limitations. and |
if the warnings 1t sometimes sends out |
are not needed death may come in a |